Journalist Rana Ayyub tweeted on March 12 that a train coach was set on fire to recreate Godhra attack for the biopic on PM Modi. She also took a potshot on Bollywood celebrities who met PM Modi recently.

When we searched about it, we found a report by Indian Express dated 4th March which claimed “Train coach set on fire to recreate Godhra attack for ‘biopic on Modi’”.

“A burning railway bogie on the narrow gauge between Pratap Nagar and Dabhoi railway line in Vadodara on Sunday morning had many people watching from their rooftops nearby”. According to them, to recreate the Godhra Carnage scene, a bogie was burnt.

The report has cited Western Railway PRO Khemraj Meena who said, “Permission was given to shoot the documentary film here. It was shot at the narrow gauge Vishwamitri railway station. No rail traffic was affected in the process of the shoot and the bogie being used for the shoot was provided by us. It is a mock-drill bogie and was unused.”

Similar news was reported by The Wire, Deccan Chronicle and DB Post referencing the Indian Express.

Firstly, this recreation of the Godhra Carnage incident was for a movie on the life of Narendra Modi. It is said to be released on April 12^th directed by Omung Kumar. The scene spoken about in this context is the Godhra Carnage incident which took place on 27^th February 2002 when Sabarmathi Express returning from Ayodhya to Ahmedabad was burnt down following arguments between vendors and travelers. The arguments led to violence and four coaches of the train caught on fire killing 59 people mostly Kar Sevaks returning from Ayodhya. The incident was the root cause of the infamous Godhra riot.

Train Coach was not burnt: Dhaval Pandya, a crew member of the film unit

OpIndia.com reached out to Daval Pandya a member of the film unit who apparently claimed that no train coach was set on fire by the film shooters. “We even got the NOC from the railways that the coach was returned in proper condition,” Pandya had said to OpIndia.

However until Indian express provides us with proper evidence of burning a coach to recreate the scene, OpIndia’s claim that a film's crew confirming that no coach was set on fire will be considered true.

Ravin Bhaskar, Western Railways’ CPRO, said that his office was shown the film script and it did not mention ‘Godhra’. “It has been a week or so since the permission was granted and as far as I know, they wanted to shoot something recreating the Prime Minister selling tea on railway platforms. We go through the script and as a policy, do not permit anything that harms the image of Railways and the country. If they have set fire to a rolling stock or damaged railway property, then we can claim their deposit, claim insurance etc. We make them sign indemnity bond as well,” he told Indian Express.

It is clear from the statement of Railways official that they don't have any information about the burning of a railway coach.

It is a shame that reputed media house like the Indian Express would post such news without providing the audience with evidence which is the main key to journalism.

Fire in the coach was an accident as claimed by The Wire?

The wire has cited an opinion article by Siddharth Varadarajan to project that it was an accidental fire. The Wire claims that the official police version that the train burning was a pre-planned conspiracy to kill the kar sevaks has come under considerable question as it changed between one charge sheet and the next.

However, The wire has conveniently omitted the other side of the argument. A special court in 2011 had awarded death penalty to 11 convicts in the Godhra train burning case and life sentence to 20 others as reported by Times of India.

In Oct 2017, the Gujarat high court had commuted the death sentence of those 11 convicts to rigorous life imprisonment, while upholding the life sentence of other 20. Ironically, the report was covered by The Wire as well.

Investigations by journalists are certainly important in every case but it is the judgment of the court which we will consider as proof. If the train burning was an accident then why did the court awarded death sentence (later commuted to life imprisonment)? If these journalists have enough proof then why those proofs were not accepted by the court?

The court judgment clearly proves that the Godhra train burning was not an accident but a pre-planned conspiracy.