The MJP chief, who was MoS during riots, says it is not true that government had issued instructions not to take action against rioters.
Putting aside political rivalry, Gordhan Zadafia, president of the Mahagujarat Janata Party (MJP), has come out in the support of Modi-ruled BJP government of going soft on Hindu rioters for its alleged role in 2002 communal riots.
Zadafia hailed Modi government's efforts to curb the riots in the state, while giving his testimony to the Nanavati-Mehta Commission on November 19 last year. A copy of his testimony was made available to Jan Sangharsh Manch (JSM) on Monday. The commission provided the copy to JSM, as it had sought Zadafia's cross-examination.
Zadafia, who was minister of state for home in 2002, later split from the BJP and formed the MJP. He had also blamed Modi for “dictator-like rule” in the BJP and the government. But when he was questioned by the commission, Zadafia did not speak against Modi government with respect to the communal riots.
“If somebody says that the government had instructed not to take action for 24 hours (after Sabarmati Express train carnage in Godhra), it's not true,” Zadafia testified during his questioning.
It was widely alleged that Modi government had given free hand to rioters during the riots in the aftermath of the Sabarmati Express train carnage at Godhra railway station on February 27, 2002.
Suspended IPS officer Sanjiv Bhatt also alleged that Modi had instructed the police authority by convening a meeting at his residence to allow Hindus vent their anger against Muslims.
“We had instructed police to maintain vigil to ensure that there should not be any consequences and asked the Director-General of Police (DGP), police commissioner and other police officers to act with strong hand,” he said in his four-page testimony.
The commission provided the copy of his deposition to JSM, an NGO which represents some of the riot victims, as they had sought Zadafia's cross-examination. Mukul Sinha, convener of JSM, said: “We had sought a copy of Zadafia's testimony as we are going to conduct his cross-examination. The commission is likely to summon him on December 28.”
Reacting on MJP chief's testimony, Sinha said: “The statement given by Zadafia before the commission is far from truth as the minister of state for home. He has to either take full responsibility for the government's failure to protect the lives of minorities or he has to be held responsible for conniving with rioters as indicated by the phone call records with Babu Bajranagi, Jaideep Patel and others.”
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