A.N. DIVECHA, M.A., LL..M.
Chairman (Reid.), M.R.T.P. Commission
Chairman Exnert Committee (Government of GuiaraO
AHMEDABAD- 380054
21rd March 2002
The Hon 'ble Chairperson
National Human Rights Commission 1 Sardar Patel Bhawan Parliament Street
NEW DELHI-11 0001
Sub:
Respected Sir,
Travails of Communal Riots in the State of Gujarat
I am indeed obliged to the Hon'ble Chairman for having fixed a separate appointment for me at the Raj Bhavan Annexe in Ahmedabad on 19th March 2002 at 7.30 p.m. and having given to me a patient hearing with respect to the traumatic experience my wife and I had undergone in the wake of communal rights that broke out in the State of Gujarat on and from 27 February 2002.
In the morning on 28th February 2002, the milkman delivered to us our usual quota of milk pouches and the newspaper man brought to us newspapers of the day. On inquiry, both of them indicated to us that the situation was normal. In view of the previous night's frightening incident, the watchman of our building had fled. Since the situation was found normal, certain occupants of other flats in our building started going for their work. At about 11 a.m. on 28th February 2002, again about 70-80 people gathered around our building on their two-wheelers, mostly motorbikes and scooters, and started throwing stones at our building. Some miscreants flung open the compound gate with sticks, spears and swords and broke the glasses of the cars parked in the parking lot. Our building stands on pillars and the ground floor is used for parking vehicle. My official car was also damaged by certain miscreants. The crowd dispersed within about 10 minutes for some unknown reason, may be on spotting some police vehicle. I again contacted Government Pleader Shri Arun Oza on his mobile and my Chartered Accountant friend Shri Sanjay Shah, again on his mobile. My friend along with his wife immediately ran down to us and insisted on our leaving the house for safety at his residence. In the meantime, other occupants of the flats in the building were also panic- stricken and all of us decided to leave our respective houses for safety. Around 12.30 p.m. we left the house with a pair of clothes in a bag locking most rooms and the main door and the grill outside. A lock was applied each to the staircase grill and the compound gate. I received a phone call from my neighbour residing in a nearby area at about 4 p.m. on that day that my flat was set on fire. We tried to contact the Fire Brigade for help but in vain. My chartered accountant friend is a BJP active worker and he has good connections with certain Ministers. He immediately contacted Health Minister Shri Ashok Bhatt for help. About an hour later, Shri Ashok Bhatt informed my friend that the fire in my flat was extinguished. At about 6.15 p.m. on that day, I again received a phone call from an acquaintance from the nearby area that all the flats in the building wel:e set on fire and were in flames. My friend and I tried to contact Government Pleader Shri Arun Oza and other Ministers including Health Minister Shri Ashok Bhatt, Revenue Minister Shri Haren Pandya and the like for help, but to no avail. 11 appears that they were also helpless and could not provide any help to us. Since the Computer placed at my disposal for my official use for storing the relevant data with respect to the Expert Committee's functioning was located in the office room at my residence,: I thought of retrieving it if possible with a view to saving the data stored therein. 01] my .request, Government Pleader Shri Arun Oza arranged for some military escort and in their company we visited our residence at about 10 p.m. on that day.' To our dismay, we could see that the outer grill was pulled out as the lock applied thereon could not be broken open by miscreants and the wooden door was set on fire and it was reduced to ashes, again because the lock applied thereon could not be broken open. The refrigerator and the dining table and the chairs were in flames. The sofa set and one diwan in the drawing room were found reduced to ashes. The colour TV was found missing, so was the cordless telephone in the drawing room. Since the dining table with chairs and the nearby refrigerator were in flames, we could not move further to our kitchen or bedrooms. With the help of military personnel, we could retrieve the Computer and it was found completely blackened by the smoke emanating from flames. We have still not been able to ascertain whether or not it is in a working order and the data stored in the , hard disk would be in tact. The official car parked in the ground floor parking lot was found burned, so also certain two-wheelers belonging to other occupants of certain flats in the building. Our residence was wide open as the outside grill was pulled down and the wooden frame of the door was also in flames. 11 was completely dark as all electric meters of the building were broken and burnt down. My wife had a traumatic shock on seeing the condition of her house. With heavy heart we came back to our friend's residence.
Government Pleader Shri Arun Oza was good enough to arrange for military escort and police protection for our visit during the day time the next day, that is, ~h 2002, at about 10.30 a.m. At that time we found that the house was littered with glasses all over and nails used for fixing sofa sets and other wooden articles were also found littered throughout the house. The refrigerator was found completely burnt and the dining table and the chairs were reduced to ashes. Our kitchen was also found ransacked and household kits therein were damaged and destroyed or useful articles like the grinder- cum-mixture and other kitchenwares etc. were found missing, presumably removed by miscreants. To our good fortune, the locks applied to bedrooms were found in tact and only the lock ofone bedroom was found tampered with as it could not be opened with its key. Since we had military escort and police protection, we picked up our clothes, some important documents, our bank papers and returned to ou1friend's residence.
The then Hon'ble Chief Justice of Gujarat High Court (Hon'ble Mr. Justice D.M. Dharmadhikari who has since been elevated to the Supreme Court on and from 5th March 2002) was informed on 1st March.2002.of the tragedy that had befallen us in the previous evening and he immediately rang me up at my friend's house and on my oral request he was good enough to allot to me a bungalow in the Complex of the Bungalows meant for Hon'ble Judges of the High Court of Gujarat. Its possession was handed over to me on 2nd March 2002. Under the cover of police protection, we could shift from our ransacked residence whatever household kits and furniture that escaped fire to our. new residence. We have now started residing in it after putting most things in order.
In the wake of insistence the part of Vishwa Hindu Parishad on
bhoomipoojan and/or shiladan at Ayodhya on 15th March 2002, the situation in Ahrnedabad w~
found to be tense from 13 th March onwards. In order to see that our presence at his house
would not put my chartered accountant friend to jeopardy qua his life and property, we
thought of going to my brother's place residing in Juhapura, a predominantly Muslim
habitat in Ahmedabad. My friend was however reluctanL He .contacted Health Minister Shri
Ashok Bhatt for guidance. To his credit, Shri Ashok Bhatt talked to me on phone and
assured me not to worry about our safety or that of my chartered accountant friend Shri
Sanjay Shah during the period by staying at his residence. Shri Bhatt was good enough to
.offer accommodation in his residence at Gandhinagar if we were quite scared or in the
alternative in the Circuit House with full security cover. We therefore continued to stay
at our friend' s house during the period. Newspaper reports indicate that communal riots
resulted in virtual-carnage and holocaust in Ahrnedabad and elsewhere in the State, So
many persons ;were roasted alive. Countless persons were rendered homeless and many lost
all their belongings and had to take shelter in relief camps. A large number of people
lost their business premises and their belongings therein were gutted in fire. They
suffered colossal economic loss on both counts inasmuch as they were rendered homeless and
left without any source of livelihood. During the Hon'ble Chairman's visit to this area,
the Hon'ble Chairman and his team had a first hand account of their sufferings.
In view of my personal relations as also my present position, friends did provide us timely help and took us to safety and we could retrieve some important documents, our bank papers and clothes and the like, but one may shudder to think the plight of people who have lost everything including the source of eking out a living. Some of them could be belonging to good families and they had to take shelter in relief camps at the mercy of organizers. One wonders whether or not they would be in a position to get two square meals a day when the situation becomes normal and when they have to leave the relief camps. The tragedy is too ghastly to describe in words; it would beggar description.
It is reported that conditions of persons taking shelter in relief camps are quite pathetic and pitiable. The food that they get is often of sub-standard quality. Besides, it is reported that meals served to them are also not adequate. Sanitation conditions therein
l.are highly deplorable. Medical facilities are reported to be simply out of question. They live like animals put together jn some open space rather than human beings with proper c~on with human~ treatment. If some epidemic breaks out, it would further add to their woes. .
Almost all persons taking shelter in relief camps have no work to do. It is a matter of common sense that they might be ruminating over what has happened to them. The whole episode of ransacking their houses or business premises and setting on fire their belongings would be very much before their eyes. It would therefore be necessary to find out some solution to keep them engaged in some kind of economic activities which would enable them to keep their minds preoccupied as also to give them a source of earning their livelihood. In cases of natural calamities like famine, floods, earthquakes and the like, the Government often undertakes relief works. That provides self- sufficiency to victims of such calamities. They have also to feel a sense of dignity by eking out their own living. Their minds would remain preoccupied with some kind of activities. In the case of victims of communal riots, whether Hindus or Muslims, it would be necessary to evolve some kind of relief work under the cover of security so as to generate in them the sense of dignity of toiling for their bread. Besides, that would result in no idle minds and there will not be any devil's workshop operating in their idle minds. Similarly, female members ill such relief camps may also be engaged in some kind of , gainful activities of stitching, knitting, and the like. In my humble suggestion, the State 1 Government's attention may be drawn on this aspect of the issue or the problem.
A question of rehabilItation of persons taking shelter in relief camps would also deserve proper consideration. Those who have seen their houses or businesS premises ransacked and their belongings set on fire ther~in might be scared to go back to their \original places for residence or wo~k. Their rehabilitation need not result into segregation or division of two main communities, Hindus and Muslims, in water-tight compartments.
Such an attempt might keep the communal tension alive and burning. They should be persuaded to go back to their original places under the cover of proper security. Their neighbours may also be persuaded to take care of such persons so that they feel safe and secure and may not remain frightened or scared any longer in settling down in their original places. If such an attempt is not made, it might result in creation of separate pockets of habitation of the main two communities, namely, Hindus and Muslims. That would be a dangerous proposition. Any attempt to allow them to settle for residence and business in their original places in a harmonious manner would result in building up communal harmony in the society. It might also result in mitigating economic losses that such victims might have suffered on account of loss, temporary or otherwise, of cover over their head or source of livelihood; else their sufferings on account of economic loss would be aggravated inasmuch as they will have to dispose of their properties practically at throwaway prices. If the victim of communal violence is a Hindu residing or carrying on business in a predominantly Muslim locality may not be in a position to dispose of his property to any Hindu because no Hindu would like to purchase such property in that area and a Muslim purchaser would like to acquire it at a throwaway price. So would be the case of a Muslim victim of communal violence residing or carrying on business in a predominantly Hindu locality. The best course for the Government would be to cultivate and to develop a public opinion for peaceful existence in communal harmony. It is certainly' a long drawn process difficult to realize in a near future but is not an impossibility.
It is everyone's common knowledge that this time communal violence has spread in far-f1ung areas including in rural areas. The victims of such communal violence might be scared of living in their original villages. That might result in building up separate rural habitats for different communities like Hindus and Muslims. In our secular country such segregation in rural areas is highly undesirable. Such segregation might result in treating each other as enemies rather than friends. In this case also the State Government could playa vital role in allowing the victims of communal violence in rural areas to settle down in their original places either for residence or for business or for both under the cover of proper security for the time being. Again, an atmosphere of peaceful co- existence: with communal harmony need be developed by cultivation of public opinion in that regard. This is not impossible in view of the mass appeal that can be created with the help of visual media.
the state Government to take necessary remedial measures for establishment of communal
harmony
in the State anywhere and everywhere irrespective of caste, creed or religion. This would
result in taking big strides in recouping the loss suffered by our State of Gujrat on
account of large-scale communal riots in recent times which have put the State at least a
decade behind on the economic front as well.
In my humble opinion, since the law and order machinery had almost completely failed
during the early period of riots for nearly 72 hours resulting in loss of life and
property by victims thereof, the State Government should provide adequate compensation not
only to bereaved family members of the dead but also to those aer rendered homeless, whose
properties are destroyed or gutted in fire and those who have lost their sustence on
account of setting there business premises on fire. Victims of the communal violence could
be both Hindus and Muslims. No descrimination need bepermitted to be made for providing
adequate compensation to them for whatever loss they have suffered. I humbly suggest that
the National Human Rights Commission itself or through its comitee, if any, may survey the
damage and assess the loss in each case and recommended adequate compensation for victims
of communal riots in the state. The state Government need not to permitted to escape its
liability on that score. The whole issue may be likened to " no fault liability
" as in the case of certain motor accidents. The State Government need not be
permitted to claim any immunity under any pretext. I need not carry coal to the New Castle
by stating that the primary function of the State is to protect its citizens and other
residents from internal disturbences. The concepts of Welfare State need not obliterate
its primary concepts of Police State. For the traumatic shock undergone by victims of
communal riots as also for economic loss on beingrendered homeless as also loss of
substance, some formula may be evolved for the minimum compensation may be worked out on
assessment of loss in each case by the Hon'ble Commission or tis commitee, if any. This is
my humble suggestion to the Hon'ble commission .
I express my great sense of gratitude for giving me patient hearing in the evening of the
19th march, 2002 in the Raj Bhavan Annexe and i look forward to kin and sympathetic
consideration of my humble sugestion stated here in above by the Hon'ble Commission and I
again express my deep sense of gratitude and thankfullness in anticipation.
Respectfully Yours
A. N. Divecha