2002 riots: SC notes Sudhir Chaudhary's statement about his purported interview with Narendra Modi
New Delhi (PTI): The Supreme Court, while upholding the clean chit given by an SIT to then Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi and 63 others in the 2002 riots cases, has noted the statement of TV anchor Sudhir Chaudhary about his purported interview with Modi.
Chaudhary, who is the Zee News Editor-in-Chief, was summoned by the apex court-appointed Special Investigation Team (SIT) and was specifically asked about the contents of a news report in which the then chief minister had allegedly referred to Newton's law that every action has an equal and opposite reaction.
A bench headed by Justice A M Khanwilkar in his 452-page judgement noted, "Sudhir Chaudhary has stated that he attended a press conference held by Narendra Modi on March 1, 2002, at a Circuit House on the outskirts of Gandhinagar. He has further stated that Narendra Modi was known to him and that he had interviewed him earlier several times in Delhi.
"Sudhir Chaudhary has stated to have requested Narendra Modi for a short interview after the conference to which the latter agreed and as such he was interviewed for about 10 minutes," it said.
"After going through the Editor's Guild Fact-Finding Mission report dated May 3, 2002, Chaudhary has stated that the same was only a few excerpts from the said interview and that the original CD of the said interview was not before him," the apex court noted.
Speaking to PTI, Chaudhary said he had quit Zee News by the time the SIT summoned him and the purported tape was recycled by that time.
"The tape is not there with anyone. The SIT summoned me twice and I went to their Gandhinagar office. They asked me to confirm if Modi said that every action has a reaction and the entire riots were the reaction of Godhra which I denied.
"That time the UPA government tried to force me to give a statement that Modi said so. As far as little remembrance I have, he never said this. I am very happy that the Supreme Court has acknowledged and mentioned it in its judgement. Truth has prevailed," he said.
"During that time, NGOs like that of Teesta Setalvad or some government officials and the Congress wanted to build an ecosystem trying to create a false narrative against Modi. To put pressure on me for this interview was also a part of it. Everything against Modi was based on hearsay. There was no evidence," Chaudhary added.
The top court also noted that as per Chaudhary's recollection, he had questioned Modi about the Chamanpura massacre (Gulberg Society Case), in which former Congress MP late Ehsan Jafri had been killed with many others to which the chief minister had replied that the mob had reacted on account of private firing done by Jafri.
"After refreshing his memory from the Editor's Guild report, Sudhir Chaudhary has stated that the chief minister was of the view that he neither wanted action nor reaction.
He has further stated to have questioned the chief minister about the widespread violence post-Godhra, the Chief Minister stated as follows:-
"Godhra main jo parson hua, jahan par chalees (40) mahilaon aur bacchon ko zinda jala diya is main desh main aur videsh main sadma pahuchna swabhavik tha. Godhra ke is ilake ki criminal tendencies rahi hain. In logon ne pahele mahila teachers ka khoon kiya Aur ab yeh jaghanya apraadh kiya hai jiski pratikria ho rahi hai"," the judgment noted.
It also took note of the fact that Chaudhary has shown his inability to elaborate the same as he has not been able to recollect the exact sequence of events after a span of nine years and moreover, the CD was not before him.
The top court mentioned in its judgement that Modi had been questioned by the SIT about the aforesaid interview given to Zee TV on March 1, 2002.
"He (Modi) has stated that those who have read the history of Gujarat would definitely be aware that communal violence in Gujarat has a long history and the State had witnessed serious incidents of such communal violence. As regards the Zee TV interview of March 1, 2002, is concerned, Modi has stated that after a period of eight years, he did not recollect the exact words, but he had always appealed only and only for peace.
Regarding the statement made to the media about post-Godhra riots by citing Newton's law that every action has an equal and opposite reaction, Modi had stated that an English newspaper had published a news item on March 3, 2002, purportedly as though he had given an interview to them.
"According to Modi, the truth is that nobody had met him in this regard. He further stated that the falsehood of his so-called justification 'Action-Reaction Theory' is evident from this fact. According to Modi, the State government issued a denial with regard to his not having given any interview and the same was belatedly published in a remote corner of the newspaper," the judgement noted.
The SIT's investigation was carried out in response to an observation made by advocate Raju Ramchandran, who was appointed as amicus curiae, who said that Modi's statement in a television interview on March 1, 2002, clearly indicates that there was an attempt to justify the violence against the minority community and this indicates as the certain approach.
Ramchandran had observed that the statement made by Modi cannot be seen in isolation and detailed investigation is required.
Congress leader and former MP Ehsan Jafri was among the 68 people killed at Ahmedabad's Gulberg Society during violence on February 28, 2002, a day after the Godhra train burning that claimed 59 lives.
The riots that it triggered killed 1,044 people, mostly Muslims. Giving details, the central government informed the Rajya Sabha in May 2005 that 254 Hindus and 790 Muslims were killed in the post-Godhra riots
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Real Madrid fines Valverde and Tchouaméni half a million euros each for altercation
Barcelona (AP): Real Madrid slapped players Federico Valverde and Aurélien Tchouaméni with half-a-million-euro ($588,000) fines on Friday for their altercation during practice.
The massive fines came a day after the midfielders tussled when the team trained. Valverde said in a post on social media on Thursday that no punches were thrown. But Valverde knocked his head on a table and he suffered a small cut that required a brief hospital visit.
On social media, Valverde initially called it a “meaningless fight” with a teammate and said “everything has been blown out of proportion."
His employers, however, considered it a significant enough breach of team discipline to nail both Valverde and Tchouaméni with fines that bite even the bank account of a top soccer player. The half-a-million euro penalties reflect the reputational damage the club was enduring in a chaotic end to a disappointing season.
In a statement, the 15-time European champion said its disciplinary action was concluded after both players expressed to the club “their complete remorse for what happened and apologized to one another.”
Madrid added they also apologized to their teammates, the coaching staff and club supporters, as well as showing their willingness to accept whatever disciplinary action the club deemed “opportune.”
Tchouaméni was back training with Madrid on Friday, two days before they play at Barcelona in a clasico. Madrid has to win otherwise Barcelona will be crowned La Liga champion.
After being notified of the fine, he posted a public apology to the club and its fans on social media.
“What happened this week in training is unacceptable,” Tchouaméni wrote. "I say this while thinking about the example we are expected to set for young people, whether in football or at school.
“Above all, I am sorry for the image we projected of the club.”
Valverde was not at practice due to the head knock.
Both players are set to play in the World Cup next month, with Tchouaméni playing for France and Valverde for Uruguay.
Chaotic end to a poor season
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The run-in between the players, who for seasons have played side by side in Madrid's midfield, came after they argued this week in previous training sessions. But tempers boiled over on Thursday. Spanish media was rife with reports that the players previously disagreed over the club's decision to let coach Xabi Alonso go after just months on the job.
It was not the only altercation involving Madrid players during training this week. Álvaro Carreras confirmed he was in a “minor” incident with a teammate. Spanish media said he and fellow defender Antonio Rüdiger got into a scuffle.
Álvaro Arbeloa, the coach who was promoted from Madrid's reserve team when Alonso was fired in January, will face tough questions on what went wrong inside the changing room when he gives a press conference on Saturday ahead of the clasico at Camp Nou.
Madrid is facing a second consecutive campaign without a major trophy amid rumors in the Spanish media that club president Florentino Pérez is considering bringing back Jose Mourinho to straighten out his underperforming team.
