NEW DELHI, 15 July 2004 — India’s new railway minister yesterday announced that he has ordered a fresh inquiry into an act of arson on a train in the western Indian state of Gujarat that triggered sectarian violence in the state leaving 2,000, mostly Muslims, dead.
Fifty-nine Hindus were burned alive after their train was set ablaze on February 27, 2002, by a mob, near Godhra railway station. About 56 people are under arrest for their alleged connection with the train attack.
Railway Minister Lalu Prasad Yadav told Parliament yesterday that the fresh inquiry would be completed within three months. At the time of the incident and the riots that followed, the former Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led federal government was in power. That government was replaced by a Congress party-led coalition government in elections held earlier this year.
An investigation led by two retired judges and ordered by the BJP-led government is ongoing. Lalu said it was unclear whether inflammable material was hurled into the train from outside or was caused by such material kept in the train.
Lalu said he felt a proper inquiry had not been conducted into the incident either by the railways or the Gujarat government. Gujarat’s BJP Chief Minister Narendra Modi has been criticized for failing to stop the violence that followed the train arson incident.
