Role of the Media
1.1. The
Tribunal recommends that all the recommendations made by the Editors’
Guild in its report on the Gujarat carnage be implemented.
(See Detailed Annexures, Volume III)
1.2. The
role of the mass media — audio, visual and print — is critical in times
of internal conflict. Unbiased coverage, the urge to investigate and
report the truth, and to expose injustices are the positive aspects of
media coverage. On the negative side, provocative headlines and
non-factual reporting can reinforce stereotypes, fuel rumours, fan the
flames of hatred and justify or instigate violence against the targeted
community. In the latter case, the media abandons what is expected of a
free press — fair reporting, analysis and comment – and, instead, acts
as a partisan in the conflict.
1.3.
Following Shri Modi’s diktat, the bodies of the passengers burnt to
death in a compartment of the Sabarmati Express at Godhra, were taken by
road in a cavalcade to the Sola Civil Hospital in Ahmedabad. ‘Rambhakts’
in the cavalcade resorted to provocative sloganeering, expressing their
rage and threatening revenge. The state-controlled media was used to
broadcast this message and the local Akashvani radio station even
announced the cavalcade’s scheduled time of arrival in Ahmedabad. By the
time the dead bodies reached the civil hospital, a highly charged crowd
had already assembled there, shouting incendiary slogans like, "Khoon
ka badla khoon se lenge" ("We will avenge blood with blood").
1.4. It was
during the 7.30 p.m. broadcast on Akashvani radio that Shri Modi,
for the first time, alleged that the "ISI or a foreign hand was behind
the Godhra tragedy." This, then, became his government and party’s
official version; and for his Sangh Parivar fraternity, the
justification for the ‘reaction’. The tragedy was that the state
executive touted the ‘foreign hand’ version without any investigative
proof and that large sections of the media published it uncritically,
without asking Shri Modi the basis on which he had so quickly arrived at
such a conclusion.
1.5. Even
English language newspapers, which, to their credit, played a
non-partisan role after the outbreak of violence post-Godhra, faltered
somewhat on the question of the ISI link in the Godhra crime. For
example, based on information provided by officials investigating the
Godhra tragedy, The Times of India carried a report in the
last week of March, debunking the ‘pre-planned theory’. But weeks
earlier, the same newspaper had uncritically reported statements made by
Gujarat ministers, baselessly asserting that the ‘Godhra attack could
not have been spontaneous.’ Later, after extensive investigation, the
Ahmedabad based Forensic Science Laboratory concluded that the
inflammable material that set coach S-6 aflame could not possibly have
been poured in from outside.
1.6. Aaj
Tak was the first TV news channel to flash the news of the Godhra
deaths. Thereafter, Zee TV´s local cameraman in Godhra
rushed his footage to Ahmedabad. This was aired soon after 2 p.m.
Others, including Doordarshan, followed, deputing camera crew
from Ahmedabad, Vadodara and Delhi. The magnitude of the horror only
unfolded several hours after the tragedy, as the evening TV news
bulletins repeatedly telecast gruesome pictures of the burnt train and
the corpses. The telecast of such pictures raises ethical issues that
the visual media should deliberate upon.
1.7. On
February 28, the two largest circulation, multiple-edition Gujarati
newspapers, Sandesh and Gujarat Samachar, which are fairly
dependent on the state government’s largesse, played up the
unsubstantiated official version of there being a ‘foreign hand’ behind
the Godhra tragedy. It was only 3-4 weeks later that reports rubbishing
this theory began to appear in newspapers. But by that time, the damage
had already been done.
1.8.
Sandesh and Gujarat Samachar have been playing a blatantly
communal role since the BJP returned to power in Gujarat in 1998. The
BJP government’s patronage of these dailies needs to be looked into
carefully, so that they do not continue to act as mere government
agents. In the recent carnage, too, the role of Sandesh was
particularly mischievous, while some smaller circulation newspapers like
Gujarat Today, Sadhbhav and Gujarat Mitra acted
responsibly.
1.9. On
February 28, the day after the Godhra tragedy, Sandesh published
photographs of the burning coach of the Sabarmati Express with the
headline, ‘Fifty Hindus burnt alive’ above the masthead. Besides, it
also had a gruesome colour spread of photographs of the Godhra corpses.
This was the first major breach of media ethics and law in the
context of the Gujarat carnage. Witnesses told the Tribunal that copies
of this issue of Sandesh were widely photocopied and flaunted by
cadres of the RSS/VHP and BD in rural areas, to provoke anger and prompt
the participation of ordinary people in the carnage that followed.
1.10. In the
same issue, another front page headline that read, ‘From among those
abducted from the Sabarmati Express, two dead bodies of Hindu girls
found near Kalol in mutilated state’ had the following report: "Vadodara,
Thursday: News about the dead bodies of two girls, abducted from the
bogies during the attack on the Sabarmati Express yesterday, found in a
mutilated and terribly disfigured form near a pond in Kalol, has added
fuel to the already volatile situation of tension, not only in
Panchmahal, but in the whole state. In an act of inhumanity that would
make even a devil weep, both girls had their breasts cut off. It is
evident from the dead bodies that the victims had been repeatedly raped.
There is speculation that the girls might have died because of gross
sexual abuse." After investigations, the police found the report to be
entirely baseless.
1.11. The
police, too, stands indicted in this case by choosing to remain silent
and doing nothing to expose the newspaper and initiate action against it
for publishing a totally baseless but highly inflammatory story.
Meanwhile, Sandesh continued, unchecked, to paint Muslims as
murderers and traitors. On March 1, a report titled, ‘Call from the
mosque: Slay the non-believers — Islam is in trouble’ told its readers:
"On February 27, at 11.30 a.m., a mosque located along the railway
tracks incited a crowd with the call: ‘Slay the non-believers… Islam is
in danger.’ Responding to the call, the crowd attacked the surviving
Ram sevaks from the torched train compartments, who were sitting by
the railway tracks." This, too, was a story without any basis.
1.12. From
the news clippings perused and the testimonies collected by the
Tribunal, it appears that the deliberate labelling of the miscreants
responsible for the Godhra tragedy as ‘anti-national Pakistanis’ was the
brainwave of Gujarat’s home minister, Shri Gordhan Zadaphiya, who is
also a senior VHP leader. "The bogie-burning is a terrorist act similar
to the attack on the American Centre in Kolkata. The culprits in both
cases are the same," Shri Zadaphiya claimed, and issued a dire threat:
"We will teach a lesson to those who have done this. No one will be
spared and we will make sure that the forces behind this act will never
dare to repeat it."
1.13.
On March 7, Sandesh carried a report with a damaging headline,
suggesting that Indian Muslims returning from the Haj pilgrimage could
be a potential ‘terrorist’ threat to Hindus. Titled, ‘Hindus in danger!
Possibility of attack with terrorists’ support! Frightening scheme of
attack by returning Hajis!’, the report stated: "Various government
agencies have received frightening information that, after the Godhra
incident, the fear of terrorist attacks is looming. The terrorists will
use RDX purchased with foreign funds, attack with bombs or hijack
planes. Investigating agencies have confirmed that the ISI is
responsible for the attack on kar sevaks in Godhra. The
anti-social elements have gone underground for the present and are
waiting for an opportunity to attack. It is possible that the attack
will take place after the international pilgrims return from Saudi
Arabia after Haj. The attack was postponed so that the pilgrims can
return safely. According to the SP of the intelligence bureau, Shri
Sanjeev Bhatt, the bombings will be as serious as those that took place
in Mumbai, in 1993. As if in support of this, the chief minister, Shri
Modi, told the trading community that the Godhra incident was not
communal. It was well-planned and according to the facts being revealed,
it indicates that we have to be more alert. Only Pakistan benefits from
all this... That there are internal disturbances in India, and the
citizens are harassed, appears to be in the interest of the
perpetrators. The chief minister stated that the government is
determined to get to the roots of the Godhra incident and destroy the
elements that harmed the common man... Similarly, the former chief
minister, Shri Chhabildas Mehta said that the government and the people
should take adequate steps to ensure that Pakistan’s secret service
cannot do whatever it likes wherever it likes."
1.14. ‘When
Muslim leaders shouted slogans like ‘Hindustan Zindabad!’, read a
Sandesh headline on March 8. The report said that the Circuit
House witnessed ‘an unprecedented event’, when Muslim leaders of the
city came together to shout slogans like the one mentioned above, and
appeal for peace. The implication was clear: that Muslims are inherently
anti-national and violent, whose raising of patriotic slogans and
appealing for peace was ‘unprecedented’.
1.15.
Typically, the opening lines of most reports concerning the post-Godhra
violence began with, "In the continuing spiral of communal rioting that
broke out as a reaction to the demonic (or barbaric) Godhra incident..."
The denunciatory words used liberally to describe the Godhra incident
were strikingly absent when reporting the subsequent genocide. Clearly,
like the Gujarat government, Sandesh, too, continued to justify
the carnage in the rest of Gujarat as a ‘reaction’ to the heinous arson
in Godhra.
1.16. There
were several instances of misreporting that helped fuel rumours. The
report, on March 16, of an incident that took place in Machchipith,
Vadodara, where four Muslim youths in a Tata Sumo had been picked up for
carrying arms, was completely misleading. If one read the Sandesh
report, it appeared as though the youths had a whole cache of arms in
the vehicle. The truth was that one of the occupants was carrying a
firearm for which he had a license. Similarly, there were misleading
reports about Tandalja in Vadodara, which has a large Muslim population.
It also housed the largest relief camp, giving shelter to more than
5,000 people from the city and nearby areas. Sandesh’s
reports on Tandalja were instrumental in fuelling rumours and spreading
false information. In fact, on March 18, members of Shanti Abhiyan, an
NGO, forced Sandesh to publish a refutation of an article it had
earlier published, which reported that there was tension in Tandalja.
1.17.
Inflammatory tactics were used consistently by Sandesh. Reports
on gruesome acts, like the burning alive of people, were published in
bold letters, under banner headlines. Photographs of burnt, mangled
bodies were a regular feature on the front page, or the last page
reserved for important local news. In the first week of violence in the
state, Sandesh published colour photographs of scenes of the
carnage, superimposed with a ‘burst’ giving readers the latest figure of
casualties. Photographs of trishul-wielding ‘Ram sevaks’
were splashed on the front pages in the first week. The photographs
served to instill terror amongst Muslims and to provoke intense passions
and mutual hostility between the two communities.
1.18.
Sandesh did worse than ignore the journalistic code of conduct that
prohibits naming the communities involved in violent conflagrations. It
published reports like: ‘a mob of religious fanatics’ (read Muslims) who
were abducting tribal women, having to face the wrath of the people; or:
‘religious fanatics’ about to attack a temple causing tension in certain
areas in Vadodara city, bringing ‘devotees’ (read Hindus) out on the
street to protect their place of worship.
1.19.
Throughout the violence, Sandesh cynically propagated the idea of
Muslims being anti-national and pro-Pakistan. Areas in the city or the
state with a sizeable Muslim population were described as
‘mini-Pakistan’. On March 7, a report claimed to have discovered
Godhra’s ‘Karachi connection’: an entire area in Karachi named Godhra.
On March 1, the headline of a news item claimed that a ‘mini-Pakistan’
was in existence in the Navayard area of the city. The article went on
to say that such ‘pockets’ were being created in the city, and asked the
police to take note of the ‘criminal’ UP migrant labourers who lived in
this area. That Muslims in such bastis were living in complete
terror at the time, was a trivial detail the Sandesh reports had
no use for.
1.20. On
March 1, a report claimed that the entire Sabarmati Express would have
been put to flames had it not been delayed. The headline claimed, ‘A mob
of 7-8,000 was waiting for the Sabarmati Express to arrive at Godhra.’
The mob, Sandesh reminded its readers, was made up of ‘religious
fanatics’.
1.21.
Gujarat Samachar, the other leading Gujarati paper, also played a
role in inflaming passions, though not as consistently as Sandesh.
Reportage on the Godhra incident, in particular, was inflammatory and
irresponsible. But it also carried reports highlighting the need for
communal harmony.
1.22. On
February 28, the lead story on page 1 carried the headline, ‘3-4 young
girls kidnapped.’ The source of this information was not mentioned. On
page 10, a report quoted VHP leader, Shri Kaushik Patel, who claimed
that 10 girls had been kidnapped. The reporter, evidently, had not
cross-checked the concocted claims, either with the IGP or the railway
police. The report did not mention the names of any of the girls or any
other details about the alleged kidnapping. Yet another report, on page
2, carried the account, ostensibly, of an eyewitness, Sushri Hetalben,
after the train reached Vadodara. She was quoted as saying, "Young girls
from Ashraiwadi, who were travelling with us, are lost."
1.23. On
March 6, the Gujarat Samachar carried a report on the last page
with the headline, ‘The Plan was to torch the whole train, not just one
bogie.’ A box item on the last page stated that, ‘a mob was ready for
the second attack.’ Again, the source of information was not mentioned;
the tone and tenor of the reports, however, suggested they were reports
based on careful investigation.
1.24. On
March 7, Gujarat Samachar carried a box item on the last page,
claiming that, "ISI is creating trouble in Gujarat; Kalota and his
colleagues are important link; the deputy commander of ‘Huji’, arrested
in Kolkata, has confessed to the conspiracy." The report uses the term ‘Rambhakt’
several times for the travellers on the Sabarmati Express on that
fateful day. On March 6, the headline of a report read ‘Torching of the
train at Godhra was pre-planned. Kalota was tipped off by a railway
officer on how to cut open the vacuum pipes.’ The source of information
was not mentioned.
1. 25. On
March 16, a page 1 story titled, ‘Indiscriminate firing from Fatehganj
Mosque,’ was a complete fabrication.
1.26. On
March 18, a photograph on page 1 showing bombs recovered by police
during combing operations in the Danilimda area of Ahmedabad, had a
caption that said: "People talking of secularism should be asked if
protecting criminals is secularism."
1.27. There
were many other stories that contributed actively to the belief that
Muslims were mobilising on a large scale to attack Hindus. It is evident
from the communal pogroms and conflicts in recent years, that a section
of the mass media is being increasingly used to peddle the familiar
communal tactic of depicting the victim as the aggressor and vice versa.
On March 24, a heading on page 1 of Gujarat Samachar read,
‘Sat Kaival temple receives threat; Sarsa temple and pathshala
under threat of being blown up using remote control.’ And a heading on
page 2 in the same issue read, ‘Possibility of attack with deadly
weapons; Secret agencies receive information; Religious and educational
institutions will be targeted. All DSPs alerted.’ On March 26,
Gujarat Samachar had a story on the last page, ‘Sabarmati Express
incident was nothing but a pre-planned incident; many youths ready to
commit crimes on just one signal from Bilal.’ There was absolutely no
basis to any of these reports.
1.28.
However, unlike Sandesh and Gujarat Samachar also carried
some positive stories. Here are some examples:
u Residents of Ram-Rahim tekra in Ahmedabad are an example
of communal harmony. (March 5, p.1)
u Hindus saved the life of a Muslim woman in Halol. (March 5,
p.5)
u No one wants riots. Rare scenes of communal harmony in
sensitive areas of the city. (March 6, last page)
u Elol village near Himmatnagar is an example of communal
harmony. (March 6, p.5)
u A Muslim woman offered shelter to a Hindu family. (March 7,
p.3)
u At Bhoj village in Padra taluka, Muslims were given
shelter in a temple. (March 7, p.8)
u "Oh! He is our Rahim Chacha… our guruji…" and
they saved him.
(March 10, p.11 - An article by Bhaven
Kachchhi in Sunday supplement.)
u At Lilapir Dargah of Talaja, devotees include all — Hindus and
Muslims.
(March 11, p.5)
u An old Muslim woman saved from a mob by a Hindu youth. (March
22, p.2)
u A pregnant lady taken to hospital by a Muslim youth risking his
life. (March 28)
1. 29.
Gujarat Today is an 11-year-old Gujarati daily
with a claimed circulation of 70,000. It is published by the Lokhit
Prakashan Trust, Ahmedabad. The paper was started by Muslim liberals,
and is probably the only Gujarati daily with a large Muslim readership.
The paper carries news from villages and district towns that are not
generally covered by the mainstream media. Given that Muslims constitute
the vast majority of the readers of Gujarat Today, the role it
played during the carnage is particularly noteworthy and significant
1.30. In its
report on the Godhra incident on February 28, the paper reported that
kar sevaks caught hold of some Muslim tea-vendors at Godhra station
and forced them to say ‘Jai Shri Ram’, which sparked off the
incident. This is also highlighted in a box on another page. In contrast
to the more temperate language used in later reports, the reportage on
February 28 was distasteful in parts. When the Sabarmati Express arrived
at Vadodara station, "the saffron mob of the Bajrang Dal and VHP ran
like dogs, attacking people with swords... kar sevaks got down
from the train shouting slogans like ‘Har Har Mahadev!’ ‘Bharat
Mata ki Jai!’ ‘Kill Muslims, chop up Muslims’..." The paper also
carried a report and a photograph of a Hindu youth, Shri Arun Paswan,
who was also attacked at Vadodara railway station.
1.31. There
was no editorial on the Godhra carnage on February 28, to condemn the
heinous crime of torching a train compartment, whatever the provocation.
Principles apart, the daily, it would seem, was even oblivious to the
enormous communal consequences of what had happened.
1.32.
However, thereafter, the extensive coverage of the incidents, helplines
and information about the police and the administration was factual.
1.33.
Details of relief camps in Ahmedabad — their location, the kinds of
facilities available (and what was necessary) in the camps — as well as
appeals for assistance were published.
1.34. The
paper carried detailed investigative reports of the violence. Some of
these were:
u Details on the conditions of people in the relief camps,
including issues of legal assistance, marriages organised and the
delivery of babies in the camps. (March 6)
u Investigation into the Naroda Patiya incident, with details
relating to the procurement of petrol, diesel and gas cylinders used for
burning.
u Use of the inflammable chemical ‘Lakgel’ for burning. (March 8)
This has not been reported in any other paper.
1.35. The
daily also made a consistent effort to report on instances of communal
harmony, and to project the view of Hindu liberals and progressives who
were critical of the Hindutva project in Gujarat. Some examples
are reports on: how the lives and properties of 175 Muslims of Naroda in
Ahmedabad were protected by local shepherds; how Hindu doctors in
Bhavnagar saved properties from burning and made efforts to treat the
injured; relief in the form of foodgrain and clothes provided by Hindus
to victims in Jhagadia; a group marriage of Hindu and Muslim youths in
Mangrol.
1.36. Also
reported was news from Prantij, where a woman sarpanch
successfully stopped riots occurring in her village. The March 8 edition
carried news items about peace committees in Vagra, Palej, Dholka and
Bharuch. On March 10, the paper had a report on how Hindu families saved
the lives of 15 Muslims in Kavitha village near Borsad. While there were
reports from Juhapura, of how Muslims saved Hindus, there was also a
report on how looting of both Hindus and Muslims took place.
1.37. The
March 12 issue carried news of a Hindu family in Dehgam, which sheltered
20 Muslims in their house, and a boxed item about a relief camp in
Bhalej village, Kheda district, run by Hindus and Muslims. The March 15
issue had a report of how Muslim women saved the lives of Hindus. News
of unity among the Hindus and Muslims of Lambadia and Sami was reported
in other issues of the paper.
1.38. The
Gujarat government, the Tribunal notes, was selective about action
against TV channels and publications. While it banned some local TV
channels, and also a national channel — Star News — on March 2,
because it had exposed the government’s inaction, it took no action
against newspapers like Sandesh. The ban was lifted on the
assurance that the CM would be given a chance to air his views on the
channel.
1.39. The
English language newspapers, with their local editions in Gujarat, did a
commendable job through most of that period. Although the over-emphasis
on urban reportage meant that the villages and rural districts affected
by the carnage received exposure much later (even though the violence
took place in the same 72 hours after Godhra), the abiding impression
gained by the Tribunal, on perusing the English media, was its
commitment to secular values even in the face of intimidation. The
Ahmedabad and Vadodara ‘Newsline’ supplements of The Indian Express
and The Times of India’s local edition, did a fine job in
exposing the truth, doing follow-up stories etc. The Ahmedabad-edition
of The Asian Age, too, reflected this urgency and sense of
purpose. Many of the stories exposed the government’s complicity and the
police buckling under political pressure.The Indian Express
especially went out of it’s way on the issue. The resident editor of the
newspaper, Shri Virendra Kumar had to face threats and intimidation from
both the government and leaders of the accused organisations but he did
not buckle down.
1.40. The
Tribunal would like to record its appreciation of the Updates on the
Gujarat Carnage put out on the website sabrang.com, which
were, in a sense, the first insightful accounts and analyses of the
horrors of the Gujarat carnage. The conditions at the relief camps, the
abdication of state responsibility in giving succour, and the sheer
scale of the deaths, were recorded accurately by this and other efforts
of this organisation. Journalist Teesta Setalvad’s tracking of the
Gujarat carnage, in the report brought out by Communalism Combat
and in earlier publications, also deserves favourable mention.
1.41.
Through a statement issued on April 3, the chairman of the Press
Council, Justice K Jayachandra Reddy, warned the errant media of action
under section 295-A of the IPC and allied provisions. (Section 295-A
deals with "Deliberate and malicious acts intended to outrage religious
feelings of any class by insulting its religion or religious beliefs.")
1.42. The
national print and electronic media documented the holocaust and the
systematic targeting of Muslim homes, mohallas, shops and
establishments, factories, hotels and eateries and other economic assets
as well as dargahs, mosques, shrines and kabristans
(graveyards).
1.43. The
rediff.com portal posted an interview that journalist Sushri Sheela
Bhatt conducted with Shri KK Shastri, the 96-year-old president of the
Gujarat unit of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad, which makes for chilling
reading. According to Shri Shastri, the list of Muslim-owned shops to be
targeted was prepared on the morning of February 28. This because, "We
were terribly angry (over Godhra)… Lust and anger are blind"... "Hindutva
was attacked… This is a tremendous outburst that will be difficult to
roll back"… "We can´t condemn it because they are our boys." Shri
Shastri added, "The VHP has formed a panel of 50 lawyers to help release
the arrested people accused of rioting and looting. None of these
lawyers will charge any fees because they believe in the RSS ideology."
Shri Shastri is said to have denied making these remarks. The two VHP
joint general secretaries from Gujarat, Dr. Jaideep Patel and Dr Kaushik
Mehta, whom the Editors’ Guild met at the VHP office in Ahmedabad, also
contradicted the report, making out that Shri Shastri was old and hard
of hearing. They rejected the theory that Muslim premises were targeted.
But Sushri Sheela Bhatt has the tape. (See section on Annexures,
Volume I). The tenor of
the April issue of Vishwa Hindu Samachar, published by Rashtra
Chetna Prakashan and edited by none other than Shri Shastri himself,
lends credence to what he told rediff.com. A two-page article
therein praises the ‘Chhote Sardar’ (CM Shri Narendra Modi) for
his handling of Godhra and its aftermath.
1.44. The
Tribunal recorded the evidence, in detail, of representatives from the
print and electronic media. There are a large number of Gujarati
newspapers, there being 32 large and small vernacular publications, in
Ahmedabad alone. Fulchab, in Rajkot, was, characteristically, the
first to take out a peace rally immediately after Godhra. Sambhav
(with 4 editions in Gujarat), Prabhat (published from Ahmedabad
and Mehsana) and Gujarat Today (which has a Muslim ownership, and
is published in Ahmedabad) are seen to have been moderate and balanced
in their reportage and editorial approach. The CMD of Sambhav,
Shri Kiran Vadodaaria, avoided publishing pictures of corpses. The paper
received an anonymous threat on April 1, because it had carried a column
by Shri MJ Akbar, the editor-in-chief of The Asian Age. Though
curfew passes were denied to the editorial staff of Sambhav, they
were able to move about quite freely with their normal press cards.
Prabhat´s
director, Shri Ashish Kothari, has testified before the Editors’ Guild
about swords and liquor being distributed on February 27. The Kutch
Mitra ran a statement by a prominent moulavi on its front
page for several days, condemning Godhra and expressing regret over what
had happened while the March 2 issue of Saurashtra Samachar,
Bhavnagar, carried a special supplement devoted to religious harmony.
Evidence before the Tribunal also indicates that smaller Gujarati papers
like Madhyantar, edited by Shri Jashwant Rawal, incited violence
through provocative reporting. The publication’s April 3 edition,
produced before the Tribunal alleged that a Muslim police officer was
behind the local riots in Anand district. An eight-column commentary on
the front page was headlined, ‘Muslims will have to prove that they are
full Indians.’
1.45. The
widely reported statements of Sri Modi and former union law minister,
Shri Arun Jaitley, about the media’s role in ‘provoking violence’
generated a lot of discussion and debate. "...I would also appeal to the
media to do their bit. The media is supposed to give subdued coverage to
such volatile situations.... If you show dead bodies and then identify
which community the bodies belong to, then, instead of playing the role
of reducing tensions you are actually provoking people." — Arun Jaitley.
(Telephonic interview on the programme, ‘Is Waqt’, Zee News,
March 1).
1.46. The
Tribunal finds these statements farcical, since these top-level
government functionaries did nothing to control obvious efforts by the
VHP/RSS/BJP leadership to fuel rage and instigate ‘revenge’ post-Godhra.
When the free press did its job, highlighting the crimes committed and
the government’s complicity in it, they chose to lay the blame at the
doors of the ‘messengers’ from the media.
1.47.
Journalists covering communal riots in the country experience a sea
change over the last decade and a half, in the conditions of work and
the risks they now face. Prior to 1992, when communal violence did not
involve the mobilisation of large mobs/cadres, a reporter or a press
photographer could move around more or less freely, secure that, in the
performance of journalistic duty, they themselves would not become
potential targets. But after December 6, 1992, this can no longer be
taken for granted. The violence and vandalism accompanying the Ayodhya
movement changed all that. As the demolition of the Babri Masjid was in
progress on December 6, 1992, several reporters, correspondents and
media persons were brutally attacked.
A significant development, negatively
in this regard has been the physical danger experienced by women and men
journalists from the targeted Muslim community covering the carnage. The
Tribunal met at least three such who had identity cards with assumed
names, supported by their respective publications and managements to
ensure safe passage in their work.
1.48. Media
persons were targeted during the Gujarat carnage as well. Shri Modi
himself made repeated and veiled threats about the television coverage
by national channels like Star News and Aaj Tak. He even
attempted a ban on the former news channel, which did not quite work.
1.49. On
February 28, Shri Bhargava Parikh of Zee TV and his
cameraman were attacked because the attackers thought that they were
documenting evidence of individuals leading the mobs. Shri Dibang from
Aaj Tak was attacked near the Kabadi Market on March 2. Shri
Rajdeep Sardesai of Star News was threatened. ANS staff was also
attacked. Two correspondents of NDTV, Shri Sanjay Singh and Shri
Sanjay Rokhade were detained at Bhavnagar for five hours. They were
terrorised and traumatised by a band of Bajrang Dalis who taunted
them repeatedly, asking, should we kill you, should we not?
1.50. On
April 3, the crime reporter of The Asian Age in Ahmedabad,
Sushri Sonal Kellogg, and the reporter of a Surat-based daily were
beaten up by the police in the Mariam Bibi Ni Chawli area in Gomtipur.
When she complained to the deputy commissioner of police [Zone V], Shri
RJ Savani, whom she knew quite well, all he said was that "it might have
been a mistake." When she protested to the police commissioner, Shri PC
Pandey, in his office, he was dismissive, "Don’t bother me…I don’t have
time…file a complaint if you want." As the journalist herself puts it,
"If policemen can be so brutal towards journalists on duty, their
behaviour with ordinary citizens could be so much more atrocious. It is
a pity that the police in Gujarat is either a mute spectator or it
harasses and tortures innocent people."
1.51. On
April 8, the Ahmedabad police, who had failed to control mob violence
over the past 33 days, severely assaulted about two dozen reporters and
photographers at the historic Gandhi Ashram. The journalists, who had
assembled to cover two peace meetings, including one attended by Medha
Patkar, were beaten up ruthlessly. Leading his men was deputy
commissioner of police, Shri VM Parghi. Three media persons, The
Indian Express photographer Shri Harsh Shah, NDTV cameraman
Shri Pranav Joshi and ETV reporter Shri Harshal Pandya were
seriously injured, and Shri Pranav Joshi had to be admitted to the ICU
at a private hospital. Aaj Tak correspondent Shri Dhimant Purohit,
who suffered a fracture in his hand, NDTV reporter Shri Sanjeev
Singh, Jansatta photographer Shri Amit Dave, Gujarat Samachar
reporter Shri Ketan Trivedi, a photographer of the same newspaper
Shri Gautam Mehta and reporter Shri Ashish Amin were amongst the other
victims.
1.52. The
Editors’ Guild team also faced the wrath of Hindutva forces. On
April 1, one of its members was closeted with some print and TV
journalists at the Circuit House in Ahmedabad, when there was a big
commotion. A group of 6-8 VHP storm-troopers burst into his room,
shouting and gesticulating, jostling those present and vehemently
accusing them of hatching a dark conspiracy behind closed doors. A
Gujarat Information Directorate official sought to intervene and said
that discussions were in progress with a representative of the Editors’
Guild. The mob turned on the latter demanding to know whether he was
Hindu or Muslim. He replied saying that this was irrelevant, and that he
was a ‘Hindustani’ (Indian). Giving them his name, he asked the
intruders to identify themselves and state their purpose. They refused
to identify themselves, shouting ‘Hum Hindu hain’ (‘We are
Hindus’), each insisting in turn that this was his name. Only gradually
did the group cool down. Its spokesmen accused the English media and
national TV channels of defaming the majority community with ‘one-sided’
and ‘totally biased’ coverage. "They only listen to Muslims and ignore
Hindus. They do not focus on Muslim rioters and on damage to Hindu
property. Hindus who escaped from the Godhra inferno and have been
admitted to hospital in Ahmedabad and Hindu refugees in the Prem Darwaza
and other relief camps have not been interviewed." Aaj Tak
invited the harshest rebuke, especially for its coverage of the violence
in the first few hours of February 28. The group demanded that this
channel should be shut down and its ‘licence’ revoked. Aaj Tak
was probably the first on air with live footage of the rioting. The
Times of India and The Indian Express, both of which have
Ahmedabad editions, were also singled out for mention.
1.53. The
Editors’ Guild report comments extensively on the language used in the
press notes of the Gujarat government. Some of these deserve mention
here: "The phraseology most often used for the Godhra incident was,
"inhuman genocide", "inhuman carnage" or "massacre", while the
subsequent incidents of violence were invariably described as
"disturbances", and occasionally, as "violent disturbances/incidents."
The chief minister visited Godhra on the afternoon of February 27
itself, and the press note issued thereafter described the torching of
the Sabarmati Express as a "pre-planned, inhuman, collective, violent
act of terrorism."
1.53.1.
"Several press releases of the government refer to the situation having
been brought under control within 72 hours. An official release on March
5 carried twin headings, ‘The state government has taken stringent
action to stem riots and violence: Narendra Modi’ and ‘Chief minister’s
appeal to trade and industry, religious heads and intellectuals for the
revival and restoration of economic activities has evoked encouraging
response.’ The occasion was a Citizens’ meet organised by the Gujarat
Chamber of Commerce and Industry, in response to an appeal by the CM "to
revive and restore economic activity." The release notes: "Modi said it
was the duty of the state government to provide security to the citizens
even by taking drastic actions. Referring to the keen interest shown by
the people around the globe in the ‘Resurgent Gujarat’ after devastating
earthquake, he said that entire world was looking at the progressive and
fast developing Gujarat."
1.53.2.
"After again referring to "the pre-planned, collective terrorism against
Gujarat", "Pakistan’s proxy war" and its "clandestine role…behind the
Godhra genocide", "Modi asserted that at this critical juncture,
interest of Gujarat was to maintain peace and said that the Government
had discharged its duty to stop violence." Further, he said, "the
elements wanting to perpetuate violence and destabilise Gujarat were
disappointed." Making a reference to Shabana Azmi’s demand to file a
case of mass murder against the chief minister, Modi said that he would
not have any regret to be hanged at the Bhadra Fort if restoration of
peace within three days was considered an offence.
1.53.3.
"Another press release dated March 9 was headed, ‘We will not surrender
to the elements out to malign Gujarat says the chief minister.’ The
occasion was another address to "leading business men and the merchant
community" under the auspices of the Maskati New Cloth Market Mahajan.
Shri Modi said Mahatma Gandhi had taught Gujarat to fight against
injustice. Health minister Shri Ashok Bhatt who also spoke, "was cheered
when he said that the trading community hails the chief minister as "the
Sardar opposed to terrorism", because he restored peace to Ahmedabad in
only 72 hours." The press release concluded with the observation that
"businessmen, traders and the owners of process houses were full of
praise for the strong will power of the chief minister and described him
as ‘Chhote Sardar’"
1.53.4. "A
March 4 press release from Ahmedabad on the occasion of Shri LK Advani´s
visit to Gujarat stated, "Home minister LK Advani today said that the
Godhra genocide had given a setback to the four years of peaceful
Bharatiya Janata party rule in Gujarat." This comment was reflected in
the heading.
1.53.5.
"There were a few press notes on communal amity. A release dated March 2
quoted the chief minister as denying newspaper reports of people having
been burnt alive in Pandharwada village in the Panchmahal district. It
turned out to be one of the worst instances of rural violence. (This
incident was first reported by the monthly Communalism Combat in
its special issue, ‘Genocide, Gujarat 2002’, March-April issue, No.
77-78.)"
1.54. Among
the television networks, in addition to Doordarshan, Aaj Tak
and ETV (Eenadu) operate Gujarati channels. There were few
critics of ETV, and its coverage was described as balanced. But
Aaj Tak, in particular, received a lot of flak for its candid
coverage. A year ago, during the earthquake in 2001, it had been praised
for going off the beaten track and picking up special nuances on the
ground. It is possible that a similar approach proved an embarrassment
to the powers that be on this occasion. Like the other networks, it used
mobile OB vans that allowed for quicker and more exhaustive coverage.
1.55.
Star News telecast some graphic footage and
interviews in the thick of the riots in Ahmedabad, and along the
Vadodara-Godhra highway, where a number of industrial establishments and
trucks were burnt. It also carried an extremely moving interview with
professor JS Bandukwala in Vadodara, a man whose secular convictions
continue to burn bright, even after going through a terrible ordeal.
1.56. There
is little doubt that some of the television coverage exposed the state
government. It hit back by banning Star News on March 2 for
several hours. In an interview to Outlook (March 18), Shri Modi
was asked why he had sought to muzzle the press. His response was,
"There is no ban on the media. I blacked out just one channel because of
the provocative reporting methods used. Traditionally, the print media
has used its own methods of self-censorship, taking care not to mention
the names of communities while reporting riots. If every half an hour,
names of communities are going to be mentioned, without any
substantiation or any attribution, it inflames the situation instead of
allaying it. It is not difficult to see what impact it will have. I must
also tell you that since then, the channel has tendered an apology and
made amends." Asked about this, Star News sources commented that they
met Shri Modi at a press conference and requested him to lift, what they
termed, an unfair ban. The chief minister did so. It must also be added
that Shri Modi was given an opportunity to air his point of view on
events in Gujarat on the channel, by prior arrangement before the ban
was lifted.
1.57. The
coverage by Doordarshan and All India Radio (AIR’s)
Ahmedabad stations was restrained. Many viewers and listeners who
appeared as witnesses before the Tribunal said that they appreciated
this, although others expressed dissatisfaction, commenting on the fact
that while AIR reported the facts, Doordarshan kept saying
that the situation was ‘under control.’ The chief minister´s appeal for
peace was telecast repeatedly by Doordarshan. Peace rallies in
different parts of the state and programmes emphasising communal harmony
were aired. These included sound bytes in Gandhiji’s voice, culled from
archival material, and stories of Hindus sheltering Muslims. Efforts
were made to counter rumours and scenes of joint Holi celebrations were
screened.
1.58.
According to a report in The Indian Express (March 8), AIR,
Delhi was quizzed by somebody in the Prime Minister´s Office, regarding
an English discussion that was critical of the manner in which the
Gujarat riots had been handled. This is said to have resulted in an
inquiry and the transfer of the concerned programme officer.
1.59. Many
cities in Gujarat have local cable-television channels that telecast
news and programmes several hours a day. Gujarat Samachar has one
such channel in Ahmedabad. There is another, a 24-hour channel in Anand,
known as Charotar Area Network Link or CAN-Link. The group also
publishes a local newspaper, Naya Padkar. What subscribers wanted
from their local media was positive stories of community living and hard
information about violence-affected areas, curfew hours, safe routes for
commuting, and so forth. This was not forthcoming and such information,
when it was provided, was sometimes confusing.
Vadodara has 4 cable channels. While
they did carry some official peace messages, it is alleged that they
were politically exploited and that some of their coverage amounted to
incitement. In the evidence placed before the Tribunal, members of the
civil liberties’ group, PUCL, as well as Shanti Abhiyan were
particularly critical of the JTV and Deep channels. The
police commissioner of Vadodara felt that the cable networks had "played
havoc" and issued them a warning. The licences of two operators were
suspended on March 17, after they showed live footage of rioting in the
sensitive Machchipith area on March 15, when the VHP celebrated news of
the performance of shilanyas at Ayodhya. This same footage was
telecast again the following day. The licences were restored after 48
hours. FIRs were, however, registered against News Plus and the
VNM Channel respectively and the operators were released on bail.
Political leaders used the local
electronic media in the most despicable manner. The intentions of a
number of leaders belonging to the ruling party and its affiliates
become very clear, if one examines their speeches on local TV channels
such as JTV, Deep and VNM. The speeches of leaders
like Shri Ajay Dave (BJP), Shri Nalin Bhatt (BJP), Shri Deepak
Kharchikar (Shiv Sena), Shri Neeraj Jain (VHP), Sushri Bhartiben Vyas
(Mayor of Vadodara) and Shri Jitendra Sukhadia BJP), were particularly
provocative, obviously intended to incite crowds to violence. If these
were the speeches made on TV, one can well imagine the role of these
people during the violence on the streets. (For example, on March 18,
Sushri Bhartiben Vyas convened a ‘Shanti Samiti’ meeting which
was attended by the police commissioner and the collector, as well as
leading political figures of various parties. She made appropriate
pacifist remarks at this meeting but later that day, she made
inflammatory remarks against the minority community in the Vadodara
Municipal Council.)
1.60. The
Tribunal also recorded evidence that shows the misuse of the media by
channels like Citicable and Narmada, which influenced
public perceptions for the worse in Bharuch-Ankleshwar.
1.61.
Networks are subject to rules framed under the Cable Television Networks
(Regulation) Act, 1995. Operators have to seek registration by an
authorised officer, who may be a district magistrate, sub-divisional
magistrate or police commissioner within his/her area of jurisdiction.
The rules prescribe a code for programmes and advertisements. No
programme may be carried, which offends good taste or decency, attacks
religious communities, incites violence, contains false and suggestive
innuendoes and half-truths, or is unsuitable for unrestricted public
exhibition. Any authorised officer may prohibit certain transmissions
infringing the code or otherwise, if expedient to do so in the public
interest. Penalties include fines and seizure of equipment.
1.62. The
Editors’ Guild was informed that during long periods of curfew between
March 1 and 15, some cable channels made it a point to screen
‘patriotic’ or ‘nationalist’ films such as Gadar, Border
and Ma Tujhe Salaam.
1.63. The
Gujarat carnage was probably the first of its kind, where mobile phones
and cellular services were actively used. They were used by the leaders
of large mobs to coordinate and launch attacks. Equally, they were used
by victims, survivors, rights activists etc. to contact authorities or
to make frantic appeals for peace, which, unfortunately, were not always
heeded.
1.64. The
long history of communal violence in India is replete with instances
where rumours have been a prominent part of the modus operandi
adopted to stoke hatred and violence. But it works differently now.
Earlier phases of inter-community violence, riots started over small and
freak incidents and often spread due to the residual mistrust and
suspicion between communities. Since the early eighties, the pattern of
communal violence has increasingly assumed the characteristics of
pogroms and genocidal killings, and has made the generation of hate
speech and rumour an exercise put into force by the elements who lead
and mastermind the killings. Hate speech, pamphlets and propaganda are
conspicuously used to these ends, and even mainstream newspapers put
into use for the purpose.
1.65. The
rumours that were spread during the Gujarat carnage followed familiar
lines: Impending attacks from Muslims, threat of retaliation from the
relief camps, Muslim youths being armed, decapitated bodies found in a
temple, etc. Rumours such as these, which were doing the rounds, were
not adequately countered by the authorities; regrettably, the mass
media, too, did not pay heed to this. In what might appear paradoxical,
and reminiscent of the 1992-1993 anti-Muslim pogrom in Mumbai, while the
minorities were the victims, it was the majority that experienced the
threat perception most acutely. This was so because the fear psychosis
was deliberately created, in Mumbai earlier and in Gujarat this time, so
as to justify the carnage and killings as ‘defensive’ acts by
‘protectors of Hindus’. In response to this, sections of the minority
formed vigilante squads to defend themselves in majority dominated areas
of Ahmedabad and Vadodara.
1.66. Hate
speech and hate writing, rumour-mongering and factual reportage have now
become critical issues that need to be addressed by the police, the
government and the media, to maintain internal peace and security.
1.67. The
Tribunal would like to put on record that an anonymous e-mail message
was widely circulated in early March, the gist of which was that the
trigger for the tragedy at Godhra was provided by riotous kar sevaks,
who, among other things, molested a young Muslim girl on the railway
platform and dragged her with them into the compartment. It was this
misdemeanour which enraged the Muslim stall-owners trying to rescue the
girl, the e-mail claimed. It added that two local correspondents, Shri
Anil and Sushri Neelam Soni, were eyewitness to all this but that their
report was suppressed. To make the information appear authentic, the
designations and telephone numbers of the correspondents were given.
The e-mail message said that the girl
was "molested" and "abducted". Further, as the train began moving out of
the station, incensed hawkers pulled the alarm chain to stop it within a
few hundred metres of the station, near the outer signal cabin adjacent
to the Ghanchi neighbourhood, to which the vendors belong. The train was
mobbed and stoned and coach No. S-6 was set on fire.
When, exactly, this e-mail message was
actually sent, is not clear. However, on being questioned by the
Editors’ Guild, the Sonis denied having filed the story and disclaimed
it as a fabrication. Nevertheless, others also put out somewhat similar
versions, supplementing their account with a news report published by
the Faizabad-based Jan Morcha on February 25, narrating accounts
of the misbehaviour of kar sevaks on their way to Ayodhya.
travelling by the same Sabarmati Express.
That the kar sevaks attempted
to drag a Muslim girl standing on the platform to their compartment is a
fact. But rumour had it that she was actually pulled into the train. A
senior journalist who deposed before the Tribunal, clarified that she
had spoken to the family concerned, who said that an attempt was made to
pull the girl into the train, but Muslim vendors intervened at once and
rescued her.
1.68. The
Tribunal records from the evidence placed before it that four young men
from Ahmedabad – Shri Memon Mohammed Samir B and Shri Memon Ayub
Abubakar from Juhapura and Shri Memon Gulam Mustafa J and Shri Mansuri
Makbul I, both from Sarkhej Road — have filed an FIR under sections
153(A), 155, 295, 295(A) of the Indian Penal Code against Sandesh
and Gujarat Samachar. The complaint, faxed to the commissioner of
police, Ahmedabad, Shri PC Pandey, and dated March 10 states, "After the
incident of February 27, these two publications, instead of reporting
news fairly, made baseless accusations against Muslims and printed
fallacious news and also spread the news in a provocative manner, which
is detrimental to the interest of the nation and as such, caused
provocation resulting in large-scale destruction… Due to the articles
carried by the publication on February 28, which were inflammatory, not
only was the integrity of the Muslim community questioned, but
unspeakable atrocities were also inflicted on it… By such provocative
news articles, the accused displayed support to particular right-wing
extremist organisations like the VHP and the Bajrang Dal, which has not
only ruined the prestige of the state but brought national shame to
India in the eyes of the international community… The rift caused
between citizens on the grounds of religion and communal disharmony is
becoming irrevocable and as such the accused, large circulating
newspapers, have committed a heinous crime, as contemplated by the
sections above. They can also be booked under the POTO ordinance." The
Tribunal notes with regret that no action has been initiated against the
newspapers. (See Detailed Annexures: PUCL
Report on Media, Volume III).