The Hindu : It was genocide, says report

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Thursday, Dec 11, 2003

National

National

It was genocide, says report

By Kalpana Sharma

MUMBAI DEC. 10. The violence in Gujarat has still not ended. This is one of the conclusions of the report, "Threatened Existence: a feminist analysis of the genocide in Gujarat", by the International Initiative for Justice in Gujarat.

Released on the occasion of Human Rights Day by Justice Jahagirdar, retired judge, the 244-page report is the result of a visit by an international panel of jurists, academics, journalists and women's activists to the State nine months after the violence that followed the Godhra tragedy of February 27, 2002.

"This is the first time that we have a book that deals with the specific aspect of violence against women as a result of communal riots," said Mr. Justice Jahagirdar.

"Violence against women took place on a vast scale in Gujarat. Why is it that the `Hindutvadis' are indulging in this type of violence, specially after 1993?" he asked.

Mass rape, he said, was a phenomenon associated with war. "But was there a war situation in Gujarat when the riots took place? Is every communal riot being equated with war?"

The report specifically documents the sexual violence in Gujarat, based on testimonies by 180 women from seven districts. But as Vahida Nainar, one of the panelists and a researcher in international law, clarified, "The objective of this report was to go beyond documentation to provide a gender analysis of what happened in Gujarat."

An important aspect of the report, she said, was the fact that the panel had applied international law to the events in Gujarat and concluded that they fall within the accepted definition of genocide and crimes against humanity.

"There is a misconception that it takes a large number of casualties for an event to qualify as genocide. In international jurisprudence, the key element is not the number of victims but the intent of the attackers — to destroy a community on the basis of religion, race or class."

Similarly, for an event to be termed a crime against humanity depended on how widespread and systematic the violence was. In the case of Gujarat, she said, it was both.

Film-maker Mahesh Bhatt and writer Shobha De, who spoke at the release function, emphasised the importance of not forgetting what happened in Gujarat.

"It's almost as if our leaders want to impose amnesia," said Bhatt, and endorsed the conclusion of the report that the violence continued in Gujarat and in some ways "has become more dangerous."

The authors of the report have made several recommendations. They have asked the Indian Government to enact legislation to implement the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide that it has already ratified.

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

National