Inhumanity Revisited

Even as assembly elections in Gujarat draw near, a “sting” operation conducted by the magazine, Tehelka, has thrown more light on the subversion of justice and how the state administration aided the horrific pogrom in 2002 in the aftermath of the Godhra deaths. The frank comments made to the Tehelka undercover reporter by perpetrators as well as some of those arguing the government’s case in judicial bodies expose the degree of state complicity in the crimes against humanity that were committed five years ago. Even allowing for a degree of ugly bragging on camera on the part of the functionaries of the various Sangh parivar outfits such as the Bajrang Dal, the Vishwa Hindu Parishad and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), there is no doubt, if ever there was one, of the extent to which the state is complicit in those mass killings.

We can only be shamed when we watch and hear one political activist after another, one state official after another and one lumpen after another boast about their roles in the pogrom (from providing logistics for the rioting to taking part in the killings) and recount the support the state silently gave them. The accused describe in detail how they had participated in incidents such as the killing of former member of Parliament, Ehsan Jafri, how they were shielded by senior government officials and even got help from the police while committing those horrifying acts.