1 00:00:02,000 --> 00:00:08,160 This programme contains scenes which some viewers may find upsetting 2 00:00:43,120 --> 00:00:45,680 My name is Alishan Jafri. 3 00:00:45,680 --> 00:00:49,480 I am a journalist reporting on hate crimes 4 00:00:49,480 --> 00:00:52,840 and the rise of extreme politics. 5 00:00:54,800 --> 00:01:00,440 India is a state where calls for genocide against Muslims 6 00:01:00,440 --> 00:01:01,720 are on the rise. 7 00:01:17,200 --> 00:01:20,200 There is a very direct call to violence 8 00:01:20,200 --> 00:01:23,200 to make India a Hindu nation. 9 00:01:33,360 --> 00:01:37,880 The Prime Minister of this country should have spoken against it, 10 00:01:37,880 --> 00:01:39,720 but he does not speak up. 11 00:01:44,240 --> 00:01:46,480 CROWD CHANTS 12 00:01:50,520 --> 00:01:52,160 The man of the moment... 13 00:01:53,120 --> 00:01:55,560 ..Prime Minister of India. 14 00:01:55,560 --> 00:01:59,800 He is the leader of the world's biggest democracy. 15 00:02:01,400 --> 00:02:04,880 Narendra Damodardas Modi. 16 00:02:04,880 --> 00:02:09,320 He came to power promising a new age of prosperity... 17 00:02:16,360 --> 00:02:19,880 ..but his rule has been marred by religious turmoil. 18 00:02:19,880 --> 00:02:22,240 ARCHIVE: There have been violent protests in opposition 19 00:02:22,240 --> 00:02:25,280 to a new citizenship law which many see as discriminating 20 00:02:25,280 --> 00:02:27,120 against the nation's Muslim minority. 21 00:02:27,120 --> 00:02:30,160 Many in India see this law as anti-Muslim. 22 00:02:30,160 --> 00:02:34,640 Massive pelting, massive pelting as of now is going on. 23 00:02:39,360 --> 00:02:41,680 This series tells the story 24 00:02:41,680 --> 00:02:46,680 of Narendra Modi's troubled relationship with India's Muslims. 25 00:02:46,680 --> 00:02:50,720 As a young child, Mr Modi joined an organisation 26 00:02:50,720 --> 00:02:54,600 which believes that this is a country of the Hindus. 27 00:02:54,600 --> 00:02:57,320 Could he have done more to prevent violence 28 00:02:57,320 --> 00:02:59,880 that killed hundreds of Muslims? 29 00:03:01,080 --> 00:03:04,880 We were hearing that those orders to let all this happen 30 00:03:04,880 --> 00:03:06,480 were coming from the top. 31 00:03:06,480 --> 00:03:08,400 It is obviously a stain on his reputation. 32 00:03:08,400 --> 00:03:10,360 There's no way out of that. 33 00:03:10,360 --> 00:03:12,400 I'm not agreeing with your analysis. 34 00:03:12,400 --> 00:03:14,080 I'm not agreeing with your information. 35 00:03:14,080 --> 00:03:17,280 From where you have picked up this type of garbage, I do not know. 36 00:03:18,280 --> 00:03:21,320 He was cleared of criminal conspiracy - 37 00:03:21,320 --> 00:03:25,440 a finding upheld by India's highest court... 38 00:03:25,440 --> 00:03:29,200 Agenda was to destroy Narendra Modi politically. 39 00:03:29,200 --> 00:03:31,440 The agenda was explicitly political. 40 00:03:31,440 --> 00:03:34,520 ..but concerns will not go away. 41 00:03:34,520 --> 00:03:37,360 Questions remained over Mr Modi's head for a long time, 42 00:03:37,360 --> 00:03:39,840 and they remain over him now. 43 00:03:39,840 --> 00:03:44,040 Narendra Modi has promised to build a new India, 44 00:03:44,040 --> 00:03:47,200 but what does that mean for the millions of people 45 00:03:47,200 --> 00:03:49,880 who belong to its largest minority? 46 00:03:49,880 --> 00:03:53,680 This regime wants to disenfranchise the Muslims 47 00:03:53,680 --> 00:03:57,480 and make India a "Hindu nation". 48 00:04:35,040 --> 00:04:36,840 My name is Imran Dawood. 49 00:04:36,840 --> 00:04:38,960 I live in Yorkshire. 50 00:04:38,960 --> 00:04:43,720 My grandparents are from India. So is my father. 51 00:04:43,720 --> 00:04:47,280 It was very exciting hearing the stories from family members 52 00:04:47,280 --> 00:04:48,840 of what India was about, 53 00:04:48,840 --> 00:04:53,040 so it was a great opportunity to do a trip at the age of 18. 54 00:04:53,040 --> 00:04:57,920 With me was my two uncles, Shakil and Saeed Dawood, 55 00:04:57,920 --> 00:05:01,200 and my next-door neighbour, Mohammed Aswat. 56 00:05:11,480 --> 00:05:16,600 We were on our way back from the Taj Mahal. 57 00:05:16,600 --> 00:05:18,480 It was a long journey. 58 00:05:18,480 --> 00:05:20,880 When we actually entered the state, 59 00:05:20,880 --> 00:05:23,240 I remember the driver saying, literally, 60 00:05:23,240 --> 00:05:25,240 "We're home now, boys. We're home." 61 00:05:26,360 --> 00:05:29,280 And then we get to a roadblock. 62 00:05:29,280 --> 00:05:34,280 There was cars being stopped by people chanting Hindu chants. 63 00:05:34,280 --> 00:05:36,160 They were, like, vetting them. 64 00:05:37,440 --> 00:05:41,240 It was very common for people to decorate their cars' windscreens 65 00:05:41,240 --> 00:05:43,600 with Arabic literature, 66 00:05:43,600 --> 00:05:47,920 so straight away they'd see the owner is a Muslim. 67 00:05:47,920 --> 00:05:51,160 The car in front gets through and then it's our turn. 68 00:05:52,760 --> 00:05:55,800 The mob surrounded us, waving their weapons. 69 00:05:56,800 --> 00:05:59,120 Suddenly, we have an attack. 70 00:06:00,640 --> 00:06:05,200 We're just literally getting out of the car and running for our lives. 71 00:06:05,200 --> 00:06:11,800 The first person that the mob attacked and tortured 72 00:06:11,800 --> 00:06:14,280 was the driver. 73 00:06:14,280 --> 00:06:18,000 Then I see Mohammed Aswat getting blows to his head. 74 00:06:19,640 --> 00:06:23,240 One of the people in the mob - having a knife in his hand - 75 00:06:23,240 --> 00:06:25,640 is saying to us, "Pull your pants down. 76 00:06:25,640 --> 00:06:29,800 "We want to see if you've been circumcised," 77 00:06:29,800 --> 00:06:32,160 and literally feeling... 78 00:06:37,040 --> 00:06:38,080 ..feeling... 79 00:06:39,720 --> 00:06:41,760 ..feeling, "Am I going to live?" 80 00:06:46,000 --> 00:06:51,720 I got stabbed, and then a police vehicle pulls up. 81 00:06:51,720 --> 00:06:58,000 And then as I get in, I remember Mohammed...unconscious. 82 00:07:01,280 --> 00:07:04,840 And this was before me blacking out. 83 00:07:04,840 --> 00:07:07,120 This is... That's the last thing I see. 84 00:07:10,800 --> 00:07:13,960 I do not know what happened to my uncles. 85 00:07:25,480 --> 00:07:31,720 It's...fresh in my mind, like it happened yesterday. 86 00:07:32,720 --> 00:07:37,960 But, sadly, 20 years on and nothing's happened. 87 00:07:37,960 --> 00:07:42,440 There's evidence out there of what has happened 88 00:07:42,440 --> 00:07:44,560 and, clearly, these people are walking free. 89 00:07:44,560 --> 00:07:47,560 It feels like there's no justice there. 90 00:07:57,040 --> 00:08:00,800 ARCHIVE: 57 people have died after a train carrying Hindu activists 91 00:08:00,800 --> 00:08:02,920 was set alight by a group of Muslims. 92 00:08:02,920 --> 00:08:05,880 The train was carrying thousands of Hindus who had visited... 93 00:08:05,880 --> 00:08:07,480 The wreckage is horrific, 94 00:08:07,480 --> 00:08:10,560 all the worse for being man-made and deliberate - 95 00:08:10,560 --> 00:08:15,120 one of the worst acts of religious hatred India's ever seen. 96 00:08:15,120 --> 00:08:17,320 In some areas, the grief and anger here 97 00:08:17,320 --> 00:08:19,560 have already erupted into violence. 98 00:08:19,560 --> 00:08:23,160 That's alarming news in a state where racial hatred 99 00:08:23,160 --> 00:08:25,080 is deeply ingrained. 100 00:08:25,080 --> 00:08:29,400 Jill McGivering, BBC News, Godhra, Gujarat. 101 00:08:29,400 --> 00:08:31,960 People were saying there had been a group of people inside - 102 00:08:31,960 --> 00:08:34,640 they were Hindu pilgrims, including women and children. 103 00:08:34,640 --> 00:08:38,840 Somebody had either locked them in or kept them inside, 104 00:08:38,840 --> 00:08:41,040 poured petrol in and set fire to them, 105 00:08:41,040 --> 00:08:43,000 and a lot of people had died. 106 00:08:59,480 --> 00:09:01,440 It was horrific. 107 00:09:01,440 --> 00:09:03,000 People were outraged. 108 00:09:04,080 --> 00:09:08,520 The perception all over Gujarat - and, in fact, all over India - 109 00:09:08,520 --> 00:09:12,880 was that these Hindu pilgrims 110 00:09:12,880 --> 00:09:15,680 had been targeted by the Muslim community. 111 00:09:17,080 --> 00:09:19,760 The final death toll was 59. 112 00:09:20,840 --> 00:09:23,600 The cause of the fire was disputed, 113 00:09:23,600 --> 00:09:27,760 but at the time, Muslims were blamed. 114 00:09:27,760 --> 00:09:32,400 This is in a state which has a particular history of tensions 115 00:09:32,400 --> 00:09:35,720 between the Hindu majority and the Muslim minority community. 116 00:09:35,720 --> 00:09:37,520 There have been a history of communal riots 117 00:09:37,520 --> 00:09:39,960 and of very nasty violence between the communities. 118 00:09:39,960 --> 00:09:42,760 And the concern was, something like this happens, 119 00:09:42,760 --> 00:09:44,960 members of the Hindu community feel angered 120 00:09:44,960 --> 00:09:46,880 that their people have been targeted, 121 00:09:46,880 --> 00:09:48,760 there might be a big reaction to that. 122 00:09:50,760 --> 00:09:55,040 The Chief Minister of Gujarat was Narendra Modi. 123 00:09:55,040 --> 00:09:57,800 He was seen as a rising star, quite visionary - 124 00:09:57,800 --> 00:10:00,640 a man who got things done, 125 00:10:00,640 --> 00:10:06,120 somebody who was very pro-Hindu, a very powerful, influential figure. 126 00:10:36,960 --> 00:10:39,280 I got a call from a foreign diplomat. 127 00:10:39,280 --> 00:10:42,920 She was a diplomat of one of the foreign Western nations. 128 00:10:42,920 --> 00:10:45,840 So she asked me, "Have you heard what had happened in Godhra? 129 00:10:45,840 --> 00:10:47,880 "Do you think that this is going to escalate?" 130 00:10:47,880 --> 00:10:51,240 I just used one word. I said, "Hugely." 131 00:10:57,760 --> 00:10:59,760 My producer started to get information 132 00:10:59,760 --> 00:11:03,160 that something was happening nearby in Ahmedabad. 133 00:11:06,040 --> 00:11:11,360 It was clear from our arrival that something was very, very wrong. 134 00:11:11,360 --> 00:11:15,000 As we were driving in, we were seeing plumes of thick black smoke 135 00:11:15,000 --> 00:11:18,040 ahead of us in the centre of town. 136 00:11:18,040 --> 00:11:21,840 There were no emergency services there. There were no police. 137 00:11:21,840 --> 00:11:24,760 My memories, then, are going into the centre of Ahmedabad. 138 00:11:24,760 --> 00:11:26,920 There's a quite well-known square - 139 00:11:26,920 --> 00:11:30,000 there's a big area, there's an arch - and it was... 140 00:11:30,000 --> 00:11:31,560 It was mostly on fire. 141 00:11:43,400 --> 00:11:47,400 I remember a man who was a Hindu with his hands to his face, 142 00:11:47,400 --> 00:11:50,800 watching his business - it was a travel agent's - burning. 143 00:11:53,960 --> 00:11:56,840 There were also other people informing me sometimes 144 00:11:56,840 --> 00:12:01,120 that the areas that were being targeted belonged to Muslims. 145 00:12:01,120 --> 00:12:03,600 JILL, ARCHIVE: This is exactly what the authorities hoped 146 00:12:03,600 --> 00:12:06,880 would never happen - the streets have become a battleground. 147 00:12:06,880 --> 00:12:09,520 The grief and anger at yesterday's murders 148 00:12:09,520 --> 00:12:13,840 has boiled over into violence, looting and religious hatred. 149 00:12:16,760 --> 00:12:18,920 JILL: There was this sense of absolute lawlessness. 150 00:12:18,920 --> 00:12:20,520 It was a free-for-all. 151 00:12:21,720 --> 00:12:27,120 I remember seeing the police here and there, very, very disengaged. 152 00:12:28,640 --> 00:12:31,400 I didn't see anybody, from what I remember, 153 00:12:31,400 --> 00:12:36,160 trying to stop the setting fire to things and the looting. 154 00:12:41,480 --> 00:12:43,520 JILL, ARCHIVE: On the worst day of the violence, 155 00:12:43,520 --> 00:12:47,000 when murder and looting were taking place all across the city, 156 00:12:47,000 --> 00:12:50,880 we saw policemen just standing by, watching what was happening 157 00:12:50,880 --> 00:12:53,080 but doing nothing to try to stop it. 158 00:12:54,200 --> 00:12:56,120 JILL: One of my colleagues in the team 159 00:12:56,120 --> 00:13:01,320 was having quite regular phone calls with a contact of his. 160 00:13:01,320 --> 00:13:04,240 It was someone, I understand, who was high up in the police force, 161 00:13:04,240 --> 00:13:06,960 and they were giving information to my colleague 162 00:13:06,960 --> 00:13:09,680 that they'd been told, "Let it happen. 163 00:13:09,680 --> 00:13:13,600 "There will be a reaction to what happened in Godhra. Let it happen." 164 00:13:13,600 --> 00:13:17,880 And we were hearing that those orders to let all this happen 165 00:13:17,880 --> 00:13:19,720 were coming from the top. 166 00:13:53,680 --> 00:13:56,840 Did Mr Modi do enough to stop the violence? 167 00:13:58,240 --> 00:14:01,120 I think that that's something he has to answer for. 168 00:14:01,120 --> 00:14:02,680 Depending on how you look at it, 169 00:14:02,680 --> 00:14:08,320 he oversaw mass violence or was not able to stop it. 170 00:14:08,320 --> 00:14:11,200 Questions remained over Mr Modi's head for a long time, 171 00:14:11,200 --> 00:14:13,840 and they remain over him now. 172 00:14:13,840 --> 00:14:17,680 REPORTER: Did the police under your command do enough to stop the riots? 173 00:14:17,680 --> 00:14:19,920 Not only enough, but excellent work they have done. 174 00:14:19,920 --> 00:14:22,040 Excellent work? Excellent work they have done. 175 00:14:22,040 --> 00:14:26,360 Within 72 hours, we were able to control such violence. 176 00:14:26,360 --> 00:14:29,560 More than 500 people dead, most of them innocent civilians, 177 00:14:29,560 --> 00:14:32,120 and you're calling this "excellent work"? 178 00:14:32,120 --> 00:14:34,600 I'm not happy at what happened. 179 00:14:34,600 --> 00:14:36,960 But what we have done, I'm happy. 180 00:14:38,240 --> 00:14:40,880 Everyone we've spoken to have said that the police 181 00:14:40,880 --> 00:14:42,520 did absolutely nothing. 182 00:14:42,520 --> 00:14:46,480 This is absolutely false propaganda. This is not the truth. 183 00:14:46,480 --> 00:14:49,680 As questions grew around Mr Modi's actions, 184 00:14:49,680 --> 00:14:52,400 attention turned to his past. 185 00:14:52,400 --> 00:14:54,440 DRUMS PLAY 186 00:15:04,320 --> 00:15:08,760 RSS stands for Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh - 187 00:15:08,760 --> 00:15:13,920 "the Association of Indian Volunteers". 188 00:15:16,760 --> 00:15:19,600 The RSS is a political organisation. 189 00:15:19,600 --> 00:15:23,120 It believes that this is a country of the Hindus. 190 00:15:29,600 --> 00:15:33,720 ARCHIVE: The RSS was formed in 1925 to unite Hindu society 191 00:15:33,720 --> 00:15:35,640 and spread Hindu culture. 192 00:15:35,640 --> 00:15:38,200 But the Boy Scout image is deceptive. 193 00:15:38,200 --> 00:15:40,760 Based on principles of discipline, patriotism 194 00:15:40,760 --> 00:15:44,160 and unquestioning obedience, the RSS seeks to establish 195 00:15:44,160 --> 00:15:48,160 the superiority of Hindus over all other races in India. 196 00:15:50,920 --> 00:15:57,960 RSS took shape in the 1920s, when, in Europe, we saw a movement 197 00:15:57,960 --> 00:16:02,000 that will result in fascism in Italy, Nazism in Germany. 198 00:16:03,680 --> 00:16:07,160 They liked the idea of the supremacy of the race theory, 199 00:16:07,160 --> 00:16:09,640 which was created by the European fascists, 200 00:16:09,640 --> 00:16:15,320 and also the idea of creating a common enemy. 201 00:16:15,320 --> 00:16:18,600 For the RSS, the enemy were the Muslims. 202 00:16:21,240 --> 00:16:25,360 Today, RSS is not anti-Muslim, but definitely pro-Hindu. 203 00:16:25,360 --> 00:16:30,240 And they believe in the glorious past of this country 204 00:16:30,240 --> 00:16:33,120 and they believe in the idea of national reconstruction. 205 00:16:35,240 --> 00:16:38,320 The very core cultural values of this country, 206 00:16:38,320 --> 00:16:41,760 now they are being called Hindu value system. 207 00:16:41,760 --> 00:16:43,440 People can have any way of worship, 208 00:16:43,440 --> 00:16:45,640 but if they believe in that value system, 209 00:16:45,640 --> 00:16:48,480 they are very much part of India. 210 00:16:57,320 --> 00:17:03,200 RSS always recruits children, very young boys, 211 00:17:03,200 --> 00:17:06,440 because they want to tell them who they are 212 00:17:06,440 --> 00:17:09,160 when they are still malleable. 213 00:17:09,160 --> 00:17:12,880 To reshape the psyche of the youth is very important. 214 00:17:12,880 --> 00:17:16,360 So Narendra Modi joined when he was very young. 215 00:17:18,640 --> 00:17:21,240 After school, he would participate in the activities 216 00:17:21,240 --> 00:17:26,400 of the young wing of the RSS. That is how he got attracted. 217 00:17:27,600 --> 00:17:32,600 Gradually, he has climbed all the ladder of all the posts 218 00:17:32,600 --> 00:17:35,360 of responsibility - and at a very young age. 219 00:17:35,360 --> 00:17:37,640 Modi is a product of the RSS. 220 00:17:37,640 --> 00:17:42,600 He has learned its politics, its lifestyle. 221 00:17:44,000 --> 00:17:45,800 He made a mark for himself, 222 00:17:45,800 --> 00:17:49,200 and so he was deputed to the Bharatiya Janata Party - 223 00:17:49,200 --> 00:17:54,960 or the BJP - which is a political affiliated organisation of the RSS. 224 00:18:06,600 --> 00:18:10,400 As the violence subsided, stories began to emerge 225 00:18:10,400 --> 00:18:13,920 about what had happened to some of the victims. 226 00:18:13,920 --> 00:18:17,920 In this largely Muslim neighbourhood, more than 100 people 227 00:18:17,920 --> 00:18:22,040 had sought shelter in a house to escape a Hindu mob. 228 00:18:23,360 --> 00:18:26,640 Imtiyaz Pathan and his family were among them. 229 00:19:07,800 --> 00:19:11,560 The house belonged to a Muslim former Congress Party MP - 230 00:19:11,560 --> 00:19:12,880 Ehsan Jafri. 231 00:21:07,160 --> 00:21:11,760 A judge later ruled that Mr Jafri had provoked the mob 232 00:21:11,760 --> 00:21:13,520 by firing his gun at it. 233 00:21:14,640 --> 00:21:16,760 Imtiyaz survived by hiding upstairs. 234 00:21:18,120 --> 00:21:22,160 The violence only stopped when the police eventually arrived. 235 00:21:58,280 --> 00:22:02,280 When a senior police officer arrived at the house that evening, 236 00:22:02,280 --> 00:22:05,400 the victims' corpses were still smouldering. 237 00:22:10,360 --> 00:22:13,240 REPORTER: There are allegations that police could have done more 238 00:22:13,240 --> 00:22:14,920 in Ahmedabad today. 239 00:22:14,920 --> 00:22:17,640 There's always scope for improvement, I concede. 240 00:22:17,640 --> 00:22:19,960 There's always scope for improvement. 241 00:22:19,960 --> 00:22:21,000 I'm sure... 242 00:22:22,320 --> 00:22:24,280 ..we could have done better. 243 00:22:24,280 --> 00:22:28,880 I think I would take it as my inadequacy, if that is to be said. 244 00:22:31,400 --> 00:22:34,360 The killings would trigger a long legal battle 245 00:22:34,360 --> 00:22:38,160 that made serious allegations about the police response 246 00:22:38,160 --> 00:22:40,600 and Mr Modi's role in the violence. 247 00:22:43,560 --> 00:22:46,960 In 2009, Imtiyaz gave evidence in court 248 00:22:46,960 --> 00:22:51,400 about the alleged phone call between Mr Modi and Mr Jafri. 249 00:22:52,720 --> 00:22:55,240 Mr Modi denied receiving the call 250 00:22:55,240 --> 00:22:59,160 and an inquiry said there was no evidence it was made. 251 00:23:00,680 --> 00:23:05,040 Imtiyaz later stood for election against Mr Modi's political party. 252 00:23:14,600 --> 00:23:17,240 In Britain, the government was alarmed 253 00:23:17,240 --> 00:23:19,560 by what had happened in Gujarat. 254 00:23:20,640 --> 00:23:22,240 I was very worried about it. 255 00:23:22,240 --> 00:23:25,040 I was taking a great deal of personal interest 256 00:23:25,040 --> 00:23:28,840 because India is a really important country with whom we have relations. 257 00:23:28,840 --> 00:23:30,600 We had to handle it very carefully. 258 00:23:32,400 --> 00:23:35,080 What we did was to establish an inquiry 259 00:23:35,080 --> 00:23:37,200 and have a team go to the Gujarat 260 00:23:37,200 --> 00:23:40,200 and find out for themselves what had happened. 261 00:23:40,200 --> 00:23:43,600 And they produced a very thorough report. 262 00:23:43,600 --> 00:23:48,560 The report, sent as a diplomatic cable and marked "restricted", 263 00:23:48,560 --> 00:23:51,800 has never been published before. 264 00:23:51,800 --> 00:23:56,080 FEMALE VOICE: "Extent of violence much greater than reported." 265 00:23:56,080 --> 00:24:00,960 "Widespread and systematic rape of Muslim women." 266 00:24:00,960 --> 00:24:04,640 "Violence", "politically motivated." 267 00:24:04,640 --> 00:24:09,120 "Aim was to purge Muslims from Hindu areas." 268 00:24:09,120 --> 00:24:12,120 "Their systematic campaign of violence 269 00:24:12,120 --> 00:24:15,200 "has all the hallmarks of ethnic cleansing." 270 00:24:17,040 --> 00:24:21,840 This former senior diplomat was one of the investigators. 271 00:24:21,840 --> 00:24:24,880 He's speaking publicly for the first time 272 00:24:24,880 --> 00:24:27,480 about what the British inquiry found. 273 00:24:27,480 --> 00:24:30,880 He's asked to remain anonymous. 274 00:24:30,880 --> 00:24:34,520 At least 2,000 people were murdered during the violence. 275 00:24:34,520 --> 00:24:36,720 The vast majority were Muslim. 276 00:24:36,720 --> 00:24:39,000 We described it as a pogrom, 277 00:24:39,000 --> 00:24:41,400 a deliberate and politically driven effort 278 00:24:41,400 --> 00:24:43,800 targeted at the Muslim community. 279 00:24:43,800 --> 00:24:46,680 The violence was widely reported to have been organised 280 00:24:46,680 --> 00:24:50,920 by an extremist Hindu nationalist group - the VHP - 281 00:24:50,920 --> 00:24:53,400 who have a relationship with the RSS. 282 00:24:55,280 --> 00:25:00,480 "The VHP and its allies could not have inflicted so much damage 283 00:25:00,480 --> 00:25:05,360 "without the climate of impunity created by the state Government." 284 00:25:05,360 --> 00:25:09,280 "Narendra Modi is directly responsible." 285 00:25:09,280 --> 00:25:13,040 The report contained an extraordinary claim. 286 00:25:13,040 --> 00:25:15,880 "Reliable contacts have told us 287 00:25:15,880 --> 00:25:20,520 "Narendra Modi met senior police officers on the 27th of February 288 00:25:20,520 --> 00:25:24,160 "and ordered them not to intervene in the rioting. 289 00:25:24,160 --> 00:25:27,240 "Police contacts deny this meeting happened." 290 00:25:28,560 --> 00:25:30,400 There were pretty credible reports 291 00:25:30,400 --> 00:25:33,920 he had specifically instructed the police not to intervene. 292 00:25:33,920 --> 00:25:37,720 The police contact who we talked to consistently denied that, 293 00:25:37,720 --> 00:25:42,240 so we did have conflicting reports on what his direct role had been, 294 00:25:42,240 --> 00:25:45,680 but we did feel it was clear there was a culture of impunity 295 00:25:45,680 --> 00:25:49,440 that created the environment for the violence to take place. 296 00:25:49,440 --> 00:25:52,480 That undoubtedly came from Modi. 297 00:25:53,720 --> 00:25:58,680 "While Modi remains in power, reconciliation will be impossible." 298 00:26:02,720 --> 00:26:04,880 It was very shocking. 299 00:26:04,880 --> 00:26:08,240 These were very serious claims that Chief Minister Modi 300 00:26:08,240 --> 00:26:14,080 had played a pretty active part in pulling back the police 301 00:26:14,080 --> 00:26:19,040 and in tacitly encouraging the Hindu extremists. 302 00:26:19,040 --> 00:26:25,520 That was a particularly egregious example of political involvement, 303 00:26:25,520 --> 00:26:29,600 really, to prevent the police from doing their job, 304 00:26:29,600 --> 00:26:31,720 which was to protect both communities - 305 00:26:31,720 --> 00:26:33,840 the Hindu and the Muslims. 306 00:26:36,080 --> 00:26:39,360 The options open to us were fairly limited. 307 00:26:39,360 --> 00:26:44,000 We were never going to break diplomatic relations with India, 308 00:26:44,000 --> 00:26:46,080 but it is obviously a stain on his reputation. 309 00:26:46,080 --> 00:26:47,680 There's no way out of that. 310 00:26:47,680 --> 00:26:49,680 CHANTING 311 00:26:54,240 --> 00:26:57,560 The European Union carried out an investigation 312 00:26:57,560 --> 00:26:59,280 at around the same time. 313 00:27:01,920 --> 00:27:06,480 It reportedly found that ministers took active part in the violence 314 00:27:06,480 --> 00:27:09,400 and senior police officers were instructed 315 00:27:09,400 --> 00:27:11,600 not to intervene in the rioting. 316 00:27:14,360 --> 00:27:17,560 They looked upon this in terms of the...the suffering, 317 00:27:17,560 --> 00:27:20,760 which had happened to the Muslim community, 318 00:27:20,760 --> 00:27:23,960 and if you look at it in that way, you're certainly bound to come 319 00:27:23,960 --> 00:27:27,760 to this conclusion that there was... It was completely one-sided, 320 00:27:27,760 --> 00:27:31,120 and that there was nothing done on the part of the administration 321 00:27:31,120 --> 00:27:35,360 to seriously check this, that it was a deliberate, 322 00:27:35,360 --> 00:27:41,320 pre-planned, motivated assault on Muslims by mobs who were not 323 00:27:41,320 --> 00:27:45,720 restrained is, to my mind, an exaggeration. 324 00:27:45,720 --> 00:27:48,840 It was unstoppable for anyone. 325 00:27:48,840 --> 00:27:50,880 And as a chief minister, 326 00:27:50,880 --> 00:27:53,040 Modi did all the effort. 327 00:27:53,040 --> 00:27:58,400 And after three days, he was able to stop with the help of police. 328 00:27:58,400 --> 00:28:00,240 Modi definitely shows contrition. 329 00:28:00,240 --> 00:28:03,080 He even puts in his resignation to the BJP, 330 00:28:03,080 --> 00:28:05,080 but the BJP reject it. 331 00:28:06,080 --> 00:28:10,040 It was quite a smart thing to do because, politically, if you offer 332 00:28:10,040 --> 00:28:13,640 the resignation at that particular juncture and it is turned down, 333 00:28:13,640 --> 00:28:16,600 that's the end of your resignation drama. 334 00:28:31,400 --> 00:28:33,280 My name is Cedric Prakash. 335 00:28:34,400 --> 00:28:35,840 I'm a Jesuit priest. 336 00:28:36,880 --> 00:28:41,280 My background has been on human rights, justice and peace. 337 00:28:43,600 --> 00:28:48,240 In Gujarat, human rights workers set up a citizens' tribunal, 338 00:28:48,240 --> 00:28:52,640 headed by three retired judges, to investigate the violence. 339 00:28:53,960 --> 00:28:55,880 Father Cedric helped them. 340 00:28:56,960 --> 00:29:01,200 We wanted people from the government, officials, 341 00:29:01,200 --> 00:29:05,000 to come and depose before the citizens' tribunal. 342 00:29:05,000 --> 00:29:07,160 It was not easy. They were frightened. 343 00:29:07,160 --> 00:29:09,200 Their careers were at stake. 344 00:29:13,760 --> 00:29:15,520 On a flight to Delhi, 345 00:29:15,520 --> 00:29:18,720 I happened to be seated next to a minister 346 00:29:18,720 --> 00:29:20,280 of the Gujarat government. 347 00:29:20,280 --> 00:29:22,760 He belonged to the BJP. 348 00:29:22,760 --> 00:29:26,440 Haren Pandya was responsible for the home affairs 349 00:29:26,440 --> 00:29:28,720 of the state for several years. 350 00:29:28,720 --> 00:29:32,880 He just very recently relinquished office when Modi took 351 00:29:32,880 --> 00:29:35,840 over as Chief Minister of the state. 352 00:29:35,840 --> 00:29:39,960 He was telling me, "I know everything what was happening." 353 00:29:39,960 --> 00:29:42,560 Then I said, "We have the citizens' tribunal - would you...?" 354 00:29:42,560 --> 00:29:45,560 He said, "Of course I'll be willing." 355 00:29:45,560 --> 00:29:47,600 He swore us to secrecy. 356 00:29:47,600 --> 00:29:52,960 We tried to do everything possible in order to protect his identity 357 00:29:52,960 --> 00:29:55,080 because he was big catch. 358 00:29:59,560 --> 00:30:02,640 The tribunal was examining Mr Modi's role - 359 00:30:02,640 --> 00:30:06,320 including the directions he had given to the police. 360 00:30:06,320 --> 00:30:12,040 I think Haren Pandya wanted to explain what had transpired 361 00:30:12,040 --> 00:30:13,840 on the 27th of February, 362 00:30:13,840 --> 00:30:15,600 so he came to my office. 363 00:30:17,200 --> 00:30:21,080 Mr Pandya told the tribunal he had attended a late night 364 00:30:21,080 --> 00:30:26,280 meeting with Mr Modi and senior officials, and he claimed Mr Modi 365 00:30:26,280 --> 00:30:30,720 said the police should not interfere with the Hindu reaction 366 00:30:30,720 --> 00:30:32,920 to what happened at Godhra. 367 00:30:32,920 --> 00:30:37,160 Mr Pandya was very clearly blaming Modi for the violence. 368 00:30:37,160 --> 00:30:40,360 He felt he was responsible and he should be brought to book. 369 00:30:40,360 --> 00:30:41,480 That was clear. 370 00:30:44,520 --> 00:30:48,440 This was the real first indication from within the government 371 00:30:48,440 --> 00:30:51,600 that there was actually a decision taken. 372 00:30:51,600 --> 00:30:56,960 He is indicating that the chief minister of the state was party to 373 00:30:56,960 --> 00:31:01,840 a decision where the law and agencies do not do their work, 374 00:31:01,840 --> 00:31:04,200 let Muslims be attacked. 375 00:31:05,880 --> 00:31:10,280 Mr Pandya wanted to remain anonymous, but news about his 376 00:31:10,280 --> 00:31:15,320 evidence leaked out, and he resigned from Mr Modi's government. 377 00:31:15,320 --> 00:31:19,080 Narendra Modi has said he gave categorical and clear-cut 378 00:31:19,080 --> 00:31:23,920 instructions to maintain peace and communal harmony at any cost. 379 00:31:25,400 --> 00:31:27,960 So was Haren Pandya lying? 380 00:31:27,960 --> 00:31:30,160 Frankly, I don't know. I wasn't at the meeting, 381 00:31:30,160 --> 00:31:31,760 so I don't know exactly what it is. 382 00:31:31,760 --> 00:31:36,560 But a chief minister of a state cannot give a blank cheque 383 00:31:36,560 --> 00:31:38,240 to people to run riot. 384 00:31:40,640 --> 00:31:45,960 Last year, India's Supreme Court said Mr Pandya's claim was false. 385 00:31:45,960 --> 00:31:48,960 Its findings were based on an official inquiry 386 00:31:48,960 --> 00:31:52,800 which found Mr Pandya was not at the meeting. 387 00:31:52,800 --> 00:31:57,240 The inquiry heard that others who were there disputed his presence 388 00:31:57,240 --> 00:32:01,120 and records showed his government mobile was several miles away 389 00:32:01,120 --> 00:32:02,960 at the time. 390 00:32:02,960 --> 00:32:07,480 But some questioned the inquiry's credibility and thoroughness. 391 00:32:13,760 --> 00:32:18,440 For most politicians, allegations like this would be devastating. 392 00:32:21,240 --> 00:32:23,880 But in the midst of all the criticism, 393 00:32:23,880 --> 00:32:27,640 Narendra Modi did something unexpected - 394 00:32:27,640 --> 00:32:30,040 he called an election in Gujarat. 395 00:32:33,360 --> 00:32:38,280 NEWS CORRESPONDENT: This election is all about one man - Narendra Modi. 396 00:32:38,280 --> 00:32:42,600 To his supporters, he preaches an extreme form of Hindu nationalism, 397 00:32:42,600 --> 00:32:46,240 offering hope and security against Muslim extremists. 398 00:32:47,640 --> 00:32:51,040 We're just after the events of 9/11, which, in many ways, 399 00:32:51,040 --> 00:32:54,480 has legitimised actions against Muslims across the globe. 400 00:32:54,480 --> 00:32:59,440 This, at the very least, emboldens what the BJP are doing in Gujarat. 401 00:33:00,760 --> 00:33:05,600 Mr Modi realised that there was a very strong sentiment of Hindu 402 00:33:05,600 --> 00:33:09,480 victimhood, and he decided to harness that electorally. 403 00:34:03,080 --> 00:34:06,800 The violence against Muslims became part of the messaging 404 00:34:06,800 --> 00:34:11,000 that Narendra Modi used in the election campaign. 405 00:34:11,000 --> 00:34:15,240 It is the violence and how he reacted to it that has constructed 406 00:34:15,240 --> 00:34:17,360 the persona of Narendra Modi. 407 00:34:24,440 --> 00:34:27,800 UNTRANSLATED 408 00:34:27,800 --> 00:34:30,680 Narendra Modi doesn't tend to be very media friendly. 409 00:34:30,680 --> 00:34:32,520 You follow what I say? A little bit, yes. 410 00:34:32,520 --> 00:34:35,200 So for him to agree to do a sit-down interview with us 411 00:34:35,200 --> 00:34:36,800 felt like a bit of a scoop. 412 00:34:36,800 --> 00:34:38,400 HE CHUCKLES 413 00:34:38,400 --> 00:34:42,240 He struck me as a very charismatic, 414 00:34:42,240 --> 00:34:44,000 very powerful, 415 00:34:44,000 --> 00:34:46,520 quite menacing figure. 416 00:34:46,520 --> 00:34:48,480 So you're now coming up to elections. 417 00:34:48,480 --> 00:34:50,600 This seems to me to be a state in turmoil. 418 00:34:50,600 --> 00:34:52,520 We're seeing repeated violence. 419 00:34:52,520 --> 00:34:54,200 We're seeing people living in fear. 420 00:34:54,200 --> 00:34:58,320 What has gone wrong with this breakdown in law and order here? 421 00:34:58,320 --> 00:35:01,240 I think you have to correct your information first. 422 00:35:02,640 --> 00:35:05,120 The state is very, very peaceful. 423 00:35:05,120 --> 00:35:08,400 So, the Muslims who would say that they are still terrified, 424 00:35:08,400 --> 00:35:11,040 they are still frightened to go back to their homes... I am not... 425 00:35:11,040 --> 00:35:13,680 ..they still fear that the people who murdered their relatives 426 00:35:13,680 --> 00:35:16,160 have not been brought to justice. What would you say to them? 427 00:35:16,160 --> 00:35:18,200 I'm not agreeing with your analysis. 428 00:35:18,200 --> 00:35:20,040 I'm not agreeing with your information. 429 00:35:20,040 --> 00:35:24,360 This absolutely misguided information to you. 430 00:35:24,360 --> 00:35:27,600 From where you have picked up this type of garbage, I do not know. 431 00:35:27,600 --> 00:35:31,400 Some people have been accusing your government of not doing enough 432 00:35:31,400 --> 00:35:35,840 to stop this, of not protecting Muslims even now. 433 00:35:35,840 --> 00:35:40,560 These are also false propaganda made by our opponents. 434 00:35:40,560 --> 00:35:44,280 And you are also a captive of this false propaganda. 435 00:35:50,960 --> 00:35:54,240 Can you explain more? Who is perpetuating this false propaganda? 436 00:35:54,240 --> 00:35:56,800 The information I am reporting is taken from what I have seen 437 00:35:56,800 --> 00:35:59,040 with my own eyes, both at the times of the riot and now. 438 00:35:59,040 --> 00:36:00,520 Those who are our opponents. 439 00:36:00,520 --> 00:36:02,760 And the independent reports that have already 440 00:36:02,760 --> 00:36:04,920 been published into what has happened? 441 00:36:04,920 --> 00:36:07,680 They have no right to talk about the internal matter 442 00:36:07,680 --> 00:36:09,120 of any government. 443 00:36:09,120 --> 00:36:10,600 I'm very, very clear in my mind. 444 00:36:10,600 --> 00:36:12,560 If they have done, they have done wrong. 445 00:36:12,560 --> 00:36:13,960 Some would say it is a human right. 446 00:36:13,960 --> 00:36:15,840 There is a general international interest. 447 00:36:15,840 --> 00:36:17,760 Please don't try to preach us the human rights. 448 00:36:17,760 --> 00:36:20,000 We know what the human rights are. 449 00:36:20,000 --> 00:36:22,600 You British should not preach us human rights. 450 00:36:22,600 --> 00:36:25,760 When you look back over the last month, you've been the leader 451 00:36:25,760 --> 00:36:28,000 of this state through a very difficult period. 452 00:36:28,000 --> 00:36:31,160 Do you think there's anything that you should have done differently? 453 00:36:31,160 --> 00:36:32,560 Yes. 454 00:36:32,560 --> 00:36:36,520 One area where I was very, very big. 455 00:36:36,520 --> 00:36:39,080 And that was how to handle the media. 456 00:36:39,080 --> 00:36:42,120 SHOUTING AND CHANTING 457 00:36:44,640 --> 00:36:48,040 NEWSREEL: Ecstatic crowds of BJP supporters started to celebrate 458 00:36:48,040 --> 00:36:50,960 the election win before it was official. 459 00:36:50,960 --> 00:36:53,880 The architect of victory, Narendra Modi, 460 00:36:53,880 --> 00:36:56,960 the controversial Chief Minister of Gujarat. 461 00:36:59,240 --> 00:37:04,160 The more Mr Modi was attacked, the stronger he became by simply 462 00:37:04,160 --> 00:37:07,680 saying that he was being targeted only because he was standing 463 00:37:07,680 --> 00:37:09,720 up for the rights of Hindus. 464 00:37:11,920 --> 00:37:14,440 A new repertoire had taken shape. 465 00:37:15,640 --> 00:37:19,760 You polarise your vote, and you get the majority supporting you. 466 00:37:34,000 --> 00:37:37,800 I just entered a taxi and suddenly I got a call 467 00:37:37,800 --> 00:37:40,360 from a journalist friend of mine 468 00:37:40,360 --> 00:37:44,920 and she said, "Do you know what has happened to Haren Pandya?" 469 00:37:48,560 --> 00:37:51,320 She told me that he was... he was killed. 470 00:37:55,480 --> 00:38:00,000 He's found dead in a car under very suspicious circumstances. 471 00:38:00,000 --> 00:38:04,080 The entry point of the bullet wound is at the groin. 472 00:38:04,080 --> 00:38:08,640 There is no blood lying there where there should have been blood. 473 00:38:08,640 --> 00:38:12,000 There is no way from the position he was in that he could 474 00:38:12,000 --> 00:38:14,080 have been killed sitting in the car. 475 00:38:14,080 --> 00:38:16,440 Evidence suggests he was killed elsewhere, 476 00:38:16,440 --> 00:38:18,680 his body put in the car and placed there. 477 00:38:22,120 --> 00:38:26,160 The death of Haren Pandya is a mystery - 478 00:38:26,160 --> 00:38:28,000 a well-kept mystery, probably. 479 00:38:28,000 --> 00:38:31,400 There is, to my knowledge, no serious investigation. 480 00:38:32,760 --> 00:38:35,240 The murder of Haren Pandya remains one of the big 481 00:38:35,240 --> 00:38:37,560 mysteries, even today. 482 00:38:37,560 --> 00:38:40,840 Mr Pandya was killed in a murder which has really not 483 00:38:40,840 --> 00:38:42,160 been answered yet. 484 00:38:43,360 --> 00:38:46,520 12 men were jailed in connection with his murder, 485 00:38:46,520 --> 00:38:48,400 but this verdict was overturned - 486 00:38:48,400 --> 00:38:51,360 the court blaming a botched investigation. 487 00:38:51,360 --> 00:38:53,720 NEWSREEL: All accused in the Haren Pandya murder case 488 00:38:53,720 --> 00:38:54,880 have been acquitted. 489 00:38:54,880 --> 00:38:57,520 Haren Pandya was the former home minister, you might remember, 490 00:38:57,520 --> 00:38:58,960 of Gujarat... 491 00:38:58,960 --> 00:39:04,640 In 2019, India's Supreme Court upheld the original verdict, 492 00:39:04,640 --> 00:39:08,280 but even some in Mr Modi's own party have doubts 493 00:39:08,280 --> 00:39:11,720 about the investigation into Mr Pandya's death. 494 00:39:13,200 --> 00:39:14,960 I knew him personally. 495 00:39:14,960 --> 00:39:21,680 I think the killing of Mr Pandya was tragic and suspicious, 496 00:39:21,680 --> 00:39:24,800 and the circumstances explained to me 497 00:39:24,800 --> 00:39:26,120 don't make me believe in it. 498 00:39:26,120 --> 00:39:29,680 I'd like to know who organised it so well. 499 00:39:31,040 --> 00:39:37,280 It is not some, just a stray, say, killer or somebody taking revenge... 500 00:39:38,680 --> 00:39:40,640 ..but it is well-organised. 501 00:39:40,640 --> 00:39:44,120 I don't think it has been properly investigated. 502 00:39:46,040 --> 00:39:49,120 He was killed by terrorists who wanted to kill him 503 00:39:49,120 --> 00:39:52,760 so that the blame could be apportioned to Narendra Modi. 504 00:39:52,760 --> 00:39:54,560 The investigation was thorough. 505 00:39:54,560 --> 00:39:58,640 It went into every stage of the Indian judicial process 506 00:39:58,640 --> 00:40:00,920 and culminated in a Supreme Court judgment. 507 00:40:00,920 --> 00:40:03,640 I think we should leave it at that. 508 00:40:14,280 --> 00:40:18,760 In Yorkshire, the Dawood family were losing faith that the police 509 00:40:18,760 --> 00:40:21,280 in Gujarat would catch the men who killed 510 00:40:21,280 --> 00:40:23,400 Saeed, Shakil and Mohammed. 511 00:40:25,760 --> 00:40:29,440 There were some serious doubts arising in terms of what the Indian 512 00:40:29,440 --> 00:40:32,720 police were doing, because on the one hand they were saying 513 00:40:32,720 --> 00:40:34,240 that they were doing everything. 514 00:40:34,240 --> 00:40:37,360 On the other hand, we were seeing no results whatsoever. 515 00:40:40,120 --> 00:40:43,160 In respect to the investigation, 516 00:40:43,160 --> 00:40:46,000 we had no confidence in the Indian police. 517 00:40:46,000 --> 00:40:51,600 It turned out that the police hadn't even done basic investigations. 518 00:40:51,600 --> 00:40:54,800 They hadn't gone to the scene of the crime. 519 00:40:54,800 --> 00:40:58,640 Family members went to the crime scene themselves and made 520 00:40:58,640 --> 00:41:00,640 a terrible discovery. 521 00:41:00,640 --> 00:41:07,000 They found burnt remains, including bone fragments, bits of teeth. 522 00:41:07,000 --> 00:41:11,560 It seemed from what everybody was indicating that those remains 523 00:41:11,560 --> 00:41:15,160 were Saeed and Shakil's. 524 00:41:17,520 --> 00:41:21,640 The police seemed to be putting up a wall and were completely 525 00:41:21,640 --> 00:41:24,880 disinterested in helping us get to the truth. 526 00:41:27,760 --> 00:41:30,720 Then there was an unexpected development. 527 00:41:30,720 --> 00:41:33,840 NEWSREEL: The controversial chief minister of Gujarat, Narendra Modi, 528 00:41:33,840 --> 00:41:35,960 has arrived in London on a short visit. 529 00:41:35,960 --> 00:41:39,000 He presides over the state where as many as 2,000 people 530 00:41:39,000 --> 00:41:40,560 were killed in communal rioting... 531 00:41:40,560 --> 00:41:43,200 I thought this was a great opportunity for the family 532 00:41:43,200 --> 00:41:47,640 and for the victims for him to be arrested here in the UK. 533 00:41:47,640 --> 00:41:51,800 The idea was that the family would go to court and seek 534 00:41:51,800 --> 00:41:54,200 to prosecute Narendra Modi. 535 00:41:54,200 --> 00:41:58,680 We had pages - hundreds of pages - of reports. 536 00:41:58,680 --> 00:42:04,520 All of them were clear that this was a massacre. 537 00:42:05,760 --> 00:42:09,280 Most importantly, that there was state collusion. 538 00:42:10,400 --> 00:42:15,000 And so the chain of command went all the way to the Chief Minister. 539 00:42:15,000 --> 00:42:19,680 Although the offence took place in India, it could be prosecuted 540 00:42:19,680 --> 00:42:20,880 in this country. 541 00:42:24,200 --> 00:42:30,160 An Indian diplomat said when news of the plan leaked, there was panic. 542 00:42:30,160 --> 00:42:35,560 Mr Modi was reportedly urged to leave Britain on the next plane. 543 00:42:35,560 --> 00:42:40,000 I argued in front of the judge for Narendra Modi's arrest. 544 00:42:40,000 --> 00:42:42,760 The judge said, "I can see all the things that you've put 545 00:42:42,760 --> 00:42:44,640 "before me, Mr Kahn, but really 546 00:42:44,640 --> 00:42:47,040 "what I need is the witness statements." 547 00:42:47,040 --> 00:42:49,960 The evidence that we would need to prosecute it 548 00:42:49,960 --> 00:42:53,120 would have been somebody somewhere along the chain of command 549 00:42:53,120 --> 00:42:55,800 saying, "Yes, there was an order 550 00:42:55,800 --> 00:42:59,800 "not to take any action, allowing this to happen." 551 00:42:59,800 --> 00:43:03,800 Mr Khan says that the evidence that has emerged since then - 552 00:43:03,800 --> 00:43:07,280 even though it is fiercely contested - has made him 553 00:43:07,280 --> 00:43:11,080 more convinced of the merits of his case. 554 00:43:11,080 --> 00:43:14,600 Knowing what we now know, and the information that we now have, 555 00:43:14,600 --> 00:43:18,640 if we had had that at that time, I'm pretty sure that a summons 556 00:43:18,640 --> 00:43:21,600 would have been issued for Modi's arrest. 557 00:43:23,240 --> 00:43:26,000 We were bitterly disappointed the judge didn't issue the warrant, 558 00:43:26,000 --> 00:43:31,720 but we understood this was going to be a quite a long campaign 559 00:43:31,720 --> 00:43:35,240 in terms of getting answers and getting justice and holding 560 00:43:35,240 --> 00:43:36,560 people to account. 561 00:43:47,120 --> 00:43:51,360 Western governments began to take action against Narendra Modi 562 00:43:51,360 --> 00:43:53,840 over the Gujarat violence. 563 00:43:53,840 --> 00:43:58,160 The UK imposed a diplomatic boycott and de facto travel ban. 564 00:43:59,400 --> 00:44:03,440 There was essentially a travel ban imposed on Modi. 565 00:44:03,440 --> 00:44:06,720 I would like to have seen much stronger action, but I think 566 00:44:06,720 --> 00:44:09,840 we probably did end up doing as much as we could. 567 00:44:09,840 --> 00:44:15,280 In 2005, the US government formally revoked a visa for Mr Modi 568 00:44:15,280 --> 00:44:19,960 under a law that targets government officials responsible for severe 569 00:44:19,960 --> 00:44:22,280 violations of religious freedom. 570 00:44:23,280 --> 00:44:25,680 The US are saying this is not acceptable. 571 00:44:25,680 --> 00:44:29,280 Mr Modi? Would you like to speak to the BBC, Mr Modi? 572 00:44:29,280 --> 00:44:32,040 Barred from entering the United States, 573 00:44:32,040 --> 00:44:34,320 barred from entering the United Kingdom. 574 00:44:34,320 --> 00:44:37,640 On the international stage, it makes him somewhat of a pariah. 575 00:45:07,680 --> 00:45:13,000 In 2007, a reporter went undercover in Gujarat to investigate 576 00:45:13,000 --> 00:45:16,080 what had happened during the violence. 577 00:45:16,080 --> 00:45:18,160 Posing as a Hindu extremist, 578 00:45:18,160 --> 00:45:22,080 he secretly filmed one of the killers boasting about the role 579 00:45:22,080 --> 00:45:23,160 he had played. 580 00:45:24,200 --> 00:45:29,560 Babu Bajrangi was accused of leading a mob that killed around 100 people. 581 00:45:49,160 --> 00:45:54,000 Mr Bajrangi made an extraordinary claim about Narendra Modi. 582 00:45:54,000 --> 00:45:57,400 He said that when he was arrested for murder, several months 583 00:45:57,400 --> 00:46:02,320 after the massacre, Mr Modi helped him get bail by changing the judge. 584 00:46:14,880 --> 00:46:18,520 Mr Bajrangi later claimed he was reading from a script given 585 00:46:18,520 --> 00:46:20,480 to him by the reporter. 586 00:46:20,480 --> 00:46:26,120 Though a judge ruled the veracity of the sting was not in dispute. 587 00:46:26,120 --> 00:46:29,320 In 2012, Mr Bajrangi was jailed for murder. 588 00:46:30,680 --> 00:46:35,600 And he wasn't the only one who made damaging claims about Mr Modi. 589 00:46:35,600 --> 00:46:38,520 Haresh Bhatt, a local BJP politician, 590 00:46:38,520 --> 00:46:42,480 said he was at a political meeting addressed by Mr Modi 591 00:46:42,480 --> 00:46:44,880 shortly after the train burning. 592 00:47:16,880 --> 00:47:21,200 Mr Bhatt later said he told the reporter an imaginary story. 593 00:47:22,760 --> 00:47:26,440 Mr Modi has said allegations against him in the recordings 594 00:47:26,440 --> 00:47:28,200 are false and incorrect. 595 00:47:30,920 --> 00:47:35,280 You often find that activists at the lower level... 596 00:47:36,920 --> 00:47:37,960 ..make claims... 597 00:47:39,440 --> 00:47:43,240 ..which are, in hindsight, quite preposterous. 598 00:47:43,240 --> 00:47:45,920 They exaggerate their own importance. 599 00:47:47,840 --> 00:47:51,280 But pressure was now building for a new investigation 600 00:47:51,280 --> 00:47:52,600 into the violence. 601 00:48:01,000 --> 00:48:05,120 By the beginning of 2011, Narendra Modi had run Gujarat 602 00:48:05,120 --> 00:48:06,600 for nearly a decade. 603 00:48:09,640 --> 00:48:12,960 Despite the controversies, some were now tipping him 604 00:48:12,960 --> 00:48:15,280 for an even bigger job - 605 00:48:15,280 --> 00:48:18,120 India's next Prime Minister. 606 00:48:18,120 --> 00:48:21,880 Modi started to think about national politics 607 00:48:21,880 --> 00:48:26,320 very early on, projecting himself as a national leader 608 00:48:33,520 --> 00:48:35,760 It was already clear that he was headed 609 00:48:35,760 --> 00:48:39,920 on a course which would lead him to the national state. 610 00:48:39,920 --> 00:48:42,520 But Mr Modi had a problem. 611 00:48:44,320 --> 00:48:46,080 SHOUTING 612 00:48:47,760 --> 00:48:52,120 India's Supreme Court had ordered a wide-ranging investigation 613 00:48:52,120 --> 00:48:54,960 into the Gujarat violence. 614 00:48:54,960 --> 00:49:00,080 A special investigation team - or SIT - was examining the Dawood 615 00:49:00,080 --> 00:49:04,000 family murders and allegations made by Ehsan Jafri's 616 00:49:04,000 --> 00:49:09,480 widow that Mr Modi was part of a criminal conspiracy that led 617 00:49:09,480 --> 00:49:12,800 to the disorder and killings across the state. 618 00:49:15,160 --> 00:49:17,160 NEWSREEL: Modi seems to be unstoppable. 619 00:49:17,160 --> 00:49:20,160 But the ghosts of the past don't leave him alone. 620 00:49:20,160 --> 00:49:23,840 Grilled for nine hours on the case in 2010, the stain 621 00:49:23,840 --> 00:49:25,360 on his image remains. 622 00:49:26,760 --> 00:49:29,400 The mandate was to look into the possibility 623 00:49:29,400 --> 00:49:32,200 that there was a criminal conspiracy by the government 624 00:49:32,200 --> 00:49:33,480 led by Narendra Modi. 625 00:49:33,480 --> 00:49:36,920 But the criminal conspiracy is a particular term in law 626 00:49:36,920 --> 00:49:39,960 which requires a very strong standard of evidence. 627 00:49:39,960 --> 00:49:42,800 For the first time in the history of independent India, a sitting 628 00:49:42,800 --> 00:49:46,200 chief minister, Narendra Modi, has been questioned on the role 629 00:49:46,200 --> 00:49:49,880 of his government in mass murders in connection with the post-Godhra 630 00:49:49,880 --> 00:49:51,120 riots in Gujarat. 631 00:49:51,120 --> 00:49:54,200 I think Mr Modi definitely was very worried. 632 00:49:54,200 --> 00:49:57,480 The special investigation team was definitely a very serious 633 00:49:57,480 --> 00:50:00,840 threat to Mr Modi's political career. 634 00:50:00,840 --> 00:50:04,440 An important witness was the former head of police intelligence 635 00:50:04,440 --> 00:50:10,200 in Gujarat, RB Sreekumar, who'd made a string of claims about police 636 00:50:10,200 --> 00:50:12,720 and government failures. 637 00:50:12,720 --> 00:50:16,240 He claimed that, on the night of the Gujarat train burning, 638 00:50:16,240 --> 00:50:19,720 Mr Modi instructed officials to allow Hindus 639 00:50:19,720 --> 00:50:21,720 to give vent to their anger. 640 00:50:23,080 --> 00:50:26,440 He claimed Gujarat's police chief had told him this - 641 00:50:26,440 --> 00:50:28,560 though the chief denied it. 642 00:50:28,560 --> 00:50:32,040 Without Sreekumar, the case against the Narendra Modi 643 00:50:32,040 --> 00:50:34,160 government would be much weaker 644 00:50:34,160 --> 00:50:36,640 simply because there would have been no information 645 00:50:36,640 --> 00:50:39,560 from inside the government which would tell you what was happening. 646 00:50:39,560 --> 00:50:44,240 In that sense, he was a central figure in this investigation. 647 00:50:44,240 --> 00:50:48,400 Another senior police officer, Sanjiv Bhatt, gave evidence. 648 00:50:49,920 --> 00:50:52,960 NEWSREEL: The ghost of the Godhra riots back to haunt Narendra Modi. 649 00:50:52,960 --> 00:50:56,320 This time it's senior police officer Sanjiv Bhatt who alleges 650 00:50:56,320 --> 00:50:58,640 that Modi was complicit in the Godhra riots. 651 00:50:58,640 --> 00:51:02,240 In an affidavit filed in the Supreme Court, Bhatt says that he was 652 00:51:02,240 --> 00:51:04,880 present at the crucial law and order meeting chaired by Modi. 653 00:51:04,880 --> 00:51:05,960 I know my truth. 654 00:51:05,960 --> 00:51:10,000 I've stated my truth and I have sent there a note in an affidavit 655 00:51:10,000 --> 00:51:12,520 submitted to the highest court of the land. 656 00:51:12,520 --> 00:51:15,360 When he started reporting before the SIT inquiry, 657 00:51:15,360 --> 00:51:18,960 my father stated that the control room contacted him, 658 00:51:18,960 --> 00:51:21,600 saying that an unofficial meeting has been called 659 00:51:21,600 --> 00:51:25,600 at the Chief Minister's residence and that his presence was required. 660 00:51:26,960 --> 00:51:31,360 He said that Narendra Modi ended up saying that the emotions 661 00:51:31,360 --> 00:51:34,680 were running very high in the Hindus and it was imperative 662 00:51:34,680 --> 00:51:38,080 that the Hindus be allowed to vent their anger. 663 00:51:39,360 --> 00:51:43,120 He said that Narendra Modi had directed the police force 664 00:51:43,120 --> 00:51:46,040 to step down, look the other way. 665 00:51:46,040 --> 00:51:50,480 Mr Modi and other officials at the meeting said Mr Bhatt did not 666 00:51:50,480 --> 00:51:55,040 attend, but an independent adviser to the Supreme Court said 667 00:51:55,040 --> 00:51:59,720 there was enough evidence to consider prosecuting Mr Modi. 668 00:51:59,720 --> 00:52:03,800 This is a prominent legal person who has reached his own conclusions 669 00:52:03,800 --> 00:52:06,760 about what is there and I think some of those conclusions needed 670 00:52:06,760 --> 00:52:08,200 to be taken note of. 671 00:52:11,360 --> 00:52:13,120 In major relief for Narendra Modi, 672 00:52:13,120 --> 00:52:16,200 the Supreme Court-appointed rights panel has found no evidence 673 00:52:16,200 --> 00:52:17,840 against the Gujarat Chief Minister. 674 00:52:17,840 --> 00:52:20,920 The complainant, Zakia Jafri, had accused Modi of ordering 675 00:52:20,920 --> 00:52:23,360 officials to give rioters a free hand - 676 00:52:23,360 --> 00:52:26,640 the only complaint that named him. 677 00:52:26,640 --> 00:52:32,120 After three years, the SIT ruled that Mr Modi would face no charges. 678 00:52:33,560 --> 00:52:38,000 It said RB Sreekumar's account was hearsay, and Sanjiv Bhatt's 679 00:52:38,000 --> 00:52:41,160 account could not be relied on. 680 00:52:41,160 --> 00:52:43,800 It said claims about the instructions Mr Modi 681 00:52:43,800 --> 00:52:46,040 had given were not established. 682 00:52:49,760 --> 00:52:51,360 NEWSREEL: So, what next for Modi? 683 00:52:51,360 --> 00:52:56,000 Legal experts say he has not got a clean chit in the rights - 684 00:52:56,000 --> 00:52:58,320 just that there is no evidence. 685 00:52:58,320 --> 00:53:00,000 But it could... 686 00:53:00,000 --> 00:53:03,320 The ruling did not stop the debate over what had happened. 687 00:53:04,800 --> 00:53:08,880 The special investigation team could not succeed, for many, 688 00:53:08,880 --> 00:53:10,440 many different reasons. 689 00:53:10,440 --> 00:53:14,320 The investigation team had to rely somewhat on the Gujarat police. 690 00:53:15,360 --> 00:53:20,480 Much of the investigation on the ground is done by police officers, 691 00:53:20,480 --> 00:53:23,600 and among the people who stand indicted 692 00:53:23,600 --> 00:53:26,600 are the Gujarat police force itself. 693 00:53:26,600 --> 00:53:31,040 The SIT report is really very superficial. 694 00:53:31,040 --> 00:53:36,920 It doesn't explain how this pogrom could take place. 695 00:53:36,920 --> 00:53:41,800 So, of course, it underestimates - I mean, it minimises the roles 696 00:53:41,800 --> 00:53:44,440 of the top leaders, the chain of command. 697 00:53:44,440 --> 00:53:48,800 To establish criminal conspiracy in law is often very difficult. 698 00:53:48,800 --> 00:53:52,160 Just because they have arrived at the conclusion there was no 699 00:53:52,160 --> 00:53:56,000 criminal conspiracy is not the same as saying the conduct 700 00:53:56,000 --> 00:53:59,280 is above question, that there were not serious lapses. 701 00:53:59,280 --> 00:54:03,560 That in no way takes away all the important questions 702 00:54:03,560 --> 00:54:06,880 that still stand on the 2002 violence. 703 00:54:06,880 --> 00:54:10,160 Yes, there were some people who said they were at a particular meeting 704 00:54:10,160 --> 00:54:11,680 when others said they were not. 705 00:54:11,680 --> 00:54:15,720 Agenda was to destroy Narendra Modi politically. 706 00:54:15,720 --> 00:54:17,880 The agenda was explicitly political. 707 00:54:17,880 --> 00:54:20,840 I don't think they were concerned about Muslim victims, 708 00:54:20,840 --> 00:54:23,960 and these included a section of the media, these included 709 00:54:23,960 --> 00:54:25,960 journalists, these included NGOs. 710 00:54:25,960 --> 00:54:29,600 I think ultimately at the end of the day, the SIT findings 711 00:54:29,600 --> 00:54:31,520 didn't implicate Mr Modi. 712 00:54:33,760 --> 00:54:36,640 The SIT gave a clean chit to Narendra Modi. 713 00:54:36,640 --> 00:54:40,360 We have to have faith on our institution and we have to put 714 00:54:40,360 --> 00:54:43,840 a full stop on something and we have to move forward. 715 00:54:43,840 --> 00:54:46,360 CROWD CHEERING 716 00:54:46,360 --> 00:54:49,720 The verdict cleared the way for Mr Modi to run 717 00:54:49,720 --> 00:54:51,600 for prime minister. 718 00:54:51,600 --> 00:54:53,640 The travel bans were lifted. 719 00:54:54,840 --> 00:54:58,360 Diplomatic relations with the West were restored. 720 00:54:59,920 --> 00:55:02,440 I don't think that I had any doubt that Mr Modi 721 00:55:02,440 --> 00:55:05,280 is going to be the next prime minister. 722 00:55:06,880 --> 00:55:10,120 NEWSREEL: Narendra Modi, India's next Prime Minister, 723 00:55:10,120 --> 00:55:12,560 riding into Delhi in triumph, 724 00:55:12,560 --> 00:55:16,560 after he won an election landslide with his promise that good days 725 00:55:16,560 --> 00:55:18,120 are coming for India. 726 00:55:32,280 --> 00:55:35,400 Sanjiv Bhatt was jailed for life in 2019 727 00:55:35,400 --> 00:55:39,760 over a death-in-custody case dating back 30 years. 728 00:55:40,840 --> 00:55:46,040 His family insists he's innocent, and many say his trial was unfair. 729 00:55:47,720 --> 00:55:51,120 The government will try to do whatever they can to ensure 730 00:55:51,120 --> 00:55:53,720 that my father's voice is not heard. 731 00:55:55,440 --> 00:55:59,480 He is the sole surviving witness who can tie Narendra Modi 732 00:55:59,480 --> 00:56:01,560 to the carnage of 2002. 733 00:56:04,760 --> 00:56:09,000 No-one has ever been convicted for the Dawood family murders. 734 00:56:11,920 --> 00:56:15,600 Still feeling very angry, very frustrated. 735 00:56:16,800 --> 00:56:20,000 It feels like there's no justice there. 736 00:56:23,560 --> 00:56:29,200 Ehsan Jafri's widow challenged the findings of the SIT in court. 737 00:56:29,200 --> 00:56:34,840 In June 2022, India's Supreme Court upheld the findings, 738 00:56:34,840 --> 00:56:38,160 saying there was no larger conspiracy. 739 00:56:38,160 --> 00:56:41,880 It ruled the testimonies of Sanjiv Bhatt and RB Sreekumar 740 00:56:41,880 --> 00:56:47,080 were replete with falsehood and said those involved in abuse of process 741 00:56:47,080 --> 00:56:49,320 need to be in the dock. 742 00:56:49,320 --> 00:56:53,600 Shortly after, Mr Modi's closest political ally 743 00:56:53,600 --> 00:56:55,160 spoke out about the case. 744 00:57:26,360 --> 00:57:31,240 The police arrested Mr Sreekumar and a high-profile human-rights worker 745 00:57:31,240 --> 00:57:34,560 who helped Mrs Jafri bring the case. 746 00:57:34,560 --> 00:57:39,520 Sanjiv Bhatt, already in prison, was named in the police complaint, too. 747 00:57:40,720 --> 00:57:44,960 All three are accused of fabricating evidence. 748 00:57:44,960 --> 00:57:49,280 20 years on, the Gujarat violence remains controversial. 749 00:57:52,760 --> 00:57:56,360 None of the people arrested were sources for our report 750 00:57:56,360 --> 00:58:00,200 and the findings of our investigation still stand. 751 00:58:00,200 --> 00:58:04,280 2,000 people were murdered in Gujarat in 2002 752 00:58:04,280 --> 00:58:08,880 in a campaign of violence that was clearly well organised. 753 00:58:09,960 --> 00:58:12,080 That remains a fact. 754 00:58:12,080 --> 00:58:14,600 Now Mr Modi is in power, 755 00:58:14,600 --> 00:58:17,960 it seems to me that history is being rewritten. 756 00:58:22,160 --> 00:58:25,680 The Supreme Court gave a judgment which actually brought the whole 757 00:58:25,680 --> 00:58:27,200 matter to a closure. 758 00:58:27,200 --> 00:58:29,080 The closure was necessary.