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New Delhi, November 10, 2026 (Yes Punjab News)
Congress Parliamentary Party Chairperson Sonia Gandhi has revisited the horrors of the 2002 Gujarat riots in her memoir Belonging: A Journey of Love, recalling her visit to relief camps and saying she was “haunted by the misery” suffered by the victims. She accused the then Narendra Modi-led state administration of failing to respond to appeals for help.
In the memoir, released on Tuesday, Gandhi recounts traveling to Ahmedabad as part of an all-party parliamentary delegation when she was Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha. She described witnessing the physical and emotional devastation caused by the violence and meeting survivors in relief camps.
“When I was leader of the opposition in Parliament, I met the victims of many tragedies, and each time I was haunted by the misery I had witnessed. In 2002 the state of Gujarat was ravaged by communal riots; much of the carnage was televised live with the advent of cable TV and shook the country with its fearful images,” she wrote.
Gandhi recalled that the violence followed the burning of four coaches of the Sabarmati Express, in which 59 pilgrims died while returning from Ayodhya. She noted that the cause of the fire remained disputed and said the violence subsequently spread to several parts of Gujarat, with Muslims overwhelmingly among the victims.
“The cause of the fire remains disputed, but the turmoil that followed spread to many parts of the state, and the victims were overwhelmingly Muslims. We watched the live reports in horror, and tried to get help to our colleagues in Gujarat who were calling us in desperation, but the administration failed to respond,” she wrote.
Recalling a visit to a relief camp crowded with traumatized men, women and children, Gandhi described a father bringing his physically weakened daughter before the visiting delegation and pleading for help. According to her account, the man alleged that his daughter had been repeatedly raped and asked the visitors to intervene.
Gandhi said the encounter left the delegation shattered and recalled being unable to speak or react beyond offering a few words of sympathy.
She also wrote that then Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee was widely expected to dismiss Modi as Gujarat Chief Minister, but reportedly faced pressure from within his party. Gandhi further recalled that the United States, the United Kingdom and some European countries had refused visas to Modi in 2005, before later welcoming him after he became Prime Minister.