Fifty-nine people, many of them VHP activists returning home after campaigning for the Ayodhya temple, were killed as the S6 coach of the Sabarmati Express burnt. How did it happen? Take your pick:
* According to the U C Banerjee committee (set up by the railway ministry when none other than Lalu Prasad was rail minister), there was no external input which led to the burning of the train. In other words, the tragedy was an accident, caused by something like short-circuit. Entirely feasible, except that the rest of the circumstances – a stone-pelting mob to begin with – go against the grain of this no-conspiracy theory.
* According to the preliminary report of the Nanavati commission (set up by Gujarat government), there indeed was a conspiracy, hatched primarily by Maulana (or Maulvi) Umarji. The commission also clarified that chief minister Narendra Modi had no role to play in the Godhra tragedy. Just in case. Wait for the full report for more in that direction.
* According to the verdict of the special court (after the probe by the Supreme Court appointed Special Investigation Team), there indeed was a conspiracy, but Umarji was not key conspirator.
While the ad-hoc truth has been staring at us all along, the full truth about Godhra may elude us as crucial pieces of evidence have been lost with the passage of time. On the other hand, there is nothing ad hoc about the following truths:
* The state government had the choice of maintaining law and order. It opted for the time-tested theory of communal violence as vote catcher.
* Barring two-three days of mob violence in Vadodara in 2006, there has not been any notable case of communal riot in Gujarat since 2002. But one can say the same at the national level too, and this fact might be reflecting new communal equations. The chasm between the two communities in parts of urban Gujarat, especially Ahmedabad, has only been growing after every instance of rioting – since 1969.
* The Congress, as the only opposition party in Gujarat and as a claimant of secular values, has failed the case of communal harmony as it has lost credibility in this regard – the state had seen worse rioting in 1985 with Madhavsinh Solanki of Congress as chief minister.
* It is necessary to deliver justice, to victims on the either side of the divide (and there are victims on either side). This process is bound to face efforts of political intervention (from various sides at various levels), since this is not an ideal world. However, the ideal worth attempting is to go beyond the crime-and-punishment model to the truth-and-reconciliation model. Now is the time to attempt it and the proposed communal violence bill is the place to formalise it.
