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41 held in Godhra

By Dionne Bunsha

VADODARA, FEB. 19. Fortyone residents of the Saat Pul Odha area at Godhra, Gujarat, were arrested for attempt to murder and rioting, after a face-off between police and residents on Wednesday. The accused were produced before a magistrate this evening.

According to the Godhra police, the violence began when local women stopped the Railway Police from arresting Salim Paanwala, an accused in the Sabarmati Express massacre case. The police team, dressed in plainclothes, entered the Umar Masjid, offered namaaz and then took Salim into their jeep. When he protested, women from the area allegedly attacked the police. Salim escaped and the police had to run for cover.

They returned to the area with reinforcements and resorted to a lathicharge. When people started throwing stones, they fired seven rounds and 56 teargas shells. Four injured residents are in hospital and three policemen were also injured, police said.

According to a local peace activist, Dr. Sujat Vali, several others were also injured when the police entered homes, threw down people's belongings and manhandled children. "They destroyed more than 100 homes — either partially or totally. They threw down TV sets and other belongings. Later, people discovered that their money and jewellery were missing," he said.

According to local peace activists, the flare-up reflects the minority community's deep distrust of the police. In Godhra, the minority community feels that several innocent people were wrongly accused as terrorists in the Sabarmati Express burning. They feel these constant police raids are a deliberate attempt to suppress them, according to Dr. Vali. "They were wrong in obstructing police work. But the excessive police aggression was also wrong. Now, the police should start confidence building measures with the Muslim community, he said.

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