News Analysis India

Tag: godhra

  • ‘Conspiracy was hatched to defame Gujarat globally post 2002 riots’, claims PM Modi

    Express News Service

    AHMEDABAD: Prime Minister Narendra Modi, on Wednesday, claimed that there had been a conspiracy to defame Gujarat globally in the aftermath of the 2002 Gujarat riots and accused the then central government of showing indifference to the state’s development. Modi made these remarks as part of his address at the 20th anniversary of Vibrant Gujarat Global Summit in Ahmedabad.

    He said he was a first-time chief minister and faced crises such as the 2001 earthquake, preceding drought years, the collapse of cooperative banks, the 2002 Godhra tragedy and the state-wide violence in its aftermath.

    Addressing the gathering, PM Modi remarked: “In 2001, there was an uproar in the economic life of Gujarat. In a way, the financial sector of Gujarat was in crisis. At that time, I had become an MLA for the first time, this role was also new for me, I had no experience of running a government. But the challenge was huge.”

    “Meanwhile, another incident happened. The heart-wrenching incident of Godhra took place and in the circumstances that followed, Gujarat burst into flames of violence. Hardly anyone would have imagined such a dire situation. Even though I did not have much experience as a Chief Minister at that time, I had unwavering faith in Gujarat and the people of Gujarat.” he added.

    Attacking the opposition, the PM said “Those who carry an agenda were busy analyzing the events in their own way even at that time. It was said that youth from Gujarat, industries from Gujarat, businessmen from Gujarat will all move out, migrate and Gujarat will be so ruined that it will become a huge burden for the country.”

    “A conspiracy was hatched to defame Gujarat before the world. An attempt was made to create an atmosphere of despair. It was said that Gujarat would never be able to stand on its own feet. Even in that crisis, I resolved that no matter what the circumstances were, I would take Gujarat out of it.” he claimed.

    The Prime Minister remembered the indifference of the then-central government towards Gujarat.

    “…Those who ran central government earlier used to link Gujarat’s development with politics. Ministers from the central government refused to come to the Vibrant Gujarat Summit. They used to threaten foreign investors and attempted to stop them from coming to Gujarat. Even after so much threatening, foreign investors came to Gujarat” Modi alleged.

    The prime minister said this was possible because of good governance, fair and policy-driven governance, and an equal system of growth and transparency, despite no special incentive.

    The Prime Minister explained the success of the Vibrant Gujarat Global Summit through its journey.

    The 2003 edition attracted only a few hundred participants; today more than 40000 participants and delegates and 135 countries take part in the summit, he informed. The number of exhibitors has also increased from 30 in 2003 to more than 2000 today.

    He said that India has become the third-largest economy in the world. He asked the industrialists to focus on sectors that will help with new possibilities for India. He asked for a discussion to take place in the startup ecosystem, agri-tech, food processing, and Shri Anna.

    Later, Prime Minister Modi also inaugurated development projects worth Rs 5,206 crore in Chhota Udepur, Gujarat, which includes the provision of village Wi-Fi facilities in 22 districts. The PM also discussed about the Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam’ in Vadodara.

    AHMEDABAD: Prime Minister Narendra Modi, on Wednesday, claimed that there had been a conspiracy to defame Gujarat globally in the aftermath of the 2002 Gujarat riots and accused the then central government of showing indifference to the state’s development. Modi made these remarks as part of his address at the 20th anniversary of Vibrant Gujarat Global Summit in Ahmedabad.

    He said he was a first-time chief minister and faced crises such as the 2001 earthquake, preceding drought years, the collapse of cooperative banks, the 2002 Godhra tragedy and the state-wide violence in its aftermath.

    Addressing the gathering, PM Modi remarked: “In 2001, there was an uproar in the economic life of Gujarat. In a way, the financial sector of Gujarat was in crisis. At that time, I had become an MLA for the first time, this role was also new for me, I had no experience of running a government. But the challenge was huge.”googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display(‘div-gpt-ad-8052921-2’); });

    “Meanwhile, another incident happened. The heart-wrenching incident of Godhra took place and in the circumstances that followed, Gujarat burst into flames of violence. Hardly anyone would have imagined such a dire situation. Even though I did not have much experience as a Chief Minister at that time, I had unwavering faith in Gujarat and the people of Gujarat.” he added.

    Attacking the opposition, the PM said “Those who carry an agenda were busy analyzing the events in their own way even at that time. It was said that youth from Gujarat, industries from Gujarat, businessmen from Gujarat will all move out, migrate and Gujarat will be so ruined that it will become a huge burden for the country.”

    “A conspiracy was hatched to defame Gujarat before the world. An attempt was made to create an atmosphere of despair. It was said that Gujarat would never be able to stand on its own feet. Even in that crisis, I resolved that no matter what the circumstances were, I would take Gujarat out of it.” he claimed.

    The Prime Minister remembered the indifference of the then-central government towards Gujarat.

    “…Those who ran central government earlier used to link Gujarat’s development with politics. Ministers from the central government refused to come to the Vibrant Gujarat Summit. They used to threaten foreign investors and attempted to stop them from coming to Gujarat. Even after so much threatening, foreign investors came to Gujarat” Modi alleged.

    The prime minister said this was possible because of good governance, fair and policy-driven governance, and an equal system of growth and transparency, despite no special incentive.

    The Prime Minister explained the success of the Vibrant Gujarat Global Summit through its journey.

    The 2003 edition attracted only a few hundred participants; today more than 40000 participants and delegates and 135 countries take part in the summit, he informed. The number of exhibitors has also increased from 30 in 2003 to more than 2000 today.

    He said that India has become the third-largest economy in the world. He asked the industrialists to focus on sectors that will help with new possibilities for India. He asked for a discussion to take place in the startup ecosystem, agri-tech, food processing, and Shri Anna.

    Later, Prime Minister Modi also inaugurated development projects worth Rs 5,206 crore in Chhota Udepur, Gujarat, which includes the provision of village Wi-Fi facilities in 22 districts. The PM also discussed about the Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam’ in Vadodara.

  • Maya Kodnani’s political career set for revival post acquittal in Naroda Gam riots case

    By PTI

    AHMEDABAD: With her acquittal in the second and last case against her in the 2002 riots cases, doors are now open for former Bharatiya Janata Party minister Maya Kodnani to stage a comeback in Gujarat’s active politics, a decade after her political graph nosedived following allegations related to the post-Godhra communal violence.

    Gujarat BJP leaders on Friday said if the physician-turned-politician, once a member of the powerful Narendra Modi ministry in the state and rising star in politics, wants to return to active politics, the saffron party will definitely assign work to her.

    On Thursday, Kodnani, 68, was acquitted by a special court in the February 28, 2002, Naroda Gam riots case in which 11 members of a minority community were burnt to death and their houses set on fire by a mob enraged by the burning of Sabarmati Express train near Godhra a day earlier that killed 59 passengers.

    This was the second and final riots case in which she was named an accused.

    Earlier, the only BJP minister named in the violence was cleared in the Naroda Patiya case.

    “Kodnani is an active worker and participates in party functions. It is her personal choice whether she wants to take part in active politics,” said a senior BJP leader.

    “It is up to her to decide whether she wants to remain active in politics. If she does, then the party will definitely assign her work,” he said.

    ALSO READ | ‘Naroda Gam massacre verdict is a murder of judiciary’, say victims who saw lives being snuffed out

    Before her acquittal in the Naroda Gam case, Kodnani was in April 2018 cleared by the Gujarat High Court in the 2002 Naroda Patiya massacre.

    As many as 97 people were killed during riots in Ahmedabad’s Naroda Patiya area and in the case she was dubbed a “kingpin” by a special court that sentenced her to life imprisonment in August 2012, but the verdict was overturned by the HC.

    Both areas are part of the Assembly constituency once represented by the BJP leader.

    Soon after her acquittal by the HC, Kodnani, an Ahmedabad resident and three-time former MLA, was seen at some of the BJP functions in the state.

    During the campaign for the December 2022 Assembly elections, the former MLA was spotted at BJP functions, sharing dais with top party leadership where she was greeted with zeal.

    Kodnani, facing the twin riots cases, was forced to resign as Minister of State for Women and Child Development in the then-Narendra Modi government after the Gujarat High Court rejected her anticipatory bail on March 27, 2009.

    Following this, she surrendered before the Supreme Court-appointed Special Investigation Team (SIT) formed to further investigate the 2002 Godhra train carnage and eight other riots cases, including those reported in Ahmedabad’s Naroda Gam and Naroda Patiya in which she was made an accused.

    The BJP leader was a sitting MLA when she was sentenced to life imprisonment by a special court in the Naroda Patiya massacre case in 2012.

    Kodnani began her political career by helming the Ahmedabad BJP Mahila Morcha and getting elected as a councillor of the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation and then chairperson of the civic body’s standing committee in the 1990s.

    A gynaecologist by training, Kodnani was seen as a rising star among women leaders of the BJP.

    She entered the Assembly for the first time in 1998 when she was elected from the Naroda constituency in Ahmedabad, defeating the Congress candidate by a huge margin of more than 74,500 votes.

    After the 2002 riots, she won the same seat by a bigger margin of more than 1 lakh votes in the Assembly election held in December that year.

    In 2003, the BJP elevated her as the president of the party’s Ahmedabad unit.

    She went on to win the Assembly elections for the third term from Naroda in 2007, this time by an even bigger margin of more than 1.80 lakh votes, further raising her stature in the saffron party.

    After her third victory, she was rewarded with a ministership in the state’s Modi government.

    Kodnani was made Minister of State for Women and Child Development and Higher Education, but her political career suffered a setback when she was arraigned in the two riots cases by the SC-appointed SIT and had to resign in 2009.

    AHMEDABAD: With her acquittal in the second and last case against her in the 2002 riots cases, doors are now open for former Bharatiya Janata Party minister Maya Kodnani to stage a comeback in Gujarat’s active politics, a decade after her political graph nosedived following allegations related to the post-Godhra communal violence.

    Gujarat BJP leaders on Friday said if the physician-turned-politician, once a member of the powerful Narendra Modi ministry in the state and rising star in politics, wants to return to active politics, the saffron party will definitely assign work to her.

    On Thursday, Kodnani, 68, was acquitted by a special court in the February 28, 2002, Naroda Gam riots case in which 11 members of a minority community were burnt to death and their houses set on fire by a mob enraged by the burning of Sabarmati Express train near Godhra a day earlier that killed 59 passengers.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display(‘div-gpt-ad-8052921-2’); });

    This was the second and final riots case in which she was named an accused.

    Earlier, the only BJP minister named in the violence was cleared in the Naroda Patiya case.

    “Kodnani is an active worker and participates in party functions. It is her personal choice whether she wants to take part in active politics,” said a senior BJP leader.

    “It is up to her to decide whether she wants to remain active in politics. If she does, then the party will definitely assign her work,” he said.

    ALSO READ | ‘Naroda Gam massacre verdict is a murder of judiciary’, say victims who saw lives being snuffed out

    Before her acquittal in the Naroda Gam case, Kodnani was in April 2018 cleared by the Gujarat High Court in the 2002 Naroda Patiya massacre.

    As many as 97 people were killed during riots in Ahmedabad’s Naroda Patiya area and in the case she was dubbed a “kingpin” by a special court that sentenced her to life imprisonment in August 2012, but the verdict was overturned by the HC.

    Both areas are part of the Assembly constituency once represented by the BJP leader.

    Soon after her acquittal by the HC, Kodnani, an Ahmedabad resident and three-time former MLA, was seen at some of the BJP functions in the state.

    During the campaign for the December 2022 Assembly elections, the former MLA was spotted at BJP functions, sharing dais with top party leadership where she was greeted with zeal.

    Kodnani, facing the twin riots cases, was forced to resign as Minister of State for Women and Child Development in the then-Narendra Modi government after the Gujarat High Court rejected her anticipatory bail on March 27, 2009.

    Following this, she surrendered before the Supreme Court-appointed Special Investigation Team (SIT) formed to further investigate the 2002 Godhra train carnage and eight other riots cases, including those reported in Ahmedabad’s Naroda Gam and Naroda Patiya in which she was made an accused.

    The BJP leader was a sitting MLA when she was sentenced to life imprisonment by a special court in the Naroda Patiya massacre case in 2012.

    Kodnani began her political career by helming the Ahmedabad BJP Mahila Morcha and getting elected as a councillor of the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation and then chairperson of the civic body’s standing committee in the 1990s.

    A gynaecologist by training, Kodnani was seen as a rising star among women leaders of the BJP.

    She entered the Assembly for the first time in 1998 when she was elected from the Naroda constituency in Ahmedabad, defeating the Congress candidate by a huge margin of more than 74,500 votes.

    After the 2002 riots, she won the same seat by a bigger margin of more than 1 lakh votes in the Assembly election held in December that year.

    In 2003, the BJP elevated her as the president of the party’s Ahmedabad unit.

    She went on to win the Assembly elections for the third term from Naroda in 2007, this time by an even bigger margin of more than 1.80 lakh votes, further raising her stature in the saffron party.

    After her third victory, she was rewarded with a ministership in the state’s Modi government.

    Kodnani was made Minister of State for Women and Child Development and Higher Education, but her political career suffered a setback when she was arraigned in the two riots cases by the SC-appointed SIT and had to resign in 2009.

  • Justice Bela Trivedi recuses from hearing Bilkis Bano’s plea challenging release of rapists

    Express News Service

    NEW DELHI: Supreme Court judge Justice Bela M Trivedi on  Tuesday recused herself from hearing Bilkis Bano’s plea challenging the release of 11 rapists who walked free on August 15, 2022.

    When the bench of justices Ajay Rastogi and Bela M Trivedi took up the matter for hearing, Justice Rastogi said that his sister judge will not like to hear the case.

    “List the matter before a bench in which one of us is not a member,” the bench ordered. The bench did not specify any reason for the recusal of justice Trivedi.

    In her plea against the grant of remission which had led to the release of the convicts on August 15, Bano has said the state government passed a “mechanical order” completely ignoring the requirement of law as laid down by the Supreme Court.

    Bano was 21 years old and five months pregnant when she was gangraped while fleeing the riots that broke out after the Godhra train burning incident in Gujarat. Her three-year-old daughter was among the seven family members killed.

    Stating that the paper for premature release of the convicts was not shared with her despite reminders, Bano in her petition said, “The Supreme Court already declared that enmasse remissions are not permissible and that remission cannot be sought or granted as a matter of right of the convict without examining the case of each convict individually based on their peculiar facts and role played by them in the crime.”

    As the nation was celebrating its 76th Independence Day, all the convicts were released prematurely and were garlanded and felicitated in full public glare and sweets were circulated, she wrote in her petition. The petitioner further wrote that this ‘celebration’ was how she along with the nation came to know about the “premature release of all the convicts of one of the most gruesome crimes this country has ever seen.”

    Women’s rights activist Subhashini Ali has also challenged the release of the 11 convicts in the Bilkis Bano gangrape case.

    The Gujarat government in their response stated that the state decided to release the 11 convicts as their “behaviour was found to be good”, and after approval from the central government.

    ALSO READ | Will fight again, against what is wrong: Bilkis on remission given to her rapists

    It also added that the opinions of the Inspector General of Prisons, Gujarat State, Jail Superintendents, Jail Advisory Committee, District Magistrate, Police Superintendent, CBI, Special Crime Branch, Mumbai and Hon. Sessions Court, Mumbai (CBI) were considered. 

    Bilkis has also sought a review of the top court’s May 13 order (passed by the bench of Justices Ajay Rastogi and Vikram Nath) where the court while considering a writ petition by one of the convicts Radhey Shyam had directed the Gujarat government to consider releasing him on the basis of the Gujarat government’s 1992 remission policy within two months.

    The 1992 policy did not prohibit the remission of rape, gang rape or murder convicts.

    Bilkis Bano’s review plea was also heard in the chambers on Tuesday. The order, however, hasn’t been uploaded yet. 

    A special CBI court in Mumbai had on January 21, 2008 sentenced the 11 to life imprisonment. It was then upheld by the Bombay High Court and the Supreme Court.

    The 11 men convicted in the case walked out of the Godhra sub-jail on August 15. They had completed more than 15 years in jail.

    NEW DELHI: Supreme Court judge Justice Bela M Trivedi on  Tuesday recused herself from hearing Bilkis Bano’s plea challenging the release of 11 rapists who walked free on August 15, 2022.

    When the bench of justices Ajay Rastogi and Bela M Trivedi took up the matter for hearing, Justice Rastogi said that his sister judge will not like to hear the case.

    “List the matter before a bench in which one of us is not a member,” the bench ordered. The bench did not specify any reason for the recusal of justice Trivedi.

    In her plea against the grant of remission which had led to the release of the convicts on August 15, Bano has said the state government passed a “mechanical order” completely ignoring the requirement of law as laid down by the Supreme Court.

    Bano was 21 years old and five months pregnant when she was gangraped while fleeing the riots that broke out after the Godhra train burning incident in Gujarat. Her three-year-old daughter was among the seven family members killed.

    Stating that the paper for premature release of the convicts was not shared with her despite reminders, Bano in her petition said, “The Supreme Court already declared that enmasse remissions are not permissible and that remission cannot be sought or granted as a matter of right of the convict without examining the case of each convict individually based on their peculiar facts and role played by them in the crime.”

    As the nation was celebrating its 76th Independence Day, all the convicts were released prematurely and were garlanded and felicitated in full public glare and sweets were circulated, she wrote in her petition. The petitioner further wrote that this ‘celebration’ was how she along with the nation came to know about the “premature release of all the convicts of one of the most gruesome crimes this country has ever seen.”

    Women’s rights activist Subhashini Ali has also challenged the release of the 11 convicts in the Bilkis Bano gangrape case.

    The Gujarat government in their response stated that the state decided to release the 11 convicts as their “behaviour was found to be good”, and after approval from the central government.

    ALSO READ | Will fight again, against what is wrong: Bilkis on remission given to her rapists

    It also added that the opinions of the Inspector General of Prisons, Gujarat State, Jail Superintendents, Jail Advisory Committee, District Magistrate, Police Superintendent, CBI, Special Crime Branch, Mumbai and Hon. Sessions Court, Mumbai (CBI) were considered. 

    Bilkis has also sought a review of the top court’s May 13 order (passed by the bench of Justices Ajay Rastogi and Vikram Nath) where the court while considering a writ petition by one of the convicts Radhey Shyam had directed the Gujarat government to consider releasing him on the basis of the Gujarat government’s 1992 remission policy within two months.

    The 1992 policy did not prohibit the remission of rape, gang rape or murder convicts.

    Bilkis Bano’s review plea was also heard in the chambers on Tuesday. The order, however, hasn’t been uploaded yet. 

    A special CBI court in Mumbai had on January 21, 2008 sentenced the 11 to life imprisonment. It was then upheld by the Bombay High Court and the Supreme Court.

    The 11 men convicted in the case walked out of the Godhra sub-jail on August 15. They had completed more than 15 years in jail.

  • Life on the other side: 20 years after train carnage, communal fissures run deep in Godhra

    By PTI

    GODHRA: A road cleaves through, marking the divide between Muslim-dominated areas and Hindu-majority localities, a metaphor perhaps for communal fissures that run deep in a town that instantly recalls the 2002 Gujarat riots.

    Twenty years after the burning of a train in Godhra killed 59 ‘karsevaks’ and triggered one of India’s worst post-Partition riots, the poll-scape reflects the yawning gulf between the two communities.

    While several minority community residents complain of no development in their localities, people from other areas of the city admit to problems but say they will vote on the issue of Hindutva and Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s popularity.

    Corruption, rising unemployment and anti-incumbency against the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) that has been ruling the state for 27 years remain major issues in this sensitive constituency. However, Hindutva and Modi are determining factors and may triumph over them all.ALSO READ | Taught a lesson to 2002 rioters, says Amit Shah

    The road cuts through Patelwada and Polan Bazaar area near Rani Masjid, the former home to most Hindus and other communities and the latter dominated by Muslims.

    And the differences are visible.

    Polan Bazaar and its surrounding areas are crisscrossed by potholed, shoddily patchworked roads, garbage piled up on the sides and a choked drain winding through a distance away.

    The roads on the other side of the Muslim ghetto are wide.

    The Gujarat Industrial Development Corporation (GIDC) houses small industrial units. There is also a theatre, a Pantaloon showroom, and car showrooms.

    “There are no banks, ATMs, playgrounds on our side of town,” Ishak Bokda, a supporter of the All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen’s (AIMIM), told PTI.

    “Development has always been on the other side dominated by Hindus and other communities,” added Faisal Suleja, AIMIM’s councillor. The Asaduddin Owaisi-led AIMIM stunned everyone last year by bagging seven seats in the 44-member civic body.

    Godhra has around 2,79,000 voters. Of these, 72,000 are in the Muslim-dominated area.

    As the campaign picks up for the 182-member Assembly elections being held over two phases on December 1 and 5, most bets are on BJP’s sitting MLA C K Raulji who has been representing Godhra since 2007 — from 2007 to 2016 as part of the Congress and the saffron party since 2017.

    Against him are the Congress’ Rashmitaben Chauhan, new entrant Aam Aadmi Party’s (AAP) Rajeshbhai Patel and AIMIM’s Shabbir Kachba who is seeking to cement the gains made by the party in the civic polls last year.

    Kachba, a 33-year-old local imam, accused Raulji of not addressing the issues faced by the constituency, which votes in the second phase.

    “More importantly, how can a person who called Bilkis Bano case convicts ‘sanskari’ be elected,” he said, referring to Raulji’s comments on those convicted in the 2002 gangrape and murder case. They have now been freed.

    According to Raulji, his main agenda will be to fully implement the projects started in 2017, including a 400-bed medical college and an irrigation project for 104 villages.

    The pandemic, lack of opportunities and development are a constant concern.

    No riots have been reported after 2002 from this town in the Panchmahal district of Gujarat which has had a chequered history of communal riots since Independence.

    The polarisation is evident. Many expressed their disappointment with the ruling BJP but said they would again vote for the party.

    Manish Shah, 48, a restaurateur and real estate developer who lost his mother to Covid and said lack of major industries and corruption are major issues in Godhra.

    “But we will vote on the issue of Hindutva and Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s popularity,” Shah told PTI. Shah said he owned an oil depot on a road that borders the Muslim area of the city but sold his property in 2011 and ventured into real estate.

    His business partner Indubhai Bhojwani, 53, said corruption is an issue “but the safety of Hindus is an important factor.”

    Mukeshbhai Relwani, 47, who owns a paan shop at Lalbaug Chowk said he will “bleed lotus (the symbol of BJP)” if his vein is cut. “That (the other side where the Muslims reside) is mini-Pakistan. My vote will be for Hindutva,” he said reflecting the distrust between the two communities.ALSO READ | No material to support 2002 Godhra riots were pre-planned events: SC

    However, Relwani also said the BJP would have been certainly defeated if the opposition had fielded stronger candidates.

    “There is no option,” said a businessman on condition of anonymity.

    Harin Patel, 43, who is into mining said he had to send his son away to study engineering because Godhra lacks colleges that provide quality education.

    Some in the younger lot spoke of their willingness to give the Arvind Kejriwal-led AAP a chance. Primary factors, they said, were unemployment and lack of opportunities.

    Deepak Padhiyar, 19, a second-year student at the Seth PT Arts and Science and Law College said he had applied for the post of a police constable but could not clear the written exam but his quest for a better life will continue.

    His father is a cobbler with the State Reserve Police Force and his mother is a homemaker who also takes care of their footwear shop.

    “There is hardly any income from the shop. Now I want to apply for the post of Talati (revenue officer). This time my preference will be to AAP,” Padhiyar said, citing the ‘Delhi model of governance’.

    Srimali Kirit (22), a first-year law student, claimed unemployment is a crucial factor here.

    “This (BJP) government is emphasising on contractual workers who have no pension. There is need for government jobs with the implementation of the old pension scheme that will give workers protection after retirement,” Kirit said.

    Kirit said his father is no more and his mother gets a pension of Rs 12,000 and another pension of Rs 1,200 under a central scheme for widows, not enough for the family to sustain their livelihood.

    The AAP has been pushing for the old pension scheme (OPS) in Gujarat if it is voted to power.

    The Gujarat government introduced a new contributory pension scheme for employees joining the service on or after April 1, 2005. According to the notification, it will make a matching contribution of 10 per cent of the basic pay plus dearness allowance contributed by the employees in the NPS fund.

    Under the Centre’s scheme, the government will contribute 14 per cent against an employee’s contribution of 10 per cent of his/her salary and DA with effect from April 1, 2019.

    After protests by employees, the state government said the new pension will not be applicable to those employees who had joined duty before April 2005.

    It also promised to increase its contribution to the fund to 14 per cent from 10 per cent earlier.

    The employees have staged massive agitations against the government in Gujarat while demanding restoration of the OPS because they believe the NPS is not in the interest of retiring employees.

    GODHRA: A road cleaves through, marking the divide between Muslim-dominated areas and Hindu-majority localities, a metaphor perhaps for communal fissures that run deep in a town that instantly recalls the 2002 Gujarat riots.

    Twenty years after the burning of a train in Godhra killed 59 ‘karsevaks’ and triggered one of India’s worst post-Partition riots, the poll-scape reflects the yawning gulf between the two communities.

    While several minority community residents complain of no development in their localities, people from other areas of the city admit to problems but say they will vote on the issue of Hindutva and Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s popularity.

    Corruption, rising unemployment and anti-incumbency against the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) that has been ruling the state for 27 years remain major issues in this sensitive constituency. However, Hindutva and Modi are determining factors and may triumph over them all.ALSO READ | Taught a lesson to 2002 rioters, says Amit Shah

    The road cuts through Patelwada and Polan Bazaar area near Rani Masjid, the former home to most Hindus and other communities and the latter dominated by Muslims.

    And the differences are visible.

    Polan Bazaar and its surrounding areas are crisscrossed by potholed, shoddily patchworked roads, garbage piled up on the sides and a choked drain winding through a distance away.

    The roads on the other side of the Muslim ghetto are wide.

    The Gujarat Industrial Development Corporation (GIDC) houses small industrial units. There is also a theatre, a Pantaloon showroom, and car showrooms.

    “There are no banks, ATMs, playgrounds on our side of town,” Ishak Bokda, a supporter of the All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen’s (AIMIM), told PTI.

    “Development has always been on the other side dominated by Hindus and other communities,” added Faisal Suleja, AIMIM’s councillor. The Asaduddin Owaisi-led AIMIM stunned everyone last year by bagging seven seats in the 44-member civic body.

    Godhra has around 2,79,000 voters. Of these, 72,000 are in the Muslim-dominated area.

    As the campaign picks up for the 182-member Assembly elections being held over two phases on December 1 and 5, most bets are on BJP’s sitting MLA C K Raulji who has been representing Godhra since 2007 — from 2007 to 2016 as part of the Congress and the saffron party since 2017.

    Against him are the Congress’ Rashmitaben Chauhan, new entrant Aam Aadmi Party’s (AAP) Rajeshbhai Patel and AIMIM’s Shabbir Kachba who is seeking to cement the gains made by the party in the civic polls last year.

    Kachba, a 33-year-old local imam, accused Raulji of not addressing the issues faced by the constituency, which votes in the second phase.

    “More importantly, how can a person who called Bilkis Bano case convicts ‘sanskari’ be elected,” he said, referring to Raulji’s comments on those convicted in the 2002 gangrape and murder case. They have now been freed.

    According to Raulji, his main agenda will be to fully implement the projects started in 2017, including a 400-bed medical college and an irrigation project for 104 villages.

    The pandemic, lack of opportunities and development are a constant concern.

    No riots have been reported after 2002 from this town in the Panchmahal district of Gujarat which has had a chequered history of communal riots since Independence.

    The polarisation is evident. Many expressed their disappointment with the ruling BJP but said they would again vote for the party.

    Manish Shah, 48, a restaurateur and real estate developer who lost his mother to Covid and said lack of major industries and corruption are major issues in Godhra.

    “But we will vote on the issue of Hindutva and Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s popularity,” Shah told PTI. Shah said he owned an oil depot on a road that borders the Muslim area of the city but sold his property in 2011 and ventured into real estate.

    His business partner Indubhai Bhojwani, 53, said corruption is an issue “but the safety of Hindus is an important factor.”

    Mukeshbhai Relwani, 47, who owns a paan shop at Lalbaug Chowk said he will “bleed lotus (the symbol of BJP)” if his vein is cut. “That (the other side where the Muslims reside) is mini-Pakistan. My vote will be for Hindutva,” he said reflecting the distrust between the two communities.ALSO READ | No material to support 2002 Godhra riots were pre-planned events: SC

    However, Relwani also said the BJP would have been certainly defeated if the opposition had fielded stronger candidates.

    “There is no option,” said a businessman on condition of anonymity.

    Harin Patel, 43, who is into mining said he had to send his son away to study engineering because Godhra lacks colleges that provide quality education.

    Some in the younger lot spoke of their willingness to give the Arvind Kejriwal-led AAP a chance. Primary factors, they said, were unemployment and lack of opportunities.

    Deepak Padhiyar, 19, a second-year student at the Seth PT Arts and Science and Law College said he had applied for the post of a police constable but could not clear the written exam but his quest for a better life will continue.

    His father is a cobbler with the State Reserve Police Force and his mother is a homemaker who also takes care of their footwear shop.

    “There is hardly any income from the shop. Now I want to apply for the post of Talati (revenue officer). This time my preference will be to AAP,” Padhiyar said, citing the ‘Delhi model of governance’.

    Srimali Kirit (22), a first-year law student, claimed unemployment is a crucial factor here.

    “This (BJP) government is emphasising on contractual workers who have no pension. There is need for government jobs with the implementation of the old pension scheme that will give workers protection after retirement,” Kirit said.

    Kirit said his father is no more and his mother gets a pension of Rs 12,000 and another pension of Rs 1,200 under a central scheme for widows, not enough for the family to sustain their livelihood.

    The AAP has been pushing for the old pension scheme (OPS) in Gujarat if it is voted to power.

    The Gujarat government introduced a new contributory pension scheme for employees joining the service on or after April 1, 2005. According to the notification, it will make a matching contribution of 10 per cent of the basic pay plus dearness allowance contributed by the employees in the NPS fund.

    Under the Centre’s scheme, the government will contribute 14 per cent against an employee’s contribution of 10 per cent of his/her salary and DA with effect from April 1, 2019.

    After protests by employees, the state government said the new pension will not be applicable to those employees who had joined duty before April 2005.

    It also promised to increase its contribution to the fund to 14 per cent from 10 per cent earlier.

    The employees have staged massive agitations against the government in Gujarat while demanding restoration of the OPS because they believe the NPS is not in the interest of retiring employees.

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    Uddhav Thackeray said a demand was being raised to remove Modi as Gujarat CM when BJP stalwart Atal Bihari Vajpayee was the Prime Minister of the country.

  • Uttar Pradesh espionage case: NIA files charge sheet against ex-army man, Godhra resident

    By PTI
    LUCKNOW: The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Tuesday filed a charge-sheet against a former army personnel and another person arrested for allegedly sharing confidential information about the Indian Army with an operative of Pakistan’s spy agency ISI.

    The charge-sheet was filed in a special NIA court here against Saurabh Sharma, an ex-army man who is a resident of Hapur in Uttar Pradesh, and Anas Yakub Giteli of Gujarat’s Godhra under relevant sections of the IPC, the Official Secrets Act and the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act.

    The case relates to sharing of confidential information about the Indian Army by Sharma with a pseudonymous entity operated by Defence/ISI agents of Pakistan, an official of the premier investigation agency said.

    Pakistan’s spy agency Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) had hatched a conspiracy to obtain restricted and confidential information from the officials of Indian Army by luring them through a woman operative, called Neha Sharma, officials said.

    Sharma, being a serving signalman in the Indian Army, had shared strategic and sensitive information such as deployment/movement of troops, location, strength and composition of parties of the Indian Army, the NIA official said.

    In consideration for supply of such sensitive information, he had received funds from multiple sources, including Pakistani sources and co-accused Giteli, the NIA official said.

    Sharma also received funds from Anas Yakub Giteli’s elder brother Imran Giteli who has already been charge-sheeted in the Vishakhapatnam espionage case being investigated by the NIA, the official said, adding that further investigation in the case was underway.