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Above: Modi's Gujarat, 2002.

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Modi Magic Helps Free
All 70 Accused
In 2002 Gujarat Massacres

RAHI GAIKWAD

 

 

 




A local court in Gujarat’s Banaskantha district on Friday (February 13, 2015) acquitted all the 70 accused in the 2002 post-Godhra massacres that took place in Seshan Nava village, purportedly for what the judge termed ‘lack of evidence.’

Official figures list a total of 14 Muslims killed in the mass murder spree that broke out on March 2, 2002.

Gujarat was then under the stewardship of Chief Minister Narendra Modi. There has been considerable evidence that the massacres were conducted with his instigation, knowledge and consent. However, he has managed to evade his ‘day in court’, especially since he is now prime minister of the country.

Addition Sessions Judge V.K. Pujara -- a BJP/RSS appointee -- acquitted each of the 70 accused on the ground that the prosecution failed to present sufficient evidence on record to prove their involvement as part of the mob participating in killings.

“The eye-witnesses in the case turned hostile and the total 109 oral witnesses did not give names of the accused and did not support the complainant’s case,” additional public prosecutor D.V. Thakor said.

Eight of the accused persons died during the course of the trial. Mr. Thakor said 12 supplementary charge sheets were filed in this case.

According to prosecution’s case, an armed mob of around 5,000 Hindus laid siege to the village on March 2 in the aftermath of the Sabarmati Express train burning. They killed 14 persons of the Baloch Muslim community, including children.


[Courtesy: The Hindu Newspaper. Edited for sikhchic.com]
February 16, 2015
 

Conversation about this article

1: Kaala Singh (Punjab), February 16, 2015, 11:06 AM.

Congress or BJP, it's a fraternity of mass-murderers. The SIT for Gujarat was set up by the Congress and nothing happened while it was in power. Why would anything be done then under the BJP/RSS regime, the very authors of the massacre? Similarly, though the SIT for 1984 has now been setup by the BJP/RSS clique -- nothing having been done by the Congress Party, the orchestrators of the genocide -- rest assured nothing will still be done while these fellows are in power.

2: Harsaran Singh (Indonesia), February 17, 2015, 1:44 AM.

Just stepping in India and one can instantly feel that the country has lost its pluralistic touch. All one can hear about is Hindu revival, ghar wapsi and love jihad. Not that things were better under the Congress regime but now it has become a very open and pointed agenda for the government. The Ram Rahim episode is clear how the central government is engineering a social and communal divide in Punjab by using its Haryana counterparts to fuel discord. Otherwise, there is no reason that a person accused of murder would be thus treated as a VIP. I wonder why nobody is discussing the scourge of deras which has become the nerve centre of the country's social ills.

3: Parvinder Kohli (New Delhi, India), February 17, 2015, 8:17 AM.

It's a sad state of affairs in this country, with many an enemy of secularism and democracy all around us.

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All 70 Accused
In 2002 Gujarat Massacres"









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