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They lived through death to tell tale
In 45 minutes of horror
on Sabarmati Express, 57 died but many escaped and...
JANYALA
SREENIVAS & MEGHDOOT SHARON
AHMEDABAD, FEBRUARY 27:
When Sabarmati Express rolled into Ahmedabad railway
station this evening, only the engine could be heard.
Over 1,000 people, mostly
VHP and BJP workers, stood still and silent. As the empty
coaches littered with stones rolled past, the crowd let out
a gasp.
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Minister at the end of mob fury
GODHRA: Tempers ran high at the
civil hospital town of Gujarat where 18 injured were
admitted. A mob heckled Minister of State Bhupendra
Lakhawala and shouted anti-government slogans when CM
Narendra Modi visited.
The mob of 1,000 locked the main gate
to the emergency ward and prevented Lakhawala from going
in. When he tried persuading the mob, some youth pushed
him. He was nearly pushed out of the hospital complex.
Sensing trouble, Lakhawala beat a retreat. Even policemen
inside the hospital watched, realising any interference
might aggravate the situation. — ENS
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Then they surged forward towards
the train. On platform 1, women sevaks wailed, elderly men
stood with glazed eyes and the youths cried revenge. The sevaks
alighted from the train into the embrace of weeping relatives
and friends.
Those who had lived through
Godhra brought with them tales of 45-minutes of horror. Veenaben
Rajput, in S6, said: ‘‘The train stopped five minutes after
leaving Godhra. We thought there was a red signal. Then, a
large stone landed right behind me. And then there was a hail
of stones. I pushed some young girls under the seat. I shouted
for help. But the others were hit and bleeding.’’
The stories were several but
all those on board said the attack was planned. ‘‘After the
hail of stones stopped, a 1,000-strong mob armed with crude
revolvers, acid bulbs, petrol bombs, knives and hockey sticks
set upon the train. They locked a coach from outside and set
it on fire with petrol bombs,’’ Govindbhai, provision store
owner from Amraiwadi, said.
According to Rajeshbhai Rasiklal
from Dhansura, four compartments full of kar sevaks, including
one of women, was targetted. ‘‘When I jumped out, I saw two
coaches burning. We shouted out to those inside to get out.
They looked confused. We never realised the doors were locked
from outside,’’ he said.
The sorrow of the survivors
was drowned in anger by the time the train pulled up in Ahmedabad.
Most women and youth were angry. They brandished knives and
swore revenge. A large police contingent had a tough time
controlling them.
At Maninagar railway station,
too, grief gave way to anger as 350 kar sevaks alighted from
Sabarmati Express at 4.25 pm to the welcome of VHP leaders.
They were from Amraiwadi, Maninagar, Odhav and Bapunagar districts.
Kar sevak Jignesh Dabhi from
Bapunagar recalled: ‘‘They first pelted stones. Then some
from the mob cut off the hose, which stopped the train.’’
Some of the mobsters even misbehaved with the women inside.
VHP city women’s wing convenor
Bhartiben Gajjar said that the goons targetted the women.
‘‘Two women in my compartment were burnt alive. Two others
jumped off the running train and fractured their limbs,’’
she said. Gajjar identified the dead women as Jiviben Dabhi
and Premben Dabhi, both from Majur Gaam.
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