Gulbarg Society massacre ‘no conspiracy, only murder'? Wah! wah!

Ahmedabad: “For the past 14 years of my life, every second, every minute the scenes of those thousands coming to us, holding us one by one, slitting us into pieces and burning us down like vehicle tyres. I saw it with my own eyes, in front of me. They say there was no conspiracy to kill us, the court agrees there was no conspiracy,” Imtiyaz Khan Pathan, now 40, is unstoppable.

One of the many survivors of the 28 February, 2002 Gulbarg Society massacre, Imtiyaz is shocked that “only 24” people have been adjudged guilty by a special sessions court, which pronounced its verdict as many as 14 years after the brutal attack that left 69 of his neighbours dead.

“I have myself given names of many more people than the 24 that have been convicted. Twenty three of these 24 were identified by me. Only 11 of them have been charged for murder,” he tells Firstpost. Imtiyaz is an electrician, who along with his family and relatives, left the burnt-down Gulbarg Society and moved to the labour-dominated Gomtipur area in eastern Ahmedabad.

“Murder? Simple murder, any other murder just like you see day in and day out on TV?” wonders Imtiyaz, asserting that the attack was ghastly and planned. “Thousands of people coming together, pulling people out of their homes like furniture, cutting them into pieces and then burning them. Is this plain simple murder? Wah! W_ah!_”

“I am frustrated, I am angry, I am helpless, what else could I be? You asking these questions, you asking for my reaction to that verdict — that unfortunate verdict, what do you want from me,” he screams exasperatedly at this reporter.

“There was no conspiracy, the court has decided. Okay, I will tell you, now listen to me, don’t ask questions, don’t interrupt, just listen,” Imtiyaz starts.

“Crowds had started gathering right from the morning. Stone-pelting had started, shops and vehicles were being set on fire. At 10.30 am, Joint Police Commissioner MK Tandon came to Gulbarg, met Ehsan Jafri, assured police security, and went away. Nobody came, no security, nothing. After that nobody came till 4.30 pm, during which time the killings had already taken place.”

“In my presence and in the presence of all of us, Ehsan Jafri sahab made desperate calls to everybody. Police control room, police officers, politicians, leaders. Nothing helped. He called the Chief Minister’s Office. Nothing happened.”

“Is this not conspiracy? If not, then what is it?” Imtiyaz asked. “And the court will not take note that so many calls were made for help.”

“There is more. Why is it that police officials started coming only after 4.30 pm, when everything was over. They dispersed some mobs and took us to safety at a relief camp. If Tandon or his deputy PB Gondia could come at 4.30 pm, why couldn’t they come earlier in the day when they exactly knew what was happenng in our society?” asks Imtiyaz.

He asks again, “You will not call this a conspiracy? They let the crowds kill our people throughout the day and in broad daylight, they ignored all calls for help during the massacre, and they made a show of help in the evening, when 69 people had been burnt alive.”

“I want to ask the court, what more do you want in a conspiracy? But don’t worry, we are not going to take this lying down, we will go to higher courts and still higher. You wait.”

Imtiyaz is completely distraught, sometimes angry, sometimes frustrated, but mostly determined.

The writer is editor, Development News Network, Gujarat