The Hindu : Kin of Godhra victims allege BJP, VHP 'pressure'

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Monday, Oct 06, 2003

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Kin of Godhra victims allege BJP, VHP 'pressure'

MUMBAI OCT. 5. Some relatives of the Godhra train carnage victims today alleged being ''pressured'' by BJP and VHP workers, and demanded shifting of the Nanavati Commission of Inquiry outside the State as they had ''no faith'' in the Narendra Modi Government.

Addressing mediapersons here, the relatives, under the aegis of a city-based NGO - the Citizens for Justice and Peace (CJP) - alleged that the BJP and the VHP had 'used' them for political gains and said they felt abandoned.

''The BJP had taken our family members to Ayodhya and assured them of bringing them back safely. Why were they sent back without none of the BJP members accompanying them,'' asked 82-year-old Girish Rawal, whose wife Sudha was killed in the carnage and son Ashwin was stabbed in post-Godhra violence.

The BJP and the VHP-sponsored Ayodhya yatra was ''politically motivated'', he alleged. Prakash Chodagar and Sharad Mhatre, both of whom lost their wives in the carnage, alleged they were ''pressured'' by the BJP leader, Jaykant Dave, during the inquiry by the Nanavati Commission to ''keep our mouth shut'' and the party functionaries themselves deposed posing as representatives of the victims' families.

Demanding shifting of the inquiry outside Gujarat under the supervision of the Supreme Court, the family members said they had 'no faith' in the BJP Government and added, ''We cannot get justice in the State''.

PTI

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Kin of Godhra victims allege BJP, VHP 'pressure'