By Mumtaz Alam, India Tomorrow,
Ahmedabad, 08 Jan 2014: Referring to Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi’s recent written emotional expression about the 2002 riot, R.B. Sreekumar, former DGP, Gujarat has asked Modi to initiate concrete measures for relief and justice if he is really considerate and sympathetic to the riot victims.
Modi last week wrote a thousand word blog-post wherein he made an unequivocal expression of deep pain and anguish about the human agony during 2002 protracted communal riots in Gujarat. “I had to single handedly focus all the strength given to me by Almighty on the task of peace, justice and rehabilitation, burying the pain and agony I was personally wracked with,” Modi had said.
In response to the expression, Sreekumar, IPS (Retd.) on Monday wrote a 12-page letter to Modi first highlighting the ground realities in Gujarat since 2002 in contrast with what Modi expressed in his blog.
Expression of Pain Vs Ground Reality
“The ground reality is dismal and frustrating because much remains to be done to ensure establishment and consolidation of durable peace, adequate social cohesion and genuinely intrinsic rehabilitation and resettlement of riot victim survivors in the pre-riot conditions,” said Sreekumar and listed cases of injustice with riot victims and harassment of officers who tried to uphold rule of law during the pogrom.
1) Many of the conscientious and effective law enforcers were transferred in the thick of riots (March 2002) by you and they were given shabby treatment afterwards. Transfer of Rahul Sharma (Supdt. of Police – Bhavnagar district), M D Anthany (Bharuch), Vivek Shrivastava (Kutch) and Himanshu Bhat (Banaskantha), in March 2002 was reportedly for not implementing the covert anti-minority agenda of the Sangh Parivar during the riots.
2) By the end of year 2002, nearly 40,000 riot victim survivors were dwelling in sub-human habitats, without basic amenities, due to opposition from local militant Hindu sections to their resettlement in the pre-riot residential areas and intentional neglect by the state authorities.
3) Practically all chief facilitators of anti-minority massacre in administrative bureaucracy and police were rewarded by you with prestigious postings, during riots, out of turn promotions and important post retirement assignments.
4) Persistent harassment and victimization of 3 IPS officers, namely R. B. Sreekumar, former DGP, Rahul Sharma, DIG and Sanjeev Bhat, suspended DIG, who have provided truthful evidence, since July 2002, about the culpable role of Modi and his Govt. officials and the Sangh Parivar in riots.
Initiate concrete measures if you rare really sympathetic to riot victims
After highlighting the contrast between expression and facts, Sreekumar appealed to Modi to immediately initiate some concrete administrative measures to establish that he is really considerate and sympathetic to the riot victims and those government officials tortured and tormented since 2004:
1) Start rebuilding of all Islamic monuments destroyed during the riots
2) Constitute a Special Task Force (STF) for identifying and properly rehabilitating riot victim survivors — nearly 8700 persons are dwelling in unhealthy slums at the cost of their health, human dignity and socio – economic empowerment.
3) Constitute a team of officers from Police, Law and Home departments to probe into lopsided implementation of the Apex Court order of 2004 for reinvestigation of 2000 odd riot cases closed by Gujarat Police by not even issuing a statutory notice to the complainants.
4) Order departmental action against officers responsible for serious dereliction of duties.
5) Take action against officers responsible for handing over dead bodies of 54 Hindus killed in Godhra train fire incident on 27th February 2002 to the state VHP leaders
6) Initiate action against all officials from DGP to the Chief Secretary, who avoided maintenance of minutes of meetings convened by DGP to the Chief Minister during the 2002 riots.
7) Take action to end all on-going process of victimization against these 3 officers and establish that you are neither vindictive and sadistic, nor you do nurture personal grudge against those who are critical of your actions.
At the end of the letter, former IPS Sreekumar said if Modi did nothing to help the riot victims then people would take his expression of “pain” as a mere self-marketing drama.
“In case you reject my suggestions and do not do anything to help the riot victims, any well-informed citizen in India will adjudge your expression of “pain” about riots as a mere soulless self-marketing drama, full of sound and fury without any substance and significance, merely for hoodwinking gullible secular sections of voters. By not apologizing and initiating any action to assuage suffering of riot victims and persecuted officials you can, perhaps, further consolidate your support base among the Sangh Parivar brain washed Hindu radicals. But sensible secular Indians will remain outside the ambit of your support base and they would damage the prospects of your securing the chair of the Prime Minister of India after the next Lok Sabha elections,” wrote Sreekumar.
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