The Hindu : E.U. diplomats call it `planned violence'

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, May 01, 2002

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International

E.U. diplomats call it `planned violence'

By Batuk Gathani

BRUSSELS APRIL 30 . The Gujarat violence "was not spontaneous but a pre-planned policy involving State Ministers to purge Muslims and destroy their economy.''

The "worst" religious riots in a decade were "backed by the State", says a report prepared by the embassies of the European Union countries in India, according to The Financial Times (European edition) today.

The latest report by the E.U. diplomats is rated as the most damning indictment yet of the Gujarat riots, which may have killed about 900 people — mostly Muslims with "clear evidence of complicity by State Ministers.''

It has been submitted to the 15 E.U. Governments, which have yet to officially respond to the Indian situation.

It remains to be seen if the issue will be raised at next week's summit between the E.U. and India in New Delhi. India has consistently maintained that the tragic events are "an internal matter'' and that the "riots'' were ignited by a fatal arson attack on a train carrying Hindu activists at Godhra resulting in the death of 59 persons. The diplomats' report is based on investigations by a number of individual member states — Britain, Germany and Holland — that sent staff to the States.

The conclusion is that Godhra was no more than a "pretext'' for "Hindu mobs' violence, which was planned months before'' and that "free swords were being distributed by Hindu activists days before the riots began.'' The death toll was put at "more than 2,000 and 140,000 people are estimated to be refugees as a result of the attacks.'' On the role of the

BJP and State officials in Gujarat, the report said: "Hindus took active part in the violence...senior police officers were instructed not to interfere in the rioting...'' According to The Financial Times report, last week some diplomats described the events as "genocide'' for the first time, while the E.U. report stopped short of using that word.

Human Rights Watch reaches the same conclusion: "What happened in Gujarat was not a spontaneous uprising.

It was a carefully orchestrated attack against Muslims'' and police were "complicit".

The Financial Times editorial said: " a chilling report from Human Rights Watch released today charges that State officials in the Indian state of Gujarat have been directly involved in the killings of hundreds of Muslims since February 27 and are now engaged in massive cover-up''.

It argued that the Indian Government "can no longer brush off these accusations'' and states that "some 2000 Muslims have been killed and over 100,000 remain in refugee camps'' and appeals to the Indian Government to "conduct an exhaustive investigation'' into the origin of the violence.

"The Indian Government protests that the outside world has no right to interfere in the country's internal affairs.''

''But India's treatment of its minority population has become a matter of international concern. India, which has taught the world so much about democracy, must now return to its practices," it concludes.

It is also ironical to note that such patronising comments from European diplomats, on a delicate and highly emotive ethnic situation in India, comes at a time when Europe is seen lurching to the centre-right political spectrum with a sudden upsurge of xenophobic pressure on the ethnic minorities.

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