- HOW HAS THE GUJARAT MASSACRE AFFECTED MINORITY WOMEN
-
- The Survivors Speak
- http://203.199.93.7/today/TheSurvivorsSpeakX.html.htm
-
- Fact-finding by a Women's Panel
-
- Syeda Hameed, Muslim Women's Forum, Delhi
- Ruth Manorama, National Alliance of Women, Bangalore
- Malini Ghose, Nirantar, Delhi
- Sheba George, Sahrwaru, Ahmedabad
- Farah Naqvi, Independent Journalist, Delhi
- Mari Thekaekara, Accord, Tamil Nadu
- Sponsored by
- Citizen's Initiative, Ahmedabad
- April 16, 2002
-
- (This report may be quoted, in whole or in part, with
due acknowledgement)
-
- Acknowledgements
-
- The fact-finding team would like to acknowledge the following
individuals
- in Gujarat, who gave generously of their time and insights
at a time of
- continuing trauma for the people of Gujarat and the entire
country:
- Gagan Sethi, Martin Macwan, Trupti Shah, Renu Khanna,
Sejal Dand, Jhanvi
- Andheria, Neeta Hardikar, Stalin. K, Mehmuda and Naseem
from Sahrwaru,
- Bahercharbhai Patel (for guiding us to remote rural relief
camps) Achyut
- Yagnik, Ila Behn Pathak, Annie Prasad, and Valjibhai
Patel (for sending us
- translations from the Gujarati vernacular press)
-
- We also thank the many local activists and coordinators
of relief camps who
- found time to sit with us despite the urgency of the
task they had at hand.
- Above all, a salute to the women - survivors all, who
had the will to live,
- and the courage to speak of the unspeakable.
-
- Contents
- Introduction
- ................................................................................
- ...... 6
-
- Section I: Sexual Violence Against Women .................................
8
- q Testimonies of Sexual Violence
- q Sexual Violence and the Media
-
- Section II: Women's Experiences of the State ..........................
18
- q Political Complicity
- q Role of the Police
- q Women's Testimonies of the Role of the State
-
- Section III: In the Wake of Violence
- ............................................. 27
- q Visiting the Camps
- q Ghettoisation: The Rural Experience
- q Economic Destitution
- q New Rural Divides
- q VHP and Bajrang Dal : Women's experiences
- q Small Rays of Hope
- q State Response: Peace Committees
-
- Section IV: Violations of International Instruments ....................
40
-
- Section V: Conclusions and Recommendations ......................
47
-
- Annexures :
- ................................................................................
- ... 50
-
- (PLEASE NOTE: THE PAGINATION ON THIS MICROSOFT WORD VERSION
OF THE REPORT
- DOES NOT MATCH THE PAGINATION ON THE PRINTED VERSION)
-
- Annexures
-
- Section I: Sexual Violence Against Women
- Annexure 1.1: Testimony of Sexual Violence
- Annexure 1.2: Testimony of Sexual Violence
- Annexure 1.3: Testimony of Sexual Violence
- Annexure 1.4: Testimony of Sexual Violence
- Annexure 1.5: Testimony of Sexual Violence
- Annexure 1.6: Excerpts from two largest Gujarat Newspapers:
Sandesh and
- Gujarat Samachar
-
- Section II: Women's Experiences of the State
-
- Annexure 2.1: A meeting with Maya Kodnani, BJP MLA from
Naroda Patiya
- Annexure 2.2: A meeting with Sarpanch Nathibehn, Laxmipura
Village, Sabarkantha
- Annexure 2.3: A meeting with Sarpanch Keshubhai Patel,
Chithroda Village
-
-
- Gujarat ke firaq se hai khaar khaar dil
- Betaab hai seenay mane atish bahar dil
- Marham nahin hai iske zakhm ka jahan mane
- Shamshir e hijr se jo hua hai figar dil
- (My heart is thorn- filled with longing for Gujarat
- Restless, frantic, flame- wrapped in the spring
- On earth there exists no balm for its wound
- My heart split asunder by the dagger of separation)
-
- Vali Gujarati
-
- Sufi saint-poet
- Born in Ahmedabad circa 1650
- Died in Ahmedabad 1707
- Tomb razed February 28, 2002
-
- "I always swerve a bit to the side to avoid driving
over the spot where the
- mazaar stood. It wouldn't feel right to go over it.
I know other drivers
- do the same."
- -- Driver Shankar, while driving past the freshly tarred
patch of road
- where Vali Gujarati's mazaar had been for three hundred
years. - March 30
- 2002.
-
-
- Introduction
-
- A six-member team of women from Delhi, Bangalore, Tamil
Nadu and Ahmedabad
- undertook a five-day fact-finding mission from March
27 - March 31, 2002,
- to assess the impact of the continuing violence on minority
women in
- Gujarat.
-
- Other fact-finding teams have also visited Gujarat post-Godhra.
However,
- given the particular targeting of women in this carnage,
there was an
- urgent need for a sectoral investigation into how women
in particular have
- been affected. The objective of the fact-finding was
to determine the
- nature and extent of the crimes against women; find evidence
of the role
- played by the police and other state institutions in
protecting women;
- determine 'new elements' in the current spate of violence
that distinguish
- it from previous rounds of communal violence in Gujarat;
determine the role
- of organisations like the VHP and Bajrang Dal in both
- the build-up to the
- current carnage as well as in actually unleashing the
violence.
-
- The team visited seven relief camps in both rural and
urban areas
- (Ahmedabad, Kheda, Vadodra, Sabarkantha and Panchmahals
districts) and
- spoke to a large number of women survivors. Ensuring
that women's voices
- are heard was a matter of priority for the entire team.
The team also spoke
- to intellectuals, activists, members of the media, administration,
and
- leaders from the BJP, including MLA Maya Kodnani, accused
in an FIR in the
- Naroda Patia massacre. The fact-finding was conducted
under conditions of
- continuing violence and curfew in many parts of the State.
-
- We have been shaken and numbed by the scale and brutality
of the violence
- that is still continuing in Gujarat. Despite reading
news reports, we were
- unprepared for what we saw and heard; for fear in the
eyes and anguish in
- the words of ordinary women whose basic human right to
live a life of
- dignity has been snatched away from them.
-
- Main Findings:
-
- q The pattern of violence does not indicate "spontaneous"
action.
- There was pre-planning, organization, and precision in
the targeting.
-
- q There is compelling evidence of sexual violence
against women.
- These crimes against women have been grossly underreported
and the exact
- extent of these crimes - in rural and urban areas - demands
further
- investigation. Among the women surviving in relief camps,
are many who have
- suffered the most bestial forms of sexual violence -
including rape, gang
- rape, mass rape, stripping, insertion of objects into
their body,
- stripping, molestations. A majority of rape victims have
been burnt alive.
-
- q There is evidence of State and Police complicity
in perpetuating
- crimes against women. No effort was made to protect women.
No Mahila
- Police was deployed. State and Police complicity in these
crimes is
- continuing, as women survivors continue to be denied
the right to file
- FIRs. There is no existing institutional mechanism in
Gujarat through which
- women can seek justice.
-
- q The impact on women has been physical, economic
and psychological.
- On all three fronts there is no evidence of State efforts
to help them.
-
- q The state of the relief camps, as mothers struggle
to keep their
- children alive in the most appalling physical conditions,
is indicative of
- the continued abdication of the State's responsibilities.
-
- q Rural women have been affected by communal violence
on this scale
- for the first time. There is a need for further investigation
into the role
- played by particular castes/communities in rural Gujarat
in unleashing
- violence.
-
- q There is evidence that the current carnage was
preceded by an
- escalation of tension and build-up by the VHP and the
Bajrang Dal.
-
- q There is an alarming trend towards ghettoisation
of the Muslim
- community in rural areas for the first time.
-
- q Sections of the Gujarati vernacular press played
a dangerous and
- criminal role in promoting the violence, particularly
in provoking sexual
- violence against women.
-
- Section I
-
- SEXUAL VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN
-
- The fact-finding team found compelling evidence of the
most extreme form of
- sexual violence against women during the first few days
of the carnage - in
- Ahmedabad on February 28th and March 1st and in rural
areas up to March 3,
- 2002. The testimonies point to brutal and depraved forms
of violence. The
- violence against minorities was pre-planned, organized
and targeted. In
- every instance of large scale mob violence against the
community in
- general, there was a regular pattern of violence against
women. Given the
- fact that the data on crimes against women has not been
systematically
- collected, it is impossible to ascertain the extent of
the outrage. We
- believe, however, that crimes against women have been
grossly
- under-reported. For instance, in Panchmahals district
only one rape FIR has
- been filed, though we heard of many other cases. There
has been a complete
- invisibilisation of the issue of sexual violence in the
media[1].
-
- The situation is compounded by the apathy of law-enforcement
agencies and
- the indifference of political representatives. In our
interview with Maya
- Kodnani, BJP MLA from Naroda Patia[2], where several
brutal gang rapes and
- rapes of minor girls have been reported (see testimonies
below) we found
- that she was indifferent, complacent and even bemused.
When questioned
- about the reported rapes she said - Accha, kya ye sach
hai? Suna hai. Ek
- police wale ne mujhe bataya ki aise hua hai par usne
dekha nahin. (Is this
- true? One policeman mentioned this to me but he had not
seen anything) She
- had not taken the trouble to investigate further, and
clearly indicated no
- intent to do so.
-
- Given the gravity of the situation, it is incomprehensible
that until the
- writing of this report the National Commission for Women,
mandated as the
- apex body for protection of women's rights guaranteed
under the
- Constitution of India, had not visited the State. This
indicates a complete
- institutional breakdown as far as issues such as violence
against women are
- concerned. As the District Collector of Panchmahals,
clearly told us -
- 'Maintaining Law and order is my primary concern. It
is not possible for me
- to look into cases of sexual violence. If something is
brought to my notice
- (like the Bilkees case, see below) I can take action,
but nothing more than
- that. NGOs should take on this job. I would welcome their
involvement.'
-
- During our visits to the camps, we were besieged with
detailed testimonies
- from rape victims themselves and from eyewitnesses -
both activists and
- family members who witnessed the crime. For instance,
in the short time we
- spent at Halol camp (Panchmahals district) we were able
to get information
- about four incidents of rape. The fact-finding team also
saw video footage
- where women spoke of witnessing rapes. In the film we
saw slogans like -
- Muslims Quit India - or we will f*** your mothers - written
on the walls of
- charred houses.
-
- We reproduce below some of the testimonies that we were
able to record.
-
- A. Testimonies of Sexual Violence
-
- WITNESSING MASS RAPE (INCLUDING MINOR GIRLS)
- NARODA PATIA, AHMEDABAD, FEBRUARY 28, 2002[3]
-
- "The mob started chasing us with burning tyres after
we were forced to
- leave Gangotri society. It was then that they raped many
girls. We saw
- about 8-10 rapes. We saw them strip 16-year-old Mehrunissa.
They were
|