Amit Shah on Godhra riots: 'It wasn't in our hands, everything was done to control violence; saw Modi suffer in silence'

Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Saturday broke his silence on the ghastly Godhra riots and said he saw Prime Minister Narendra Modi suffer in silence because of the false allegations that he hadn't done enough to stop the violence. He said everything was done to control the Gujarat riots but it was not "in our hands" as there was anger among the masses against the Godhra incident.

"People (officers-administration) had done a good job. But there was anger due to the incident (Godhra train burning), and nobody had an inkling - neither the police, nor anyone else. Later it wasn't in anyone's hands," the Union Home Minister said in an interview with ANI.

The Supreme Court on Friday upheld the special investigation team's clean chit to Prime Minister Narendra Modi in a Gujarat riot case.

Shah said the false allegations that Modi looked the other way when the anti-Muslim riots were raging on in Gujarat, affected him deeply.

"A tall leader fought this 20-year-long fight without saying a word, braving all pain like 'vishpaan' of Lord Shankar... I saw him suffering through this very closely. Only a strong-willed person could've taken a stand to not say anything as the case was sub-judice," he said.

He said a perception was created against Modi. He said there would be articles on Godhra riots just before important events and before PM Modi's foreign visits.

He also mentioned social activist Teesta Setalvad's name.  

"The SC said Zakia Jafri worked on someone else's instructions. NGO signed affidavits of several victims  and they didn't even know. Everyone knows Teesta Setalvad's NGO was doing this. When the UPA government came to power at that time, it helped the NGO," he added.

He said all steps were taken timely, to end the violence.

"As far as the Gujarat government is concerned, we were not late. The day the Gujarat Bandh call was given, we called the Army that afternoon itself. Army takes some time to reach...There wasn't even a day's delay. Court appreciated it too," Shah added.

Hundreds of people were killed in the 2002 Gujarat riots that took place days after a train bogie carrying right-wing activists was set on fire. Over 50 Hindu pilgrims were killed in the incident. 

With inputs from ANI