Gujarat Three Years Later
On the third anniversary of the Gujarat riots, two commissions are still probing various aspects of the events, the former President has accused the former Prime Minister of culpability, many of the court prosecutions set up over the last two years are collapsing, and Narendra Modi is planning to tour the US. Meanwhile, the plight of the victims has scarcely got any better.
Early in March, the former President of India, K.R.Narayanan raised a furore by breaking his silence over the Gujarat riots. He described what has been widely known for three years now – that the state apparatus he headed was deeply implicated in the horrors that took place. He blamed the tragic course of events on a conspiracy hatched between the central government and state government of Gujarat, and has directly blamed the former Prime Minister, A.B. Vajpayee for his inaction.
As for the judicial proceedings, one of the high profile cases transferred to Maharashtra is proceeding, while another has spectacularly collapsed. Bilkis Bano, who was gang-raped while pregnant, and who’s her three year old child, mother and two sisters, and ten other family members were killed, publicly identified 12 people by name in late-February. But overall, the judicial process is once again limping along in slow motion, and frequently collapsing. Virtually nobody has been convicted or held responsible in any way for thousands of incidents of murder, rape, violent assault, arson or the destruction of property. Emblematic of this is the tragedy turned farce of Zahira Shaikh, of the infamous Best Bakery case. Twelve members of Zahira’s family were burnt alive in the Best Bakery in one of the most gruesome cases reported during the March 2002 riots. When it first came to court in mid-2003, a total 39 of a total 73 witnesses mysteriously turned “hostile” and recanted their earlier statements.
Following the ensuing public outcry, Zahira spoke out to say that she and her family had recanted because they were under heavy intimidation, and hinted at the role of a BJP legislator. As a result, the Supreme Court ordered a retrial, and relocated the proceedings from Gujarat to Mazagaon in Maharashtra, together with the Bilkis Bano case. When, after numerous suspicious delays, the retrial finally began in October 2004, there was another shock in store. Zahira Shaikh and her family recanted again, and once again, mysteriously claimed that her earlier statements and accusations were all false. A month later in December, it emerged that she had been under serious financial stress since the riots, and that a relative of the same BJP legislator had paid her Rs 18 lakhs to change her story.
Meanwhile, Gujarat’s notorious Chief Minister, Narendra Modi, whose political fortunes were rescued from the abyss by the massacres, is visiting the US in late March, and is special guest in at least two speaking engagements in Florida and New York. The Asian American Hotel Owners Association (AAHOA) has invited him as chief guest and keynote speaker in their annual convention in Fort Lauderdale, Florida on March 16-18, 2005. Later, Modi is scheduled to speak at New York’s Madison Square Garden by the Association of Indian Americans for North America.
Early in March, the former President of India, K.R.Narayanan raised a furore by breaking his silence over the Gujarat riots. He described what has been widely known for three years now – that the state apparatus he headed was deeply implicated in the horrors that took place. He blamed the tragic course of events on a conspiracy hatched between the central government and state government of Gujarat, and has directly blamed the former Prime Minister, A.B. Vajpayee for his inaction.
As for the judicial proceedings, one of the high profile cases transferred to Maharashtra is proceeding, while another has spectacularly collapsed. Bilkis Bano, who was gang-raped while pregnant, and who’s her three year old child, mother and two sisters, and ten other family members were killed, publicly identified 12 people by name in late-February. But overall, the judicial process is once again limping along in slow motion, and frequently collapsing. Virtually nobody has been convicted or held responsible in any way for thousands of incidents of murder, rape, violent assault, arson or the destruction of property. Emblematic of this is the tragedy turned farce of Zahira Shaikh, of the infamous Best Bakery case. Twelve members of Zahira’s family were burnt alive in the Best Bakery in one of the most gruesome cases reported during the March 2002 riots. When it first came to court in mid-2003, a total 39 of a total 73 witnesses mysteriously turned “hostile” and recanted their earlier statements.
Following the ensuing public outcry, Zahira spoke out to say that she and her family had recanted because they were under heavy intimidation, and hinted at the role of a BJP legislator. As a result, the Supreme Court ordered a retrial, and relocated the proceedings from Gujarat to Mazagaon in Maharashtra, together with the Bilkis Bano case. When, after numerous suspicious delays, the retrial finally began in October 2004, there was another shock in store. Zahira Shaikh and her family recanted again, and once again, mysteriously claimed that her earlier statements and accusations were all false. A month later in December, it emerged that she had been under serious financial stress since the riots, and that a relative of the same BJP legislator had paid her Rs 18 lakhs to change her story.
Meanwhile, Gujarat’s notorious Chief Minister, Narendra Modi, whose political fortunes were rescued from the abyss by the massacres, is visiting the US in late March, and is special guest in at least two speaking engagements in Florida and New York. The Asian American Hotel Owners Association (AAHOA) has invited him as chief guest and keynote speaker in their annual convention in Fort Lauderdale, Florida on March 16-18, 2005. Later, Modi is scheduled to speak at New York’s Madison Square Garden by the Association of Indian Americans for North America.
posted by charcha-editor at 01:14
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home