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Madinat al-Muslimeen Islamic Message Board
| Assult of Muslim girl instigated the train attack. |
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| ali |
| 03/03/02 at 22:03:51 |
| from: http://www.ummahnews.com/viewarticle.php?sid=2919 Assault of Muslim girl set off attack on train carrying Hindu extremists Rajeel Sheikh 2 March 2002 Last Wednesday’s attack on an Indian train in which extremists of the right-wing Hindu nationalist party, the VHP (Vishwa Hindu Parishad) and their families were burned to death was sparked off by their abduction of a Muslim girl. The passengers were riding in three compartments (called bogeys) of the Sabarmati Express and heading for Ayodhya to join a gathering of fellow kar sevaks (volunteer workers) who have pledged to build a temple on the site of the demolished Babri Mosque (built by the first Moghul emperor Babar in the 16th century). The story begins not in Godhra but in a town called Daahod, some 70-75 km away. At around 5:30-6:00 a.m. the train reached Daahod railway station. Here, the kar sevaks initiated an argument with a Muslim stallholder who had served them tea and snacks before destroying his stand. The stallholder filed a complaint at the local police station but the kar sevaks proceeded on the train to the next stop, Godhra. At about 7.00- 7.15am the train reached Godhra railway station. All the kar sevaks came out from their reserved compartments have refreshments at the small tea stall on the platform owned by an elderly Muslim and his employee. The kar sevaks started a quarrel with this stallholder too. While beating him and pulling his beard they are reported to have repeatedly shouted the slogan: "Mandir Ka Nirmaann Karo, Babur Ki Aulad ko Baahar Karo" (Start the construction of the temple, throw out the sons of Babar). Hearing the chaos, the stallholder’s 16 year-old daughter came to intervene. She pleaded with the kar sevaks to stop beating her father and leave him alone. The kar sevaks the carried off the young girl to the train and locked her inside one of the reserved compartments (S-6). As the train started to move out of Godhra with the elderly man banging on the compartment doors, two stall vendors jumped onto the last bogey of the moving train and pulled the emergency stop chain to halt the train. The train came to a standstill about one kilometre away from the railway station. The two Muslim stallholders pleaded unsuccessfully with the kar sevaks to release their captive. Hearing all the chaos, people in the vicinity ran towards the train. When they asked the kar sevaks to let the girl go they responded by closing the carriage windows. This infuriated the crowd who began to pelt the bogey with stones. The compartments on either side of S-6 also contained kar sevaks of the V.H.P, many of whom descended from the train and used the bamboo sticks from their banners to attack the assembled crowd. The crowd retaliated. Some young men ran off to bring diesel and petrol from trucks and rickshaws standing at the nearby garages in Signal Fadia (a place in Godhra) and torched the compartments. After hearing about this incident, members of the V.H.P (Vishwa Hindu Parishad) living in the area went on the rampage burning down the garages in Signal Fadia and the Baddshah Masjid at Shehra Bhagaaad. |
| NS |
| Re: Assult of Muslim girl instigated the train att |
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| Abdullah |
| 03/03/02 at 22:24:15 |
| asalau alaikum, Anyone who read the above, I can't say whether its true or not but its definitely the first account I've heard and I would caution everyone to exercise their deiscretion when hearing about the causes. Now, as the violence simmers down Insha'Allah, many stories about this will be coming out, each pointing a direct finger at the other. Please be careful and be fair brothers and sisters. asalaamu alaikum. abdullah,. |
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