The Truth: Gujarat 2002

A November 2007 report by the investigative news magazine Tehelka used a video sting operation to record a number of Sangh Parivar activists describing the riots from their perspective. Taking over six months, the reporter pretended to be an author interested in writing a book with a Hindutva point of view and interviewed the key accused. ==Key people accused==

The recordings show 14 main characters, with seven being accused in the main riot cases. • Babu Bajrangi, Bajrang Dal leader • Haresh Bhatt, Bharatiya Janata Party MLA and Bajrang Dal vice-president • Suresh Richard (Naroda Patiya) • Mangilal Jain (Gulbarg Society massacre) • Prahlad Raju (Gulbarg Society massacre) • Madan Chawal (Gulbarg Society massacre) • Rajendra Vyas (Ahmedabad) • Anil Patel (Sabarkantha) • Dhawal Jayanti Patel ==Authenticity==

Journalist B G Verghese described the report as "nothing short of a bombshell ... too well-documented to have been faked, as alleged. The effect was numbing." There were two contradictions between the report and official records. On 5 March 2008, the National Human Rights Commission of India directed the Central Bureau of Investigation to authenticate the video evidence uncovered by the Tehelka report. The CBI investigated the raw video footage and the equipment used to create it, and interviewed 14 of 18 "persons belonging to different Hindu outfits like VHP, Bajrang Dal, RSS and Gujarat Police [who] have been shown making revelations." In October 2009, the CBI responded to the NHRC by issuing a report stating that "No Evidence of editing, alteration and tampering has been detected in the audio video recordings and their respective voice track recorded in the DVDs" and that "[Forensic Science Laboratory staff] have stated that on the basis of the result of the examination of the exhibits by them, it is clear that the recordings in the Sting Operation are authentic." After interviewing the subjects of the videos, the CBI reported, "Most of the above mentioned persons have stated that they were approached by some person / persons and that they have talked on the subject of Gujarat Riots which is the subject matter of the sting operation." ==Journalistic ethics==

The sting operation raised questions regarding journalistic ethics. Arthur Dudney, a South Asia scholar at Columbia University wrote, "From the perspective of squeaky-clean journalism, Khetan has broken two rules: Firstly, misrepresenting his identity as a journalist and secondly, making false promises about confidentiality." Considering that the issue was implicating a sitting chief minister, Dudney seems to suggest that a method other than duplicity was probably not available: "When a subject hesitated during an interview, Khetan said: 'I won't quote it anywhere ... For that matter ... I am not even going to quote you' and immediately after the reporter promised that, the interviewee made a chilling admission: Narendra Modi, the Chief Minister of Gujarat, had given the Hindu chauvinists three days to do whatever they wanted without government interference. Obviously the fact that the sitting Chief Minister of a state participated in communal violence is a matter that the public must know about, but I can see no way that the story would have come out had Khetan not bent the rules." ==Partisan criticism==

The sting operation led to partisan criticism, both from Bharatiya Janata Party, as well as the Congress. Political activist Arundhati Roy described the range of critiques: "The overwhelming public reaction to the sting was not outrage, but suspicion about its timing. Most people believed that the éxposé would help Modi win the elections again. Some even believed, quite outlandishly, that he had engineered the sting. He did win the elections." Anti-BJP bias allegations Indian journalist and Member of Parliament associated with the Bharatiya Janata Party, Chandan Mitra, described the timing of the report's release as being so transparently pegged to the Gujarat assembly polls that even breast-beating secular fundamentalists found it hard to defend. It was pointed out that the report was released only a month before the assembly elections of Gujarat, and some claimed the sting was only meant to bring the downfall of the Narendra Modi government. Balasaheb Thackeray, the head of the Shiv Sena party termed the report a political conspiracy to defame the Hindus by the so-called secularists. It was pointed out the Modi did not visit Naroda Patiya as the Tehelka report claimed, and that Aaj Tak coverage mixed Tehelka material with material from the movie Parzania, which Arvind Lavakare claimed was used to sensationalize the reports on the Tehelka findings. The Bharatiya Janata Party claimed that Tehelka never conducted any sting against the Indian National Congress and alleged that the Congress-led government gave Tehelka tax exemptions. Pro-BJP bias allegations Alternatively, some claimed that Narendra Modi himself orchestrated the sting to gain support in the 2007 Gujarat elections. According to The Economist, some senior members of the Indian National Congress accused Tehelka of being in cahoots with the BJP as a tool to galvanize the Hindu vote. The bookies in Gujarat did respond to the report by shortening the odds on Modi, indicating heavy betting for Modi's win. ==Impact==

The video reports were aired on Aaj Tak. The reports were the impetus for further investigations. Mayawati, chief minister of Uttar Pradesh, called for new investigations as a direct result of the Tehelka report and the "fresh information" it had uncovered about the organized mass murder. Among the more reported segments of the report was video of Babu Bajrangi, the Bajrang Dal leader, describing the slaughter at Naroda Patiya and his reaction to it: "After killing them, I felt like Maharana Pratap." Maharana Pratap was a 16th-century ruler who was known for confronting the enemy at the Battle of Haldighati. After he was charged, Bajrangi denied his involvement and said, "I never killed even an ant in my life". He also told reporters, "I did not lead any mob in Naroda Patiya. The sting operation shows me saying that I took a sword and cut open a woman's womb. But I was trying to explain that the FIR filed against me accuses me of that act and that I deny it." Some of those investigated in the report were sentenced by court, including two leaders and 30 others. Bajrangi was sentenced to life. Parts of the report were used as evidence in court, and Ashish Khetan, the author of the report who was deposed in court, writes that the evidence was crucial for the conviction of the accused. The magazine called the convictions "vindication" for its 2007 report. ==References==