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| India-Pakistan |
| India starts rounding up Gujarati mob ringleaders |
| 2002-03-05 |
Police officers wrote and filed the reports in the neighborhood of Naroda, where 65 Muslims were burned to death as they slept by Hindus who set the slum on fire Friday morning; and in Meghaninagar, where thousands of Hindus burned to death 42 Muslims in their homes Thursday night. None of the men accused in the reports could be contacted for comment. They have been avoiding police attempts to question them. One report said nine people including local Bharatiya Janata Party leader Deepak Patel headed Hindus who burned to death 42 people, including former Parliament member Ahsan Jaffrey, in the Muslim residential area known as Gulbarg Society in Meghaninagar. "These persons, armed with weapons, led a mob of 20,000 to 22,000, which attacked Gulbarg Society and set it ablaze," said the report by Kirit Erda, senior inspector-in-charge of the Meghaninagar police station. "They first burned to death 18 residents and later burned 24 more persons in the same place." A separate report dealing with the Naroda killings blamed members of the World Hindu Council, closely linked to the Bharatiya Janata Party, which leads the Indian and Gujarat state governments. "The carnage at Naroda Patia was the handiwork of a mob of 6,000, which was led by Babu Bajrangji, Kishan Kosani, T.J. Rajput, Harish Rohit and Raju Goyal," said the report written by N.T. Bala, an assistant police sub-inspector. "These people, possessing deadly weapons, led the mob of about 6,000, all belonging to the Hindu community". It details how the mob set fire to 24 homes, killing the 65 Muslims inside. Jaideep Patel, the Gujarat state joint secretary of the World Hindu Council, confirmed all five men were local leaders of the organization. "Police have falsely implicated my men in this case," Patel said. "Without doing any investigation, the FIR was lodged by the assistant sub-inspector in link with some anti-Hindu forces." Yeah, right. That must be it. It's anti-Hindu forces who slaughtered 500 people. Couldn't have been a bloodthirsty Hindu fundo mob led by local party hacks. We haven't heard the Indian government mention anything about banning the World Hindu Council. If they don't, they'll have to shut up about the Paks and their nuts. It doesn't look like the cops are holding back, though. That's a good sign. And this time there's no reference to Congress Party. |
| Posted by:Fred Pruitt |