Former DGP says the state government complied with almost none of the recommendations made by NHRC on 2002 riots

“It hurts a bit… no, it hurts a lot, every day,” says PGJ Nampoothiri — the man behind the National Human Rights Commission’s (NHRC) report that followed the 2002 post-Godhra riots — on the Gujarat government’s total disregard of the Commission’s recommendations in the aftermath of the genocide.

For Nampoothiri, the former special rapporteaur of the NHRC and ex-Gujarat DGP, the hurt got bigger on September 26, when the Nanavati-Mehta Commission of Inquiry submitted the first part of its probe report on Godhra and post-Godhra carnages. The Commission jumped the gun in the first part of its report, which according to itself was supposed to deal only with the Godhra train carnage and not the riots that followed, to say there was no lapse on part of the Gujarat government in complying with recommendations of the NHRC.

In a candid interview to Newsline, Nampoothiri rubbished the Nanavati-Mehta report’s claims. He pointed out that far from complying, the Gujarat government had almost completely scuttled the NHRC recommendations. The ex-top cop of Gujarat also spoke about the role the Gujarat Police could have played to contain the riots that left an indelible blotch on the state.

* How do you see the Nanavati-Mehta Commission’s observation that the Gujarat government had complied with all the NHRC recommendations regarding the rehabilitation measures after the post-Godhra riots?
I think it would be only correct and true to say that the Gujarat government has complied with almost none, yes none, of the recommendations of the NHRC. All our reports are public documents and they are open to everybody to see and decide for themselves. Perhaps, the Nanavati Commission was not correctly informed or was misled into reaching such a conclusion. May be it did not fully appreciate the reports of the NHRC.

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