Thread by @AnoshMalekar

27-02-2002: It broke out like an epidemic of viral flu. We may have been through several such epidemics, but nothing prepares us for the slaughter of men, women, children and even domestic animals. Never forget that the history of the human race is cruel. Watch this space...

I spent seven years (1998-2005) working as #Gujarat correspondent of @TheWeekLive. The pieces I'm posting here were written mostly in 2002 and chronicle the sequential turn of events, as I witnessed them that fateful year, beginning from where it all begun theweek.in/webworld/featu…

The above was an exclusive cover story for The Week's July 7 2002 issue. Took about three months to piece together the jigsaw puzzle that was #Godhra investigations at that point amid the mayhem and blood letting all around. I wrote about it all much later
link.medium.com/K0FZs20EVnb

The street violence continued for days, weeks and months, but quietly a campaign was underway calling for an economic boycott of Muslims across Gujarat. This cover story 'The new untouchables' along with an interview of VHP's Pravin Togadia appeared in early April of 2002...cont.

Togadia was the spearhead, competing for credit and attention with Chief Minister Modi, as his interview indicates. The cover story also dealt with Vajpayee summoning Modi, who was savouring shrikhand in Rajkot, to Delhi on March 26; how even judges became refugees in #Ahmedabad.

Narendra Modi didn't keep the media at bay, but he was aloof. The CM had his favorites even then. Tried to interview him for over a month without success. Then luck smiled in the form of Jagdishbhai Thakkar, PRO in the Chief Minister’s Office. Gujarat under him was still burning

The embers of sectarian violence had hardly died down when Modi dissolved the Gujarat Assembly on July 19, 2002. BJP demanded early polls so as to exploit the volatile situation in the state. The 'Gujarat gaurav yatra' served as Modi's main weapon, as this cover story narrates...

Modi won the Gujarat Assembly polls in Dec. 2002 and has been unstoppable ever since. But those left behind, whichever side of the fence they stood, continue to bear the brunt! I kept pursuing the tragic story of Kidiyad village and published it online 👇
juggernaut.in/books/folks-we…