New Delhi [India], August 27 (ANI): Former Rajya Sabha MP and Advocate for Sikh Causes Tarlochan Singh has claimed that the 2002 Gujarat riots were general expression of the people and the state government had no role in it.

In a podcast with ANI, Tarlochan Singh, who had also served as the Chairman of National Commission for Minorities during this incident, described the 2002 Gujarat riots as 'natural,' stating it was not a sponsored riot like 1984 Sikh riots in Delhi.

The former Rajya Sabha MP said, 'I was chairman of the Minority Commission during the time of Gujarat riots. I am the first to reach there. I did all the inquiry; no one knows about this. I was appointed as Chairman (for National Commission for Minorities) in 2000 and Gujarat riots occurred in 2002. I was chairman for six years of the Minority Commission. I have a booklet on the Gujarat tragedy.'

'It was printed and Modiji ordered 500 copies to be distributed. I compared the Delhi riots with Gujarat. I said, Delhi is sponsored, Gujarat is natural. Gujarat riots were the general expression of people. No government role, not even one person. I said this 20 times. I said, this is my inquiry,' Tarlochan Singh stated.

Tarlochan Singh praised then Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi's handling of the situation, claiming that Modi's decision to prevent Hindu Karsevaks from taking dead bodies to their villages helped 'contain' the riots and prevented them from spreading across the state.

He said, 'I went to people's homes to ask why there were riots. I went to the homes of Sikhs. They said it was not natural. Modi ji saved people. He did such a big job, no one has highlighted it till now. All the Hindus, they wanted to take the dead bodies of Hindus to their villages. If those dead bodies had gone to the villages, all of Gujarat would have burned down. Modi didn't allow it. Modi rejected it and the last rites were performed at the spot. He did such a big thing. The riots were occurred only near the areas of Ahmedabad, not in whole Gujarat. Modiji stopped it.'

The former Chairman of the National Commission for Minorities claimed to have facilitated a meeting between at least 30 prominent Muslim leaders and then Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi, resulting in the acceptance of all their demands by the Chief Minister.

He said, 'Police stations only with lady officers were opened for women. I, as a Chairman, took 30 top Muslim leaders and arranged their meeting with Modi. They had meeting for 2.5 - 3 hours. Modiji met every Muslim leader and accepted their all demands.'

On February 27, 2002, the Sabarmati Express carrying Hindu karsevaks was set on fire by a mob, resulting in the deaths of 59 people, including women and children.

This was followed by communal riots across the state of Gujarat, where hundreds were killed.

In 2011, a special court convicted 31 people in connection with the Godhra train burning incident, after which the Gujarat High Court in 2014 upheld the conviction of 11 people while acquitting 20 others.

Finally, the Supreme Court of India upheld the verdict given by Gujarat HC, dismissing the appeals filed by the convicts in connection with the Godhra train burning. (ANI)