ABSTRACT
The UPA came to power in 2004, in the aftermath of one of the worst incidents of communal conflict in post-independence India, the 2002 Gujarat riots, in which perhaps 1,000 people died and tens of thousands were forced to flee their homes. Those riots, likely instigated by the incumbent BJP government in the state in the aftermath of a murderous attack on Hindu militants in a train at Godhra, took the form of anti-Muslim attacks by mobs of Hindu militants, abetted by the inaction of the state security forces, which were apparently under orders not to interfere. One witness in Ahmedabad told a reporter how, when a group of terrified Muslims were running towards a police inspector to ask for help, ‘He burst teargas shells at us when we were running towards him for protection. When approached for help, he replied Jao, mera to upar se order hai (Go away, I have orders from above)’ (Setalvad, 2002: 188). The few officials that were brave enough to stick their necks out and arrest those responsible found themselves quickly transferred to non-operational positions, especially if they dared to arrest those with political connections to the incumbent BJP state government. 1
