In my last post I tried to tell U.G. Barad that I have no obligation to rely on his "official" estimate of the death toll in Godhra riots. But he seems to be continuing to insist by various means that his estimate is somehow more accurate than mine, obtained most recently from an article provided by Human Rights Watch, which obviously and rightly does not trust any "official" estimates from the country's own government. Human Rights Watch is a well-respected independent non-governmental organization. It has received high praise world wide for the work that it does, including the hallowed Peabody journalism award and a prestigious award from the United Nations. Its estimate of the death toll is as good as any other. More importantly, from prior experience I know that an "official" estimate provided by the government of the country or state in which an atrocity has taken place (or furnished by people who have skin in the game) is invariably an underestimate.
The figure of 2000 provided by me was also supported by the U.S. State Department in 2003 in its International Religious Freedom Report 2003. Please see: http://www.state.gov/j/drl/rls/irf/2003/24470.htm Here is the pertinent quote: QUOTE Attacks on religious minorities occurred in several states, which brought into question the Government's ability to prevent sectarian and religious violence. In Gujarat the worst religious violence directed against Muslims by Hindus took place in February and March 2002, leaving an estimated 2000 dead and 100,000 displaced into refugee camps. UNQUOTE The fact that Barad's estimate is not accepted by independent observers is also clear from the state department's Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 2012, which clearly states that the estimate is more than 1200 deaths, not the 1100 claimed by Barad. Here is the pertinent quote: QUOTE Civil society activists continued to express concern about the Gujarat government’s failure to protect the population or arrest those responsible for communal violence in 2002 that resulted in the killing of more than 1,200 persons, the majority of whom were Muslim, although there was progress in several court cases. UNQUOTE Please see http://www.state.gov/j/drl/rls/hrrpt/humanrightsreport/#wrapper Cheers, Santosh ----- Original Message ----- From: U. G. Barad <[email protected]> > > Santosh Helekar writes: "I have no obligation to accept what U. G. Barad > claims to be the official estimate. There are many "official" > estimates, > each one different from the other and from Barad's "official" > estimate. I > FOR ONE IS USING THE ESTIMATE OF HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH given in the following > quote from 2012." > > As I was trying to get the data verified I was stunned to read that Human > Rights Watch (HRW) has been criticized very heavily by: 1) National > governments, 2) Other NGOs, 3) Its founder and former Chairman Robert L. > Bernstein, and 4) The media. > > HRW is also accused of following accusations: 1) Allegations of poor > research and inaccuracy; 2) Allegations of selection bias; 3) Allegations of > ideological bias; 4) Criticism of fund-raising policies; 5) Accusations of > bias for or against particular nations; 6) Allegations of bias concerning > Latin America; 6) Allegations of bias concerning the Arab-Israeli conflict; > 7) Criticism of fund raising in Saudi Arabia; 8) Allegations of anti-Israel > bias; 9) Allegations of bias concerning Africa; and above all is 10) > Criticism from founder and former chairman, Robert Bernstein. > > Members of Goanet can read more on HRW at: > http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Criticism_of_Human_Rights_Watch > > Under such criticisms and heavy accusations how can anyone ever believe the > authenticity of facts and figures reported by HRW? Having written what I > have written above, I do not wish to thrust my opinion about authenticity of > HRW on any one. Simultaneously, I presume that Santosh and likeminded does > not wish to thrust the opinions and authenticity of facts and figures > reported by Human Rights Watch on anyone. > > Best regards, > > U. G. Barad >
