SEPTEMBER 8, 2007

TEHELKA: What was the name of that inspector you were talking about.

Mangilal Jain: Erda…

TEHELKA: Erda…what did he do?

Jain: He supported us… The police kept away from public that day.

TEHELKA: Kept away from Muslims?

Jain: Public… kept away from Hindus… They [the police] told us that everything should be finished within 2-3 hours.

TEHELKA: That means they gave you 2-3 hours …

Jain: To finish…

TEHELKA: Finish everything…

Jain: This was happening across all of Ahmedabad. [It was understood] no outsider would come. Even reinforcements weren’t going to come… the forces wouldn’t get there till evening… so all the work should be done.

TEHELKA: He told you to do it all in two to three hours…

Jain: He [Erda] said it and the mob went berserk. Some started looting. Others started killing… Someone dragged a man out and hacked him down and burned him… A lot of this kind of stuff happened…

TEHELKA: So… did only people from the society get killed or were there other Muslims also?

Jain: No sir… people from outside also got killed. There are Muslims living on the streets all around the society… they are poor people… these are rich people [indicating those who lived in Gulbarg society]… These street dwellers are labourers, mechanics and factory workers… Whenever the situation would get tense, Ehsan Jafri would call everyone in. There was a masjid inside… and every year he would arrange for them to be fed. Whenever a riot broke out, all these people would take shelter inside.… He was very capable. He would make just one call and the police would land up. There was always an SRP [State Reserve Police Force] post at this place. So people would feel safe there.

TEHELKA: So that day you were just one of the crowd… raising the slogan of Jai Shri Ram…

Jain: Just chanting Jai Shri Ram was giving people an adrenaline rush. I was there with a lot of friends, sir, Jai Shri Ram.…

TEHELKA: So who were our people who took part in the killing?

Jain: Look, sir... there were a lot of faces whom I didn’t know at all… Bharat Teli, Atul Vaid and many other people were there. They came from far away places like Bapu Nagar and Meghaninagar…

TEHELKA: Bharat Teli and Atul Vaid did a lot of fighting?

Jain: These were the people in groups sir… there were a lot of young people with them… that day, there was a mob of 50,000 people… How could we know who was who? These are the kinds of people who have a lot of exuberance, those who are non-vegetarian. Those are the people who could be so cruel.

TEHELKA: So… how did we chop off these Muslims?

Jain: They were dragged out of their houses. Someone cut them down… another set them ablaze. Fire was already there… petrol.

TEHELKA: So petrol was available…

Jain: Petrol and kerosene were brought… by these people. They came in the vehicles. [They said] Come with us… there is riot… our Hindu brothers are being attacked… come…

TEHELKA: These were our Vishwa Hindu Parishad people?

Jain: Yes… They came in huge numbers… in vehicles… in whatever mode of transport they could get… they surrounded everything and that Lanka was completely destroyed… There were all the people from the neighbourhoods nearby inside… Whoever was seen, was killed. There was a basement… people who took shelter there survived… there were 70-80 of them…

TEHELKA: People hid there?

Jain: Yes, they hid… In the evening, when it was discovered that there were people inside, then they were taken to a safe place… Eighty to ninety people were killed… Ninety must have been killed… but only those whose dead bodies were recovered were reported and could be identified. Many people were reported missing… Jafri’s body could not be recovered. He was burnt… nothing of him was found.