OVERVIEW OF THE ATTACKS AGAINST MUSLIMS
 

The Role of the Media 
While the national Indian press has played an important role in exposing the violence and official neglect or misconduct, sectors of the local press have been accused of inciting the violence. 

On April 5, 2002, the People's Union for Civil Liberties and Shanti Abhiyan, both nongovernmental organizations, issued a comprehensive analysis of the role of the media during the violence in Gujarat. Among the papers analyzed is the Vadodara edition of Sandesh, a Gujarati newspaper. The report concludes that the major effort of Sandesh for the period under review "has been to feed on the prevalent anti-Muslim prejudices of its Hindu readership and provoke it further by sensationalizing, twisting, mangling and distorting news or what passes for it."¹³⁴

Sandesh published especially inflammatory headlines, pictures, and stories the day after the Godhra attack. For example, a front page report on February 28, 2002, read: "AVENGE BLOOD WITH BLOOD."¹³⁵ Another headline during the first week of March, when Gujarati Muslims were returning from their pilgrimage (Haj) to Mecca, stated: "HINDUS BEWARE: HAJ PILIGRIMS RETURN WITH A DEADLY CONSPIRACY."¹³⁶ In fact, most Muslims returning from Haj were so terrified of being attacked that they sought and received escorts home by army officials.¹³⁷

Attacks on the Media 
The national media has also come under verbal and physical attack for its coverage of the Gujarat violence. Gujarat Chief Minister Modi has accused the media of exaggerating the extent of violence, and for provoking the violence by naming the religion of the victims.¹³⁸ Modi also objected to All India Radio (AIR) coverage of the Godhra attack, specifically reports that mentioned that the trouble in Godhra began after kar sevaks (Hindu activists) refused to pay for the tea they consumed from Muslim tea vendors. Union Information and Broadcasting Minister Sushma Swaraj "gave a dressing down to the top brass of AIR," reportedly at Modi's behest, though no action was taken against anyone.¹³⁹ 

According to the Paris-based Reporters Sans Frontières (RSF), some twenty journalists and media workers were attacked by the police on April 7, 2002, in Gandhi Ashram, Ahmedabad while two peace demonstrations were disrupted by members of the Gujarat Yuva Morcha, a youth section of the BJP. A cameraman for the private television station NDTV was told by a deputy police superintendent to stop filming. When he asked why, he was struck on the head and later was admitted to the hospital's intensive care unit. Witnesses say police then attacked the journalists, seriously injuring several others.¹⁴⁰ RSF adds that a journalist for the Asian Age was beaten up by the Gujarat police while interviewing Muslim women who had complained of police atrocities.¹⁴¹
 

¹³⁴ People's Union Civil Liberties-Vadodara, Shanti Abhiyan, "The Role of Newspapers During the Gujarat Carnage: February 28 - March 24," April 5, 2002, http://www.pucl.org (accessed April 13, 2002). 

¹³⁵ Ibid.

¹³⁶ Ibid.

¹³⁷ "Indian State Pledges Safe Return for Haj Victims," Reuters, March 18, 2002.

¹³⁸ Rupak Sanyal, "Police beat up journalists as Hindu activists disrupt aid meeting," Associated Press, April 8, 2002. 

¹³⁹ Josy Joseph, "AIR staff reprimanded for Godhra report," rediff.com, March 1, 2002, http://www.rediff.com/news/2002/mar/01train7.htm (accessed April 15, 2002). 

¹⁴⁰ "Alert-India: Journalists attacked by police in the state of Gujarat," Reporters Sans Frontières, April 10, 2002, http://www.rsf.org/rsf/uk/ (accessed April 15, 2002).

¹⁴¹ Ibid.