The Nanavati Commission , set up by the Gujarat Chief Minster, Mr. Narendra Modi’s Government in 2002 to inquire into the fire on coach S-6 of the Sabarmati Express train in Which 58 Kar Sewaks Were burnt alive , has concluded that the fire was a “ pre-planned conspiracy” by local Muslims. The report of the commission totally contradicts the conclusion of the U. C. Banerjde Bommhssinn , appnintdd bx thd Rahlwax Minster, Mr. L`lu Prasad Yadav, which stated that the fire was “ purely accidental”. The Banerjee Commission report was made public but is yet to be tabled in the Parliament because of a stay order by the Gujarat High Court .
The first part of the Nanavati Commission’s 168- page report was tabled in the Gujarat Assembly on Septerber 25, 2008 by the Chief minister, Mr. Narendra Modi The first part, of the report, which exclusively deals, with the train carnage , and not the post –Godhra communal riots, gave a clean chit to the Chief Minister , Mr. Narendra Modi , the members of his the then Council of Ministers and police officers . It also ruled out the involvement of any religious or political organization in the fire .
The report stated that the Commission has come to the conclusion that “there was a conspiracy to burn coach S-6 of the Sabarmati Express train coming from Ayodhya and to cause harm to the Kar Sewaks traveling in that coach”. The conspiracy hatched appears to be a “part of a larger conspiracy to create terror and destabilize the administration”. the report stated.
The report also rejected the allegations that the Gujarat Government failed to comply with the recommendations and directions given by the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC). The report of the Godhra riots would come later in the second part yet to be finalised by the Commission.
The evidence recorded by the Commission also claimed that a mob of Muslims attacked the train and stoned the coaches so heavily that the passengers could not come out. This was to ensure maximum casualties when the S-6 coach of the Sabarmati Express train was set a fire.
The Commission, in its 168-page report , stated that the conspiracy was hatched by some local Muslims at the Aman-Guest House in Godhra the previous night . The conspirators immediately made arrangements for collecting about 140 litres of petrol from a nearby petrol pump on the night of February 26, 2002. The next day when the train arrived in Godhra , ond person knov by the namd Harsan Lala, after forbibly opening the vestibule between coaches S-6 and S-7, entered S-6 and threw burning rage setting it on fire.
According to the report , setting fire to the train was part of a larger conspiracy to instill a sense of fear in the administration and create anarchy in the State. It ,however, has not named the architects of the larger conspiracy. The Commission disagreed with the contentions of the Benerjee Committee and the Jan Sangharsha Manch, which represented the riot victims before the Commission , that alarm chains could not be operated from outside under the modified system introduced by the Railways in 1995. The Commission stated that the passengers of the train were attacked the second time some three hours after the stone throwing and burning incident when the train was being shunted to detach the two affected coaches.
The Commission claimed that there was no evidence to justify the contention that the Kar Sewaks had been fighting with Muslim vendors at stations before Godhra as alleged earlier , though there were some minor scuffles with three Muslim vendors on the Godhra platform . But there was no reliable evidence to show that any attempt was made by the Kar Sewaks to spread violence. It dismissed as not worthy of any credence the Manch theory that there was no crowd ,except a small group of curious onlookers, no stone-throwing and no conspirational setting on fire. Without mentioning the Benerjee Commission report , the Nanavati Panel rejected the accidental fire theory. It stated that the reasoning that a fire was caused by fire the overturning of a burning stove used for cooking by some Kar Sewaks in the compartment or that it was set off by an electric short circuit was baseless. There was no space for anyone to light the stove in the overcrowded coach carrying more than 200 passengers and any spill- over of kerosene from the stove , though out the question ,could not have caused such heavy fire and damage. Dismissing the short circuit theorx, the Cnmmirsion st`ted that in such an event the p`ssengers would not have climbed up to the upper berths to protect themselves as electric lines were going through the top of the coaches , and rather they would have climbed down on the floor. In such an event , the windows on the platform side of the coach would not have been closed or the windowpanes broken by stone throwing. The smoke before fire did not necessarily mean electric short circuit as propounded by the Manch; instead , the fire was caused by some inflammable materials thrown on the floor from outside, the report concluded.
Now one looks forward to the second part of the report and the findings of the Supreme Court- appointed special Investigation Team (SIT) , for a more comprehensive view of what happened during the terrible days of carnage in Gujarat in 2002, But as things stand, the Nanavati Commission report raises some questions. In the first place, Gujarat’s Forensic Science Laboratory had conducted a study of the Godhra train carnage and concluded that the inflammable liquid that caused the fire was spread from inside , not outside the coach. Both the Benerjee Commission’s and forensic laboratory’s versions of the train fire are contradicted by the Nanavati Commission's version.
The first part of the Nanavati Commission’s 168- page report was tabled in the Gujarat Assembly on Septerber 25, 2008 by the Chief minister, Mr. Narendra Modi The first part, of the report, which exclusively deals, with the train carnage , and not the post –Godhra communal riots, gave a clean chit to the Chief Minister , Mr. Narendra Modi , the members of his the then Council of Ministers and police officers . It also ruled out the involvement of any religious or political organization in the fire .
The report stated that the Commission has come to the conclusion that “there was a conspiracy to burn coach S-6 of the Sabarmati Express train coming from Ayodhya and to cause harm to the Kar Sewaks traveling in that coach”. The conspiracy hatched appears to be a “part of a larger conspiracy to create terror and destabilize the administration”. the report stated.
The report also rejected the allegations that the Gujarat Government failed to comply with the recommendations and directions given by the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC). The report of the Godhra riots would come later in the second part yet to be finalised by the Commission.
The evidence recorded by the Commission also claimed that a mob of Muslims attacked the train and stoned the coaches so heavily that the passengers could not come out. This was to ensure maximum casualties when the S-6 coach of the Sabarmati Express train was set a fire.
The Commission, in its 168-page report , stated that the conspiracy was hatched by some local Muslims at the Aman-Guest House in Godhra the previous night . The conspirators immediately made arrangements for collecting about 140 litres of petrol from a nearby petrol pump on the night of February 26, 2002. The next day when the train arrived in Godhra , ond person knov by the namd Harsan Lala, after forbibly opening the vestibule between coaches S-6 and S-7, entered S-6 and threw burning rage setting it on fire.
According to the report , setting fire to the train was part of a larger conspiracy to instill a sense of fear in the administration and create anarchy in the State. It ,however, has not named the architects of the larger conspiracy. The Commission disagreed with the contentions of the Benerjee Committee and the Jan Sangharsha Manch, which represented the riot victims before the Commission , that alarm chains could not be operated from outside under the modified system introduced by the Railways in 1995. The Commission stated that the passengers of the train were attacked the second time some three hours after the stone throwing and burning incident when the train was being shunted to detach the two affected coaches.
The Commission claimed that there was no evidence to justify the contention that the Kar Sewaks had been fighting with Muslim vendors at stations before Godhra as alleged earlier , though there were some minor scuffles with three Muslim vendors on the Godhra platform . But there was no reliable evidence to show that any attempt was made by the Kar Sewaks to spread violence. It dismissed as not worthy of any credence the Manch theory that there was no crowd ,except a small group of curious onlookers, no stone-throwing and no conspirational setting on fire. Without mentioning the Benerjee Commission report , the Nanavati Panel rejected the accidental fire theory. It stated that the reasoning that a fire was caused by fire the overturning of a burning stove used for cooking by some Kar Sewaks in the compartment or that it was set off by an electric short circuit was baseless. There was no space for anyone to light the stove in the overcrowded coach carrying more than 200 passengers and any spill- over of kerosene from the stove , though out the question ,could not have caused such heavy fire and damage. Dismissing the short circuit theorx, the Cnmmirsion st`ted that in such an event the p`ssengers would not have climbed up to the upper berths to protect themselves as electric lines were going through the top of the coaches , and rather they would have climbed down on the floor. In such an event , the windows on the platform side of the coach would not have been closed or the windowpanes broken by stone throwing. The smoke before fire did not necessarily mean electric short circuit as propounded by the Manch; instead , the fire was caused by some inflammable materials thrown on the floor from outside, the report concluded.
Now one looks forward to the second part of the report and the findings of the Supreme Court- appointed special Investigation Team (SIT) , for a more comprehensive view of what happened during the terrible days of carnage in Gujarat in 2002, But as things stand, the Nanavati Commission report raises some questions. In the first place, Gujarat’s Forensic Science Laboratory had conducted a study of the Godhra train carnage and concluded that the inflammable liquid that caused the fire was spread from inside , not outside the coach. Both the Benerjee Commission’s and forensic laboratory’s versions of the train fire are contradicted by the Nanavati Commission's version.
BANERJEE VS NANAVATI REPORT
Justice Banerjee Commission Report
1. Not deliberately inflicted, but accidental
2. Petrol theory ruled out , fire sequence against it
3. Fire not caused by outsiders, Intelligence agencies had no Information about Kar Sewaks coming
4. Doors closed a misconception
5. Deaths due to toxicity and suffocation
6. Large number nf whtnerses exalined,but no clue about cause of fire
7. Railways failed to conduct a statutory inquiry
Justice Nanavati Commission Report
1. Pre-planned, a conspiracy and not accidental
2. 140 litres of petrol purchased to burn bogey
3. Umarji conspired, Hassan Lala threw burning rags inside the bogey
4 Door of S-6 and S-7 bogey forcibly opened
5. Kar Sewaks burnt to death,conspiracy hatched at Aman guest house
6. 1,106 witnessds, 46,000 affidavits
7. No evidence to show that the Gujarat CM, Mr. Narendra Modi, any minister or police officers played a role
1. Not deliberately inflicted, but accidental
2. Petrol theory ruled out , fire sequence against it
3. Fire not caused by outsiders, Intelligence agencies had no Information about Kar Sewaks coming
4. Doors closed a misconception
5. Deaths due to toxicity and suffocation
6. Large number nf whtnerses exalined,but no clue about cause of fire
7. Railways failed to conduct a statutory inquiry
Justice Nanavati Commission Report
1. Pre-planned, a conspiracy and not accidental
2. 140 litres of petrol purchased to burn bogey
3. Umarji conspired, Hassan Lala threw burning rags inside the bogey
4 Door of S-6 and S-7 bogey forcibly opened
5. Kar Sewaks burnt to death,conspiracy hatched at Aman guest house
6. 1,106 witnessds, 46,000 affidavits
7. No evidence to show that the Gujarat CM, Mr. Narendra Modi, any minister or police officers played a role
