Prime Minister Narendra Modi taught such a lesson to rioters in Gujarat in 2002 when he was the chief minister that to date, no one has dared to cause riots again in the state, said Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Saturday in an apparent remark against Muslims who witnessed a brutal genocide by Hindutva groups in 2002 in Gujarat.
He was speaking at the Viksit Bharat Sankalp Yatra in Gujarat’s Sanand.
“In 2002, there were riots and thereafter Modi saheb taught a lesson to not repeat the act. Have there been riots thereafter? The rioters were taught such a lesson in 2002 that to date no one dares to cause riots in Gujarat,” Shah said.
Shah made similar remarks back in November 2022, stating that ‘anti-social elements’ backed by Congress were ‘taught a lesson’ in 2002, and as a result, they ceased such activities. He had also said that the Bharatiya Janata Party established ‘permanent peace’ in the state.
Shah was addressing a poll rally in Mahudha town of Kheda district in support of BJP candidates during that time.
More than 3000 Muslims were killed in the large-scale Hindutva violence that erupted in Gujarat following the train buring incident near Godhra railway station in February 2002.
Shah was the Home Minister of the state under the then Chief Minister Narendra Modi.
On 28 February 2002, Hindu mobs who were part of the Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP), Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), unleashed massive violence against Muslims in Gujarat that went on weeks killing thousands of Muslims.
About 3000 Muslims are killed. Some 20,000 Muslim homes and businesses and 360 places of worship are destroyed, and roughly 150,000 people are displaced.
Narendra Modi, the current Prime Minister of India, was accused of initiating and condoning the violence, instructing police to stand by and let Hindu mobs do acts of violence against Muslims.
Strong evidence links the Narendra Modi administration in Gujarat to the carefully orchestrated anti-Muslim attacks. Hindu mobs had detailed lists of Muslim residents and businesses, and violence occurred within view of police stations. An independent media, Tehelka, used hidden cameras to capture some of the accused speaking openly of how the attacks had Modi’s blessings.
