Nanavati vs Banerjee: Whose report to trust?

TRUE LIES: Two panels set up to unearth the truth behind Godha carnage have come up with contradictory reports.

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New Delhi: The first part of Nanavati Commission report probing the burning of S-6 coach of the Sabarmati Express at Godhra railway station on February 27, 2002 tabled in Gujarat Assembly on Thursday has only succeeded in fueling the controversy surrounding the mystery.

The commission says burning of the coach was a pre-planned conspiracy contradicting an earlier probe by retired Supreme Court justice UC Banerjee which was appointed by the Railway minister Lalu Prasad.

Banerjee Commission had dismissed the theory that the blaze was caused by a mob from outside and said the deaths were caused by toxicity and suffocation.

The two-member commission, which examined 46,000 affidavits, heard 1,106 witnesses and was given 10 extensions, also says there is no evidence of the role of the Chief Minister Modi or any Gujarat minister in the case.

As soon as the train pulled out of the Godhra railway station it was stopped, the S-6 and S-7 coaches were stoned for 10-20 minutes and the S-6 coach was set on fire, the report says.

It goes on to say that 40 liters of petrol was purchased as the part of conspiracy to burn the coach.

Doors of S-6 and S-7 were forcibly opened and a person called Hassan Lala threw burning objects inside. The fire that engulfed the coach killed 59 passengers most of whom were Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) activists returning from Ayodhya in Uttar Pradesh.

However, Banerjee Commission, set up on September 3, 2004, had disputed the claim that all entrances to the coach were locked and said that there was no intelligence information on when the kar sevaks were coming.

Gujarat witnessed one of the bloodiest riots following the burning of the coach in which over 1,000 people mainly Muslims were killed. The Opposition parties have blamed Gujarat's Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Government for the riots and accused of Modi of not doing enough to stop the riots.

But the Nanavati Commission say there is no evidence of Gujarat Government not been able to provide protection, relief or rehabilitation to any riot victim

The two-member commission comprising justices (retd) GT Nanavati and Akshay Mehta had submitted the first part of its report to Chief Minister Narendra Modi on September 18. Minister of State for Home Amit Shah tabled the report in the Assembly.

Reacting to Nanavati Commission report, Gujarat Government Spokesperson Jai Narayan Vyas says the report clearly indicates that the incident was pre -planned.

"Nanavati Commission report states that incident was pre-planned and in cold blood. The Chief Minister and council of ministers cannot be pointed fingers at. They cannot be accused of dereliction of their duties," Vyas commented.