They said the activists of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) retaliated by attacking the battered Sabarmati Express when it arrived 45 minutes later at the Vadodra station where one man was reportedly stabbed to death before police beat back the crowd. The state government of Gujarat, headed by a hard-line faction of Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), imposed curfew in the affected parts and issued shoot-at-sight orders to security forces to curb communal violence from spreading.
In the neighbouring state of Maharashtra, where Hindu-Muslim tensions have become part of normal political calculations, the police issued a red alert, including in the state capital of Mumbai, venue of a nasty polarization that followed the demolition of the Babri Masjid in December 1992 by a Hindu mob.
In New Delhi, Prime Minister Vajpayee condemned the murder of VHP activists known as kar sewaks and asked the VHP to postpone its campaign to start the construction of a temple from March 15 at the site of the razed mosque.
“I appeal to VHP to postpone their agitation and help the government in maintenance of peace and brotherhood in the country,” he told reporters moments after jointly addressing a news conference with visiting leader of Afghanistan’s interim government Hamid Karzai.
Returning to meet the press after seeing off Mr Karzai, a grim-looking Vajpayee described the attack on the Sabarmati Express was tragic and unfortunate. But he also said the VHP’s campaign to go for the construction of the temple in Ayodhya through a mass campaign would not work.
“There are two ways to resolve the issue — one through talks among the concerned parties and the other through the judiciary,” he said, adding that an all-party meeting on the issue was unanimous on Tuesday that the courts should be requested to expedite the hearing of related cases and give their verdict.
“I am confident that such steps would be taken,” he said appealing to the people not to be swayed by rumours and to maintain amity and brotherhood.
Vajpayee said his government was concerned over the incident and hoped that Gujarat government would take all necessary steps to maintain harmony.
According to some reports citing eyewitnesses, the dead included several children and women who were part of over 1,000 kar sewaks coming back from Ayodhya. Many of the victims belonged to Gujarat and were travelling back to Ahmedabad, Kheda and other parts of the state.
The incident occurred when the train, with the VHP activists chanting slogans arrived in Godhra from Ayodhya. According to police sources, when the train arrived at Godhra railway station on its way to Ahmedabad at about 8am, some of the VHP activists had a verbal altercation with some Muslims at the station.
One version was that the Muslims were objecting to the slogan-chanting.
Another report said some kar sewaks who got down to have tea at the station wanted to leave without paying thus triggering an altercation.
The Godhra Railway station is located in a predominantly Muslim-dominated area. The Samajwadi Party which was part of a clutch of groups that defeated the BJP in Uttar Pradesh state polls last week has a strong presence in Godhra. It was not clear if the incident was in any way linked to a communal polarization that exists in Uttar Pradesh where the Samajwadi Party has staked its claim to form the next government.
According to one report soon the train left the Godhra railway station some people boarded the train and pulled the alarm chain bringing it to a stop.
“Members of the minority community, armed with swords and stones, reportedly boarded the bogey in which the Ram sevaks were travelling and attacked them,” one unconfirmed report said.
It said later, some of the attackers poured kerosene on a carriage to set it on fire. The fire soon engulfed the whole bogey catching many of the hapless passengers unawares.
Authorities in Godhra were reported to be worried that the incident may trigger violence elsewhere in the state. The Gujarat unit of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad was quick to call a state-wide bandh on Thursday.
As has become a common feature in recent years, Vajpayee’s government is due to unveil its annual budget on Friday when the political agenda will be seeking to distract everyone’s attention to some other burning issue such as the Godhra tragedy.