Feb. 22: The BJP on Tuesday said the special court verdict on Godhra train burning case has “vindicated” its stand that there was a conspiracy behind it. Accusing the UPA government of trying to cover up the entire episode, the party claimed the court verdict has “exposed the nefarious designs” of the UPA government. The Congress however, declined to comment on the verdict.
The BJP also dismissed as “eyewash” the report of the U.C. Banerjee Committee, appointed by the then railway minister Lalu Prasad Yadav to probe the causes of the fire in Sabarmati Express at Godhra, that the fire was “accidental”.
“The judgment proves that the court has accepted that this was a culmination of a conspiracy. The arson and self-immolation theory ended today,” Leader of the Opposition in Lok Sabha, Sushma Swaraj said.
The party maintained the judgment also accepts that the event was “planned in a room” and petrol was bought to set the train on fire.
“The judgment vindicates our stand that they (victims) were burnt to death under a conspiracy. It re-establishes the conspiracy theory,” Ms Swaraj said.
The main Opposition insisted that the verdict proves its contention that the U.C. Banerjee committee report, which stated that the fire was caused from inside the S-6 bogey of Sabarmati Express, was an “eyewash and manipulated”. BJP national spokesperson Shahnawaz Hussain said the verdict has come as an “embarrassment” to the Central government.
“The theory of the government and some NGOs has been proved wrong with the court saying that there was a conspiracy... One man (Banerjee) gave a clean chit but the court has not accepted this. The attempts to rubbish the fact of conspiracy has been defeated,” Mr Hussain said.
Party chief spokesperson Ravishankar Prasad maintained that some elements were trying to “belittle the issue but finally justice has prevailed”. The Congress however, declined to comment on the special court’s verdict saying that it is “not aware of the content of the judgment”, even as the party blamed Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi for triggering post-Godhra communal riots.