Thaindian News

New Delhi, April 22 (IANS) The Congress Friday attacked the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) over the affidavit of a senior police officer accusing Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi of complicity in the 2002 riots, saying it should have compelled its leader to resign and subjected him to rigours of the judicial process.

Congress spokesperson Manish Tewari said it is “no dark secret that the Gujarat government was squarely involved” in post-Godhra communal violence in the state.

He said that those who shower praise on Modi should read the affidavit filed by Indian Police Service (IPS) officer Sanjiv Bhatt and feel for the relatives of those who were “slaughtered at the behest of the state government”.

However, Tewari added that his remarks were not aimed at an individual.

Asked about the police officer not having conveyed his position to the Special Investigation Team looking into the case, Tewari said he was not going into motivation of an individual.

He said BJP had brazenly defended the chief minister instead of making him resign.

“If it (BJP) had an iota of morality, it would have compelled the Gujarat chief minister to resign and subjected him to rigours of judicial process,” Tewari said.

Bhatt has accused Modi of wanting to teach Muslims “a lesson” after the Godhra train attack in 2002 killed 59 Hindus.

Modi reportedly told senior officials that emotions were running high among Hindus following the burning of the Sabarmati Express at Godhra, Bhatt said in an affidavit to the Supreme Court.

Most of the dead in the Godhra incident were Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) activists, returning to Gujarat from Ayodhya in Uttar Pradesh. The train burning led to communal violence that left at least 1,000 people dead across Gujarat.