The machination and scheming are breathtaking in their arrogance as also repulsive. The Clinton visit to India was marked by a massacre of Sikhs in Kashmir. It was to be a framed proof of the role of Kashmiri militants backed by Pakistan. That this did not happen is due to the courage of Kashmiris in villages surrounding Chittisinghpura. To them the country owns the debt of getting to know the truth despite a joint cover-up (and no doubt planning) by the rulers at the Centre and in the State.

The killings of Sikhs were followed by 'combing of the mountains'  by Indian Army, paramilitary and local police. Within hours, five bodies bedevilled with bullets were proudly splashed across the media- Kashmiri militants they were. Except that one little village rose up, and its inhabitants blocked the highway. Not militants, they said, our neighbours, our father, our brothers who had gone to work and never came back that night. Police firing on the protesters and more dead bodies, led to an enquiry. The bodies were exhumed and finger prints taken.

Within months came reports that the finger prints then taken were fudged at the instance of the State Govt. Given the situation in Kashmir, Govts. moved quickly and a panel of doctors went and took the finger prints again. DNA testing confirmed what by then was already apparent- the villagers were right. The bodies were of local residents.

The opportunistic Farooq Abdullah is now holding up the case as an example of Army depravity. What about the involvement of his own Govt.? Is there any doubt that the initial killings of Chittisighpura too, with their too perfect timing, also need scrutiny? Will there be justice for these murders, for befooling the whole country? Doubtful. The whole Kashmir situation is full of such cases of wanton arrests and executions. They are bids to cow down the people, and solve the question of Kashmir militarily.

Over to Godhara. Hindutva forces have ceaselessly propagated that the anti-Muslim pogrom in Gujarat was actually spontaneous. It was a reaction to the burning alive of 58 karsewks by setting fire to coach no. 6 of the Sabarmati Express outside Godhara Railway Station on 27th February 2002 by a Muslim mob. The police and Gujarat Govt. version is that the train was stopped outside the railway station and a Muslim mob surrounded this coach. Those inside- mostly women and children- locked themselves in. The mob threw inflammable liquid at the coach apart from stones and then set fire to the coach, burning alive all those inside. The police claimed they had identified and arrested several of those allegedly involved (around 72 Muslims) when the Gujarat FS Laboratory at Ahmedabad brought out a report on the burning of the coach.

The report gave a startling dimension to the fire in coach no. S-6. It categorically dismissed all claims that the coach could have been burnt by throwing of inflammable liquid on it from the outside.   By using an empty coach and situational circumstances, it insisted that for the pattern of burning evidenced by the burnt out coach, it was necessary that the fire was set from inside the coach. It estimates that at least 60 litres of inflammable liquid was present inside the coach.

As the implications of this report began sinking in, promptly police stated that from among the 72 arrested, one had already confessed to entering the coach and the 'answer was found.' He evidently told the police that with two others, he had crept in from the back of the coach. This they did by cutting through the canvas cover at the rear. They entered the coach and poured the liquid inside from the cans they had brought with themselves. They even opened the door of the compartment for more accomplices to enter with more liquid. Apparently the reportedly bloodthirsty crowd outside, which was throwing burning rags at the coach did not even try to enter it from this door. When the requisite amount of liquid had been poured in, all of these exited from the coach. Eventually a burning cloth tied to a long bamboo was used to ignite the liquid inside. Those inside the coach did not realize that inflammable liquid had been poured into the coach because they were all huddled together at the other end.

The police have refused to disclose the name of the 'confessor' or of his accomplices. Why couldn't this confession and arrest precede the GFSL report? How was there both evidence and confession so suddenly? Just like the Central Govt. report on the 'The known ISI plan to kill him' given out within hours of Lone's murder- this one too is suspect and full of holes. The situation calls for a thorough impartial investigation to tell the people the truth.

The burning alive was a heinous act whose perpetrators and designers must be brought to book. But now another issue has come up. Who, after all, was burnt alive? The Railway Minister has failed to furnish the passenger list of coach no. S-6 despite being repeatedly questioned. He has now stated that following persistent media hounding, Railway inspectors are visiting the homes of those who had reservations, to find out if they had travelled and what they had seen. However the list has still not been released- it is withheld for 'analysis'. What analysis is needed? In the circumstances the list is the property of the people who have a right to know the truth. Another report has identified that coach no. S-6 was attached and reserved from Lucknow, which is 120 km. from Faizabad. No karsewak could have been its lawful occupant. Where then are the 60 odd original occupants if all the 58 burnt alive were karsewaks? The original passenger list has to be available in Railway records at Lucknow. The Railway Minister conveniently says that the TTE of S-6 has written on the railway chart that "he is unable to enter the coach" to check the reservation list. Was this true right down the line? - Not one but several TTEs would have changed enroute. Other reports disclose that 19 bodies still lie unidentified. How were the other bodies identified so promptly when the karsewaks could not have been bonafide travellers?

There are any number of such unanswered but obvious questions. The CBI being in the hands of an equally culpable Central Govt., hence the burning of coach no. S-6 calls for a time bound enquiry on a day to day basis by a sitting Supreme Court judge assisted by NHRC, established civil rights personnel and known democrats.  It should also cross check reports that the same liquid chemical of very high inflammability has been used in selective burning of buildings in other parts of the state during the anti-Muslim violence orchestrated by the Hindutva forces.