Is it a gentle reminder or do we sense a hint of political blackmail? When the BJP spokesperson, Meenakshi Lekhi, in response to Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar’s oblique criticism of Narendra Modi over happenings in Gujarat reminded everyone that Kumar was the railway minister when Godhra incident took place, she was not just sharing a historical fact, but a lot more. For those who came in late, Kumar not only was the minister of railways, but helped the BJP in airbrushing the bloody reality played out at Godhra. A report that appeared in Hardnews in 2004 proves that the railway ministry actually played out with reports that were sent by railway personnel from Godhra. Under these circumstances can Nitish Kumar really disengage from BJP?
Here is the 2004 report:
Hardnews investigations reveal, for the first time, that certain Indian Railways officials may have connived with the ruling party, till recently the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), to tidy up some of the early reports sent by the Godhra railway staff to Western Railway headquarters in Mumbai.
One of the early messages received at 0905 hrs (9.05 am) on February 27, 2002 states: "On 27.02.02 at about 0742 hrs, the train no.9166 UP (Varanasi-Ahmedabad) Sabarmati Express arrived at Godhara Railway station. Some passengers of the train (supporters of VHP) shouting slogans of "Jai Shree Ram" started beating two bearded men. A mob of about 4000-5000 supporters of the VHP and Bajrang Dal gathered at the spot and started pelting stones. The mob set three general coaches of the train on fire. City Police, GRP and RPF Godhra attended the spot at 0835 hrs and tried to pacify disperse the mob…"
Thereafter, a team of senior Railways officials was sent to Godhra. The subsequent report on the incident had no mention of the role played by the Vishwa Hindu Parishad and Bajrang Dal members. Interestingly enough, parts of this sanitised report were used during the Parliamentary debate by the then railways minister, the Samata Party's Nitish Kumar.
What is also intriguing is that, for quite a while, the Railways authorities were unwilling to give the details of all passengers who travelled in the Sabarmati Express that fateful day. It was only after an exposé by this reporter that they decided to make the details public. The curious thing about this passenger list was that there were six empty berths in coach S 6, which was actually supposed to have been packed to the seams with participants of the Bajrang Dal rally. Only six people from the reserved list had died - and all of them were between seat numbers 18 and 24. The rest who perished were travelling on unreserved tickets.
Railways ministry insiders reveal that in an attempt to curry favour with the BJP bosses, the Railways top brass played dirty to make things look clean. To ensure that no one blew the whistle on the murky happenings and that the truth was not leaked to the news-hungry media, the home ministry parked a number of Intelligence Bureau (IB) sleuths to keep tabs on people who met officials who were aware of what really happened.
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