RULE OF HATE

PICTURE SPEAK

POISONED FLAMES: The burning Sabarmati Express

It was darkness at noon. Gujarat went up in flames after 57 VHP kar sevaks, including 25 women and 14 children, were burnt to death when a mob set fire to a coach of the Sabarmati Express on the outskirts of Godhra station on February 27. In the riots that followed, 790 Muslims and 254 Hindus were killed. The aftermath of the horrific massacre saw the BJP defending the state’s Narendra Modi Government against charges of genocide.

FIRST CUT

Deputy Prime Minister, L.K. Advani flagged off the Delhi Metro’s first trial run at Rail Corporation’s Shastri Park Metro Depot.

Direct flights between India and China were resumed after 40 years following the visit of the Chinese Prime Minister Zhu Rongji. Flights had been suspended after the 1962 war.

FALLEN KINGS

On October 10, just three weeks before the dynasty’s 55th anniversary, the Abdullahs of Jammu and Kashmir were routed in the assembly elections as Omar lost his stronghold—Ganderbal—in the October assembly elections. While father Farooq may have saved his seat, the National Conference were ousted from government, winning only 28 of 87 seats.

DID YOU KNOW

The Central Government pushed through the Prevention of Terrorism Ordinance in what was only the third joint session of Parliament in India’s history.

Temple Trauma

The terrorist attack on the Akshardham Temple on September 24 which left 29 civilians dead, signalled the beginning of a new, dangerous strain of terrorism, with militants looking to hit soft targets, extending the pale of their terror beyond the army camps in Kashmir.

“THE MAJOR TASK IS TO INTEGRATE THE NATION.”
A.P.J. Abdul Kalam

The 2002 presidential race seemed to all to be a fight between P.C. Alexander, incumbent K.R. Narayanan and Vice-President Krishan Kant. So it was a surprise when on June 10, India’s missile man, A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, emerged as the consensus candidate. While it was a political coup that the ruling National Democratic Alliance had pulled off by suggesting a rank outsider—that too from the minority community—Kalam’s credentials were impeccable, being seen by the strong middle-class as a man of honour, besides being one of the great scientific minds of our time.

ELSEWHERE...

Euro notes and coins were issued in all major countries of mainland Europe.

On June 4, Queen Elizabeth II (below) and the Duke of Edinburgh rode in a gold state coach to mark her 50 years on the throne.

The US invasion of Afghanistan began as it searched for 9/11 mastermind, Osama Bin Laden. The operation, called Enduring Freedom, marked the beginning of the US War on Terrorism. The US and Britain led the aerial bombings, with support by the Afghan Northern Alliance and supplemented by NATO troops.

Rs 50 crore was spent by Sanjay Leela Bhansali on his film Devdas. This was a remake of the Sarat Chand Chattopadhyay classic and was touted as the most expensive film at its time. It starred Aishwarya Rai and Shah Rukh Khan in lead roles.

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