You can't use an old map to explore a new world

Opportunities are never lost; someone will take the ones you miss. Even if they emerge on the back of a gruesome tragedy.

- 

Imagine what would be the history of Indian politics if the nine railway policemen who failed to board the Sabarmati Express February 27, 2002, had actually done so. Their failure changed the course of history, besides leaving them groveling for their jobs with the Gujarat High Court dismissing their pleas for reinstatement May 2, 2025. Earlier, following an inquiry these nine personnel were first suspended and then 'removed from service' by the Gujarat government in 2005 for negligence in their duties. They subsequently challenged the government order in the High Court but to no avail.

This case will long figure in the annals of Indian history. The nine constables were assigned on patrolling duty on the Sabarmati Express between Dahod and Ahmedabad on the fateful night but returned early to Ahmedabad as the train in question was running inordinately late. It was this Sabarmati Express whose bogie number S-6 was torched near Godhra railway station by a stone pelting mob killing 59 passengers on their way back from Ayodhya. The incident occurred in the morning of February 27, 2002 triggering a chain of events in Gujarat and sparked extended statewide communal violence. The cops in question were dismissed from service for negligence, carelessness and dereliction of duty.