In a significant chapter of senior journalist and author Rahul Roushan’s book Sanghi Who Never Went to a Shakha, an incident inside a newsroom is narrated surrounding the reporting of the Sabarmati Express incident that took place on February 7, 2002. When a call was received from the site of the horrific carnage revealing who were the perpetrators of the crime that took the lives of 59 innocent karsevaks returning from Ayodhya, it is openly decided by the senior journalists that it can’t be shown in the reportage that the 1000 plus mob was a Muslim one. It is further discussed that the reason for the fire should not be revealed clearly. In short, the word ‘accident’ is used as a crutch to mislead the audience. Roushan had witnessed this sabotage of truth being played out by some of the most established representatives of the fourth pillar of democracy in the early years of his career that led him to understand gradually how the English media in this country has been holding the faith and trust of its viewers hostage by setting narratives to suit their own vicious agenda. It somewhat led him to reveal it all in his immensely successful book years later.
I experienced a kind of déjà vu while watching Dheeraj Sarna’s The Sabarmati Report especially where the bosses at EBT News throw integrity out of the window while reporting the Godhra incident. After a phone call is made to senior journalist Manika Rajpurohit who is present at the incident site in Godhra station with cameraman Samar Kumar, she immediately switches to false mode on camera to hide that bogey S6 was set alight on purpose and the fire was not a mere accident. Samar Kumar is baffled by her lies so he goes on to record another version that actually reveals what really happened. Unfortunately, though, the entitled minds at EBT News who have vested interests in presenting false narratives, this reportage gets shunted while the entire country watches a host of lies being uttered by Rajpurohit the next day that sets an incredibly wrong narrative about a grotesque crime that would go down in history as a black mark in the socio-political radar of India.
I shall not dwell on whether the mob was incited or whether they were prone to attack the Hindu pilgrims because of how most Muslims in this country have nursed hatred for them since ages. This is a debate that can go on for reams of newsprint. While the film takes an easier route out by projecting that some powerful Muslim cleric hoodwinks downtrodden from his own faith and uses them as foot soldiers to destabilise the harmonious relation between people of two religions living that time in Gujarat (there is a slight reference to the dirty play of politics as well but the movie’s aim was not to probe into that) I would reserve my thoughts on that bit. The monkey balancing is evident as the producers wouldn’t want to upset a large segment of people who would again berate the makers for presenting a divisive picture (we really can’t help if there still are those who get so rattled by the truth even today. Even the court of law has stamped on the veracity of the Nanavati Report brought out after thorough investigation) but it’s laudable that writers Arjun Bhandegaonkar and Avinash Singh Tomar stuck to a very important aspect in the film and were faithful till a logical denouement was achieved. To ensure that the audience recognizes how the 59 Hindu victims were repeatedly dehumanized for so many years during all the reportages by the severely Left leaning English media of the country. While the Lutyens Media focused constantly on villifying PM Narendra Modi (who was the then CM of Gujarat) claiming that he added fuel to the flame of communal riots that erupted in the state as an aftermath of the Godhra incident, no English newspaper, channel or other media organization allowed the names of those innocent pilgrims to be put out lest anyone would feel sorry or be sympathetic to what was done to them.
The film questions this very act of dehumanizing of the victims and does it in an extremely balanced manner without casting aspersions on any community. If you think about the several films made on how Muslims were targeted in the riots (movies such as Nandita Das’s Firaaq ensured that the audience was fed with lies and distortions through narratives that made Hindus appear as bloodthirsty fiends baying for Muslim blood) not one film dared to probe into what exactly happened on that fateful day and why did the 1000 plus Muslim mob target 59 innocent Hindu pilgrims who were returning after taking part in a religious yagna at the Ram Mandir site in Ayodhya. The film holds the Left leaning English media operating in this country accountable for spreading a washy-washy picture of the incident and proves how they never really acted judiciously or in a balanced, objective fashion. They were partial towards one community while being careless and cruel towards the other. It is not unknown that the English media of this country have been severely unfair towards the prime minister of our country because he somewhat represented the Hindu majority of the population owing to his allegiance to first the RSS and later to BJP. But because they had a personal axe to grind against PM Modi, they rubbed their pseudo secularism on our faces without any accountability, responsibility and most importantly, honesty. So rampant were the lies that living room conversations started dwelling on how BJP engineered the riots so that the economic stronghold of the Muslims who have successful businesses in Gujarat is weakened!
Even if the movie could do with better editing, I would give it to the writers for presenting an earnest and threadbare account of the Godhra carnage without mincing words on the fact that it was a well-planned conspiracy against those pilgrims in particular and a larger message of muscle-flexing against Hindus of the country in general. That certain politicians were behind this and used the assistance of Muslim henchmen and mafia leaders is alluded to. Moreover, this incident would be used by Congress leaders to incite mass acrimony against Narendra Modi is a truth the film doesn’t tackle because of obvious reasons. And yet it’s a shame that still a certain section of the English media who are funded by anti-India forces are crying hoarse about The Sabarmati Report being propagandist and divisive. Honestly, they fail to realise how irrelevant they have become in an atmosphere where reality cannot be hidden or denied anymore.
The well-made film also drives home another important point. It weakens the strong hold of English as a mass communicating tool and tries to uphold the significance of vernaculars to connect better with the people of Bharat. Vikrant Massey plays a Hindi speaking journalist in the film who is disregarded because of his inability to speak clipped English, a language that should remind every Indian of how our country suffered under the colonisers. Gradually the love for our indigenous languages dissipated as English was paraded as a tongue that you must know if you want to be regarded as an ‘educated’ and ‘knowledgeable’ one. This was a disservice to the diversity of languages India spoke. English speaking hate-mongers misused their so-called erudition to mislead masses on many occasions. This Nehruvian brand of thought is debunked in the script. As Samar Kumar slowly rises from the ashes of dejection and desperation, it is easy to cheer him for staying authentic to not only his Bharatiyata but also establish that a Hindi speaking journalist is as good or even better than an English speaking one. And in bringing out this fact, a lot of credit should go to Massey for essaying Kumar so flawlessly. There is no melodrama in his performance and yet he keeps you riveted with his histrionics on screen that becomes even more enjoyable for the witty undertones in his character. Ably supported by Rashi Khanna and Ridhi Dogra, The Sabarmati Report could be one of the most important films to have been made in 2024 or the years to come in the history of Hindi cinema.
