Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Saturday denied that there was a delay on the part of the Gujarat government in requisitioning the Army to deal with the 2002 post-Godhra Gujarat riots, saying former Punjab DGP KPS Gill had termed the state government’s action as “prompt and neutral”.
In an interview to news agency ANI, Shah also attacked the Congress over the anti-Sikh riots in 1984, saying that so many Sikhs were killed “but nothing was done for three days”.
“The Gujarat government did not delay anything. When the Gujarat Bandh was declared, we called the Army. The Army needed some time to reach. There was not even a day’s delay by the Gujarat government and this was also appreciated by the court,” Shah said.
The minister’s remarks came after the Supreme Court on Friday dismissed the plea filed by Zakia Jafri, widow of former Congress MP Ehsan Jafri, challenging the clean chit given by the Special Investigation Team (SIT) to then Chief Minister Narendra Modi and several others in 2002 Gujarat riots.
“The Army headquarters is situated in Delhi and there are a lot of armymen in the city but despite that so many Sikhs were killed (during the 1984 anti-Sikh riots) but nothing was done for three days. How many SITs were constituted then? An SIT was constituted after our government came to power. How many were arrested?” Shah said while questioning the Congress led government during the 1984 Sikh riots.
“I think PM Modi did everything because I was observing the situation very closely. I think no CM would have dealt with the situation in this way. For example, there are 100-150 cops in one police station, if we put additional force, then it amounts to only 400. If there is a gathering of around two lakh people it takes time to control the situation in the state. Every action including lathi-charge, firing etc was taken to control the riots in Gujarat, 900 people were killed in firing,” Shah said.
Referring to Gill’s observation, the minister said: “It takes time for the government to make arrangements to control a situation like riots. Gill Sahab had also come to help the Modi government at that time in Gujarat. I also had dinner with him. He himself told me that he had not seen such a prompt and neutral action in his whole life. However, allegations were raised even against Gill Sahab.”
Speaking about Friday’s ruling of the apex court, Shah said: “The state government made all the efforts to control the Gujarat riots and had taken the right decisions at the right time. The court also said that the state government had controlled the situation with less damage.”
Shah said all allegations against Modi were “politically motivated.”
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