In a rare but badly needed show of unity across the political divide, Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee joined the Leader of the Opposition, Sonia Gandhi, in issuing an all-party appeal for calm and communal amity.
But violent mobs defied police and army contingents, deployed mysteriously at a slovenly pace, to target mostly Muslim homes in Ahmedabad and a host of other smaller towns and cities.
One eyewitness account said neither the army nor the shoot-at-sight orders given to the Gujarat police could control the mob frenzy in Ahmedabad on Friday as the city witnessed a total collapse of the law and order machinery for the second straight day taking a heavy toll of human lives and the government’s own credibility.
Complete lawlessness prevailed in Gujarat’s largest city of 5.5 million as mobs ruled the streets in almost all the curfew-bound areas killing people, burning shops and houses and fighting pitched battles without much signs of the security forces.
Taking serious note of “escalating communal violence” in Gujarat and reports of “inactions of police and the highest functionaries,” the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) issued on Friday notice to the state government and the Director-General of Police asking them to submit a report within three days on the incidents and the measures taken to contain them.
TV correspondents reporting from several towns and cities of Gujarat hinted darkly that the state administration had not deployed army units until late morning although Defence Minister George Fernandes was visiting the region. The violence continued unabated despite the fact that Gujarat government had issued shoot-at-sight orders to quell the worst communal flare up in the state in the past decade. While official reports say that 150 people in the state have been killed, unconfirmed reports suggest that the toll may have crossed 250. Over 119 people have been killed in Ahmedabad alone.
BURNT TO DEATH: Fifty-eight people were burnt to death in Naroda, including eight of a family when their vehicle was set on fire on the Ahmedabad-Udaipur highway. Bodies of 48 people killed by a mob in Bapunagar were also brought to a local hospital on Friday. Sixteen people have also been killed in police firing across the state.
Violence broke out in Gujarat after a train carrying karsevaks was attacked in Godhra on Wednesday. Four bogies of the train were burnt and 58 people killed in the incident.
CURFEW: Ten columns of the army have now been positioned in Ahmedabad and curfew clamped in 37 towns of the state. Each column is made up of about 150 troops and is responsible for a particular locality. More soldiers are to arrive in the state on Saturday morning.
Four columns of the army have also been sent to Rajkot, Vadodara and Godhra. Most of the soldiers have been moved in from reserve formations, which were not in the front line on the Pakistan border.
State Chief Minister Narendra Modi, whose government came under attack for alleged inaction, has denied any delay in the army deployment in the state. The chief minister said over 1,000 people had been arrested since Thursday in connection with the on-going violence.
The violence that spread across Gujarat also left in its wake loss of millions of rupees as industrial units in Vadodara and Rajkot were attacked on Friday and factories and consignments set on fire. Apart from setting on fire as many as five units in the industrial belt of Halol, about 40km from Vadodara, a mob on Friday also burnt a truck carrying 63 Opel Astra cars from the General Motors factory in Halol.
The Times of India said in an online update that at least 30 persons were burnt alive in Pandarvada village of Khanpur taluka of Godhra district on Friday afternoon when the whole village was set on fire by a group of miscreants. The incident took place about 50km from Godhra where the attack on Sabarmati Express took place on Wednesday.
Two people were killed in a communal incident in Aligarh in Uttar Pradesh, local residents told Dawn by telephone. The traditionally sensitive town 150km east of Delhi, is home to the famous Aligarh Muslim University and a key constituency in Uttar Pradesh where Muslims were influential in the electoral rout of the BJP last month.
CONGRESS DEMAND: Expressing dissatisfaction over the measures taken by the government to control the situation in the riot-hit areas of Gujarat, the Congress Working Committee on Friday night demanded that the areas be immediately handed over to army to restore peace.
The meeting of the CWC was convened by Sonia Gandhi shortly after Prime Minister Vajpayee had a meeting with the leaders of major political parties, including Gandhi, on the Gujarat situation.
JOINT APPEAL: The joint appeal said: “We the leaders of various political parties, along with Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee and Leader of the Opposition Sonia Gandhi, appeal to the people of Gujarat — to Hindus, Muslims and those belonging to other communities — to maintain peace and communal harmony. We urge them to isolate the perpetrators of violence and defeat the sinister designs.
“It is our collective responsibility to promote brotherhood and national unity at all costs. We also appeal to the people of other states to maintain peace and communal harmony. The Prime Minister assures the people that the Central Government would deal firmly and effectively with the situation in Gujarat and elsewhere in the country. All of us expect the state governments to do the same.”
It was signed by former prime minister Inder Kumar Gujral, Home Minister L.K. Advani, Minister for Parliamentary Affairs Pramod Mahajan, Jana Krishnamurthy, BJP President; Dr Manmohan Singh, Congress; H.K.S Surjeet, CPM; Yerran Naidu, TDP; Mulayam Singh Yadav, Samajawadi party; Mayawati, BSP; and A.B.Bardhan, CPI.
VHP: Meanwhile, the religious-revivalist Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) has said it is willing to consider postponing its temple construction plan from March 15. However, this would only happen if the government or the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) gives a written assurance that worshipping of pillars would be allowed in the acquired land in Ayodhya within three months.
STRIKE: A day-long nationwide bandh (strike) called by the VHP, however, evoked a mixed response. In New Delhi, the bandh failed to evoke any response. Police had made elaborate security arrangements in the sensitive walled city and east Delhi areas. The strike was near total in Uttar Pradesh, with shops and business establishments remaining closed. Educational institutions, government offices and banks, however, functioned normally.
PUNJAB: Stray incidents of demolition of religious structures were reported in Haryana and Punjab. At least five religious structures were partially demolished and one was set on fire by a mob in Kaithal in Haryana. The protestors also indulged in brick batting, injuring a cop and forcing the police to resort to beat them back with sticks. A religious structure was partially damaged in Kapurthala in Punjab.
At least 30 companies of paramilitary forces were rushed to Ayodhya, where the VHP’s closure appeal to protest against the Godhra carnage evoked a complete response.
Authorities have imposed strict restrictions in Ayodhya and its twin city of Faizabad, including a ban on gathering of more than four people and on movement of vehicles into and inside Ayodhya. All roads leading to Ayodhya have been sealed.