Being there on the 2^nd is not about learning more details, getting updates and fresh insights. Being there on the 2^nd is about:

• honouring the memory of the thousands who were massacred
• showing solidarity with the survivors who continue to be intimidated and harassed
• demanding that justice be meted out to the perpetrators
• demonstrating that we will not forget as the Indian government wishes us to
• saying ‘never again’ and ‘not in our name’
• upholding basic human rights

The Gujarat Awareness event organized for the second anniversary of the Gujarat genocide had to be cancelled at the last moment as the Hall Building at Concordia University was closed down for several hours due to a bomb scare.

It has been re-scheduled for Friday 2 April at 7pm in Rm 132, Leacock Building, McGill University.

Please try to be there and encourage others to also be there.

For More Information, Please Contact:
Syed Shujaat H. Wasty
sshw@iname.com

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Some basic info on Gujarat:

What/Where is Gujarat:

It's a province in India on the western side, neighbouring Sindh (Pakistan).
Surrounding Indian provinces are Rajasthan (North), Madhya Pradesh (East),
and Maharashtra (South East).

What happened:

Starting February 2002 and continuing for many months (till now), the
current BJP Government of India organized Hindu Nationalist terrorist groups
and launched an all-out genocide against Muslims.

How many were killed:

Official agencies report over 2,000, but the unofficial figure remains at
over 5,000. More than 100,000 Muslims are now in refugee camps.

Who was killed:

Muslims... regardless of age, from babies to the elderly...
"...A gravedigger at a mass grave site next to the Dariyakhan Ghummat camp
in the Shahibaug area told Human Rights Watch: "There were at least three
pregnant women and one of the fetuses was partially hanging out. We had to
stick it back in before burial. If the fetus was completely removed then we
left it out but still buried it with the mother.""

How were they killed: 

Hindu fundamentalist mobs used various ways, but the most common way was to
BURN them ALIVE. Almost every woman (regardless of age) was
raped/gang-raped, oftentimes with various objects, before being burned
alive. The mobs even ripped out the foetuses from the wombs of the mothers
and burned them as well. 

"...We were 400-500 people on the terrace.... The girls were stripped and
then two men held them down by legs and arms. Those who raped were 20-25 in
number. The girls screamed so loud that even now when I remember my blood
boils..."

"They [the attackers] were given twenty-four-hours time (to beat us). If we
were given even two hours time we would have shown them (dealt with them). I
know the face of the persons who raped. The rape started at 6:00 in the
evening until 9:00 at night. The girls were then burnt. I still remember
their loud screams..."

Police Collaboration:

...A forty-five-year-old man named Yousuf Bhai told Human Rights Watch that
the police commissioner "betrayed" the victims:

"They wanted to leave by the railroad behind Jaffrey's house, but the police
commissioner said, " No, don't you trust me? You must stay here." Jaffrey
even said, "Kill me and leave them alone." After the police brought people
here [the camp] then all night they set bodies on fire, so there could be no
cases against them, so there could be no evidence. Without police support,
none of this could have happened..."

All of the above is cited from:

Genocide in Gujarat - The International Community Looks Away by Martha C.
Nussbaum : http://www.dissentmagazine.org/menutest/articles/su03/nussbaum.htm

How Has The Gujarat Massacre Affected Minority Women? - The Survivors Speak:
Fact-Finding Report By A Women's Panel - Sponsored By Citizen's Initiative,
Ahmedabad: http://www.msu.edu/~swamyraj/guj/survivorsspeak.htm

State Participation and Complicity in Communal Violence in Gujarat - Human Rights Watch Report:
http://www.hrw.org/reports/2002/india/