A/HRC/10/8/Add.3
page 13
responsible for the anti-Sikh riots. However, many families of the victims or survivors voiced
their concerns that the main accused were either not charged or were acquitted and that
compensation was inadequate. Furthermore, despite a 2004 court judgement in favour of the
return of the Sikh religious scriptures, reference material and artefacts, which had been removed
from the Sikh reference library in Amritsar by the Indian army in 1984, had reportedly not been
returned yet.
33. Further concerns refer to the issue of unidentified bodies. Punjab security forces had
secretly cremated thousands of bodies that they had labelled as “unidentified/unclaimed”. A
report by the Central Bureau of Investigation documented more than 2,000 cases of illegal
cremations at crematoria in the Amritsar district. Subsequent claims for compensation filed with
the National Human Rights Commission have been limited to these cases in the Amritsar district,
excluding the other twelve districts of Punjab.
(b)
Communal violence after the destruction of Babri Masjid (1992)
34. Another example of communal violence and its continuing impact on community
relations are the violent clashes in 1992 between Hindus and Muslims after the destruction of
Babri Masjid in Ayodhya. Subsequently, riots broke out in several Indian cities and reportedly
more than 2,000 people, mainly Muslims, were killed. The Special Rapporteur would like to
refer to her predecessor’s communications and reports about the background of this issue as well
as to the responses sent by the Government of India to the mandate (E/CN.4/1994/79;
E/CN.4/1995/91; E/CN.4/1997/91/Add.1; and A/53/279).
35. The Special Rapporteur notes that less than two weeks after the destruction of
Babri Masjid, the Central Government appointed a Commission of Inquiry to probe the sequence
of events leading to, and all the facts and circumstances relating to, the occurrences in Ayodhya
on 6 December 1992. However, this Commission has not yet submitted its final report and its
mandate so far has been extended 47 times. Now it is required to conclude its inquiry by
31 March 2009. Many of the Special Rapporteur’s interlocutors referred to the tradition of
long-standing commissions of inquiry as an example of devaluing justice and keeping tensions
simmering.
(c)
Communal violence after the Godhra train burning incident (2002)
36. With regard to the Gujarat massacre in 2002, the Special Rapporteur met a large number of
eyewitnesses as well as people who visited Gujarat during the communal violence and she also
received numerous reports, from both official bodies and civil society organisations. The Special
Rapporteur also met a former Prime Minister of India and Members of Parliament who visited
Gujarat soon after the riots in 2002. The state government reported that, prior to the Godhra train
burning incident, Gujarat had witnessed 443 major communal incidents between 1970 and 2002.
However, the massacre that took place after the tragic deaths in the Godhra train burning
incident on 27 February 2002, is all the more horrifying since at least a thousand people15 were
15
The state Government of Gujarat indicated that 790 Muslims and 254 Hindus were killed
during the communal violence in Gujarat in 2002; however, other sources estimate that more
than 2,000 people were killed.