Bull's Eye

Two judges are disputing the Godhra fire. Was Godhra an accident or preplanned? If preplanned, who planned it?

Much earlier, this column had raised questions that are being debated now. No theory has surfaced to accommodate seemingly incompatible facts. For a convincing theory, relevant facts need to be recalled.

On that day, VHP kar sevaks quarrelled with Muslims on the Godhra station platform. A report by Godhra railway staff to Western Railway headquarters on Feb 27, 2002, stated: "Some passengers of the train shouting slogans of "Jai Shri Ram" started beating two bearded men. A mob of about 4,000-5,000 VHP and Bajrang Dal supporters gathered and started pelting stones. The mob set three coaches of the train on fire. Police tried to disperse the mob..."

Within hours of the Godhra fire, Gujarat officials claimed that it was an ISI conspiracy. They named an individual who, they claimed, had escaped to Bangladesh. But later, the Gujarat government said the fire was not preplanned but spontaneous. Why the turnaround?

Within hours of the fire, 150 alleged arsonists, all registered Godhra station Muslim vendors, vanished. How could they disappear so swiftly without preplanning?

The Ahmedabad Forensic Science Laboratory proved that the fire could not have been set from outside the train. Bogie S-6 containing the victims had its doors locked. The adjoining bogie, S-7, was packed with VHP kar sevaks. So the stone-pelting Muslims could not have entered the bogie from outside.

Fifty-eight passengers in S-6 died in the fire. Only six between seat numbers 18 and 24 were reserved passengers. Why did reserved passengers give up their berths? Where did they go? Nineteen dead remain unidentified. There is no knowing how many kar sevaks died.

An investigative report in Hard News monthly, quoting railway officials, revealed that a dozen unsolved train fires similar to the Godhra fire occurred subsequently. Like the Godhra train, all trains that caught fire had rubberised vestibules. It is, therefore, possible to set fire from inside the train without using petrol.

There is only one plausible theory that suggests itself.

The Godhra fire was staged by a foreign power. Its agents provocateurs infiltrated both Godhra Muslims and VHP kar sevaks. It would be child's play to infiltrate kar sevaks. The VHP leadership may not itself have been involved. But, possibly, it was complicit unwittingly. The Gujarat government stumbled on evidence of this. So it retracted about a foreign hand.

This theory alone accommodates seemingly incompatible facts. Does any other?

(Puri can be reached at rajinderpuri2000@yahoo.com)