Why curfew was not imposed quickly post-Godhra: Zakia's lawyer

The riots that followed the Godhra train burning incident were a case of "permitted violence" and not a result of administrative failure, Zakia Jafri's lawyer argued today, asking why curfew was not imposed immediately in the other cities of Gujarat.
"It is not a case of administrative lapse or error but a case of permitted violence -- the possibility of which can be examined only after a trial in court," advocate Mihir Desai argued before Metropolitan Magistrate B J Ganatra here.
Supreme Court had earlier set up a special investigation team to probe the complaint filed by Jafri about alleged complicity of Chief Minister Narendra Modi and others in allowing the riots. She has now filed a petition before the magistrate challenging SIT's report giving clean chit to Modi.

Jafri's husband and former Congress MP Ehsan Jafri was killed in the riots.
Referring to Godhra incident in which 59 kar-sevaks were killed, advocate Desai said some violence was bound to happen in the aftermath.
Curfew was imposed as early as 10 am on February 27, 2002 (next day) in Godhra, and if police wanted to control the violence, "curfew could have been imposed in other cities also", he argued.
Instead, authorities decided to take the bodies of dead kar-sevaks to Ahmedabad by handing them over to Vishwa Hindu Parishad office bearers, advocate Desai said.
"The decision to shift bodies to Ahmedabad by handing them over to VHP officials, particularly to then general secretary Jaideep Patel, is a wrong, incorrect decision, filled with criminal mind," Desai stated, adding that it further fanned communal tension in the city.