Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi told the supreme court-appointed special investigation team [SIT] that he had asked police to maintain law and order in the aftermath of the February 27, 2002 Sabarmati Express tragedy. More importantly, he categorically told the high-powered probe panel that he had not asked police to let the Hindus vent their anger as has been claimed.

READ THE FULL TESTIMONY; SEE THE PDF ATTACHED

Here is the relevant excerpt from the testimony:

Q.21: Did you tell the police officers as well as the officials of the home department that ‘in communal riots police takes action against Hindus and Muslims on one-to-one basis. This will not do now, allow Hindus to vent anger’? If so, that was the reaction of the officers of the Home Department and police officers present in the meeting?

Ans.: It is baseless allegation. On the contrary, I had given clear-cut instructions to maintain peace and communal harmony at any cost. A similar appeal had earlier been made to the people of Godhra through media.

Also, when asked if said in the assembly that ‘Hindus should wake up now’, Modi clarified: ‘It is baseless allegation. No such words were uttered by me.’

The SIT, headed by former CBI director RK Raghavan, had questioned Modi in Gandhinagar on March 27–28 last year as part of its investigations into major incidences of communal violence after the train burning tragedy at Godhra which claimed 59 lives. The riots that followed claimed at least 1,900 lives.