8

May

Godhra Culprits of Negligence: Plea for Reinstatement Dismissed

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A person with a mustache AI-generated content may be incorrect.Imagine the history of Indian politics if the nine railway policemen who failed to board the Sabarmati Express on February 27, 2002, had done so. Their failure changed the course of history, besides leaving them grovelling for their jobs, with the Gujarat High Court dismissing their pleas for reinstatement on May 2, 2025. Earlier, following an inquiry, these nine personnel were first suspended and then ‘removed from service” by the Gujarat government in 2005 for negligence in their duties. They subsequently challenged the government order in the High Court, but to no avail.

This case will long figure in the annals of Indian history. The nine constables were assigned on patrolling duty on the Sabarmati Express between Dahod and Ahmedabad on the fateful night, but returned early to Ahmedabad as the train in question was running inordinately late. It was this Sabarmati Express whose bogie number S-6 was torched near Godhra railway station by a stone pelting mob, killing 59 passengers on their way back from Ayodhya. The incident occurred in the morning of February 27.2002, triggering a chain of events in Gujarat and sparking extended statewide communal violence. The cops in question were dismissed from service for negligence, carelessness and dereliction of duty.

The repercussions not only engulfed law and order issues but let loose an orgy of violence that acquired communal overtones and affected the body fabric of the state. Communal polarisation thereafter became a political leitmotif, a calling card of sorts that acquired a shortcut to power.

The 100-page High Court judgement by Ms.Justice Vaibhavi D. Nanavati on May 2 categorically states,” if the petitioners (policemen in question) departed on the Sabarmati Express train itself to reach Ahmedabad, the incident that occurred at Godhra could have been prevented. The petitioner showed negligence and carelessness towards their duty”. Their pleas for reinstatement were dismissed by the High Court.

 

Column at a Glance
The article reflects on the significant impact of the negligence of nine railway policemen who failed to board the Sabarmati Express on February 27, 2002, which led to a tragic incident in Godhra, resulting in the deaths of 59 passengers. Their absence allowed a mob to set fire to the train, triggering widespread communal violence in Gujarat. The Gujarat High Court dismissed their pleas for reinstatement in 2025, emphasising their dereliction of duty.
Thursday Thunder
By R.K.Misra
The aftermath of the incident not only altered the political landscape, enabling Narendra Modi's rise to power, but also deepened communal divisions in the state. The article highlights the contrasting findings of various commissions regarding the incident and notes the long-term repercussions on Indian politics, particularly Modi's trajectory from chief minister to Prime Minister. It concludes by suggesting that Modi's current political standing is more precarious than in the past, amid growing scrutiny over his government's actions.

 

The order clearly states that the petititoners are all police staffs and are duty bound to travel in the Sabarmati Express leaving from Dahod as the per the duty assigned to them on February 27, 2002.The petitioners made bogus entries in the register and return in Ahmedabad by Shanti Express. If the petitioners had departed in Sabarmati Express, the incidents that had occurred at Godhra could have been prevented’.

Interestingly, the plea taken on behalf of the policemen was that it was normal practice for GRP personnel  to switch trains if the assigned train is running inordinately late. However the government countered the argument pointing out that apart from not boarding the assigned train, they had also made a false entry at Dahod station outpost claiming they are departing by Sabarmati express giving a wrong signal to the control room that the train had been secured.

Whatever may be the final outcome of the legal battle between the dismissed policemen and the authorities, the fact remains that the outcome of the Sabarmati express train carnage and the communal violence that followed affected every strata of popular life.

The Nanavati-Mehta Commission appointed by the state government in the aftermath of the event concluded in 2008 that the burning was planned act of arson. In contrast,the Bannerjee Commission instituted in 2004 by the ministry of Railways termed the fire as an accident in its report. However the findings of the report were quashed by the Gujarat High Court after being termed unconstitutional.

The immediate political fallout of the incident was the rising demand for elections in Gujarat after the violence with chief minister Narendra Modi taking out a statewide ‘Gujarat Gaurav’ yatra  which marked the first veiled attack on the minority community while taking pot-shots at Pakistani President Pervez Musharaff. The yatra also singled out Congress president Mrs Sonia Gandhi and the then Chief Election Commissioner James Michael Lyngdoh. The 2002 state Assembly elections that followed brought the BJP to power with a sweeping mandate and installed Modi to power.

In fact  his victory in the 2002 state assembly elections not only cemented his chief ministerial position but also laid the groundwork for positioning himself as the “Hindu hriday Samrat”( Hindu heartthrob) and therefrom as the longest serving chief minister of the state. It was from here that he moved on to takeover as the Prime Minister of BJP ruled India in 2014 and is now into his third term.

Though it is for the first time that Modi who had not even contested a village panchayat election before he became chief minister and has ruled as Prime Minister with pluck and gusto, finds himself on relatively shaky ground. His BJP- led government, for the first time, stands on the twin-stilts of Chandra babu Naidu’s Telugu Desam Party (TDP) and Nitish Kumar’s Janata Dal(United).For the first time, eye-brows are also being raised over the handling of the Pahalgam killings of tourists in Kashmir. It is no longer as plain-sailing as in previous times.

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