Punish the Guilty

GUJARAT: PUNISH THE CRIMINALS
Mike Ghouse, October 31, 2007


We have to take bold steps to put an end to terrorism. Any one who disrupts the peace of the nation must be tried as a criminal without giving him a religious shade. We have "protected" criminals too long; be it in Kashmir, Gujarat, Mumbai, Delhi, Ayodhya or any where else. If we do not bring Justice, the problems would continue to linger. It shifts our energies from prospering to dealing with unabated terrorism. Let the law of the land prevail.

We have to factor in the fact that the extremists will label this as a religious issue, I insist, it is not. It is the issue of violating the laws of the land by individuals and we have to treat them as criminals and punish them whatever the law allows. No one should be above the law.

If we want peace and stable societies, we have to take the responsibility to make it possible. Great teachers have concurred that the evil persists in the world because the good people avoid getting involved, making the job of exploiters easy . It's time for us to speak up against the criminals in the general and the ensuing injustice.

The least one can do is to speak up.

In February 2002, the state of Gujarat, India, witnessed the ugliest of all genocides in the Indian history, butchering and burning pregnant women, pulling their babies out of their womb, gang raping girls, burning people alive and slaughtering children mercilessly. When the extremist elements were on the killing spree, the State machinery tacitly gave permission to the killers to finish the Muslim community within three days.

The pogrom was well devised , the killers had the addresses of the Muslim owned businesses, and Muslim leadership, well coordinated through text messaging on the cell phones. According to the Union Minister, 1044 people were killed in all, that included 254 innocent Hindus and 790 Targeted Muslims leaving thousands homeless. The compensation paid to the survivors was also handled in discriminatory manner.

On February 27, 2002, in the town of Godhra in Gujarat, a compartment of a train called Sabramati Express was set afire when the train stopped leaving 56 Hindus burnt beyond recognition. It was alleged that the Muslims set the fire and poured the gasoline in the bogey carrying the 56 karsevaks (volunteers) returning from a pilgrimage to Ayodhya where a 16th century Mosque was razed to ground by the extremists claiming that it was built on a former temple.

Immediately following the Godhra incident, the State of Gujarat witnessed the ugliest of all genocides in human history; it also involved one of a Medical doctor by the name of Dr. Parveen Togadia.

According to the Human rights activists and reports, the Chief Minister of Gujarat, Mr. Narendra Modi was tacitly involved in the carnage. The Federal government run at that time, did not condemn this mayhem, instead the home minister gave a clean chit to the Chief Minister.
The blame should be placed squarely on the individuals, not on their family, not on their religion and not on their ethnicity or culture. Blaming a religion is a futile, as no religion authorizes one to go kill. The Bhagavad Gita asserts "Vasudeva Kutumbam " " the whole world is one family " and the Quran, "saving one life is like saving the whole humanity " and " Killing one life is like killing the whole mankind ".

Our first Governor General and Philosopher Shri Rajagopalachari 's vision of a civilized society was to see a man, woman or a child regardless of the social status, or religious affiliation to be able to walk on any place in India, any time of the day or night without fear. We can make that happen, if we prosecute the criminals particularly those criminals who hold political offices and besmirch the nation and its people; and show to the society that we believe in Justice.

As a civilized society, we should not let any one hide in the garb of Religion. It insults the religion, and the criminals go Scot-free. Our Civil and Criminal laws on the books should be used against all people involved in Godhra train burning and the Gujarat massacre. No one should be above the law.

When every Indian believes that Justice will be served, and no one will take advantage of the other, that brings trust in government and peace in the nation allowing people to focus on prosperity.

We ask the President, the Prime Minister, members of the Rajya and Lok Sabha, the High Court of Gujarat and the Supreme Court of India to administer Justice including but not limited to dismissing the guilty individuals from power in the state of Gujarat. We request you to sign this petition because you care.

Online References:

http://www.countercurrents.org/gujarat.htm
http://www.sajaforum.org/2007/10/tehelkas-sting.html?cid=88331682#comment-88331682
http://www.onlinevolunteers.org/gujarat/reports/pucl/vv_annexure2.pdf
http://www.tehelka.com/story_main35.asp?filename=Ne031107gujrat_sec.asp
http://www.tehelka.com/story_main35.asp?filename=Ne031107Tarunspiece.asp
http://mikeghouse.net/Gujarat-Massacre-and-Justice.asp
http://www.telegraphindia.com/1071026/asp/nation/story_8474936.asp
http://www.hindu.com/thehindu/2003/05/18/stories/2003051802751000.htm

The documentaries:

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=3829364588351777769
http://www.tehelka.com/story_main35.asp?filename=Ne031107spycam_videos.asp

Mike Ghouse is a Speaker, Thinker, Writer and a Moderator. He is president of the http://www.foundationforpluralism.com/ and is a frequent guest on talk radio and local television network discussing interfaith, political and civic issues. He is the founding president of the http://www.worldmuslimcongress.com/ with a simple theme: "Good for Muslims and good for the world." His personal Website is http://www.mikeghouse.net/ and his articles can be found on the Websites mentioned above and in his Blogs: http://mikeghouseforamerica.blogspot.com/ and http://mikeghouse.sulekha.com/ Mike is a Dallasite for nearly three decades and Carrollton is his home town. He can be reached at MikeGhouse@gmail.com


1-President of IndiaName- Smt. Pratibha Devisingh Patil, Rashtrapati Bhavan,
New Delhi, India – 110 004.
Telephone : 01-11-23015321
Fax : 91-11-23017920 / 91-11-23017824

Shri Faiz Ahmed KidwaiDeputy Secretary(K) President's Secretariat,Rashtrapati BhawanNew Delhi - 110 001Phone - (011) 23016767 23015321 Extn:4444
Fax: 23014580
9871322244

2.Vice President of IndiaName-Mohammad Hamid Ansari
Vice-President's House, 6, Maulana Azad Road,New Delhi - 110 011 Telephone - 011-23016422, 23016344E-mail: vpindia@nic.in
Vice-President's SecretariatS.No NAME & DESIGNATION TEL. NO. Off. 1.Shri Shumsher K. SheriffSecretary to the Vice-President
2301721023016344

2.Shri Ashok Dewan
Deputy Secretary
2379347823018471 3. Shri Parvathaneni Harish OSD to the Vice-President 23794336
23016422

4. Shri Gurdeep Singh SappalOSD to Chairman, Rajya Sabha
23010673
23016422

5.Shri Arvind Kapoor
Under Secretary
23018684

6. Shri Mahitab Singh
Under Secretary
23022322

3. Prime Minister
Dr,Manmohan Singh
The Prime Minister's Office, popularly known as the 'PMO', is located atSouth Block, Raisina Hill, New Delhi, India-110 011. Telephone: 91-11-23012312. Fax: 91-11-23019545 / 91-11-23016857. e-mail: Click here

4.Speaker of Rajya Sabha1. Mohammad Hamid Ansari - Chairman

2. Shri K. Rahman Khan - Deputy Chairman
parishad@sansad.nic.in,rsmail@sansad.nic.in,joshin@sansad.nic.in,mukul@sansad.nic.in

5.Speaker of Lok SabhaMr. Somnath Chatterjee17, Parliament House,New Delhi-110001Tels. (011) 23017795, 23017914,23013211 Fax. (011) 23792927Email : lokmail@sansad.nic.inhttp://speakerloksabha.nic.in

6.Chief Justice Gujarat High CourtMr. Justice Y.R. MEENAHigh Court of Gujarat,
Sola, Ahmedabad - 380 060.
Email : rg-hc-guj@nic.in
http://gujarathighcourt.nic.in

7.Chief Justice Supreme CourtK.G. Balakrishnan, The SecretaryGeneral, Supreme Court of India, Tilak Marg, New Delhi-110 001 (India) For Query/suggestions please e-mail at : supremecourt@nic.in

8.Chief Minister GujaratNarendra Modi well about him the official page of Guj Goverment is Empty!http://www.gujaratindia.com/Government/govt2.htm
and this is his personel self praising websitehttp://www.narendramodi.in/html/index.html

9.Governor GujaratNawal Kishore SharmaRaj Bhavan, Sector-20,Gandhinagar-382020 Gujarat, India