News Analysis India

Tag: Gujarat riots

  • Life on the other side: 20 years after train carnage, communal fissures run deep in Godhra

    By PTI

    GODHRA: A road cleaves through, marking the divide between Muslim-dominated areas and Hindu-majority localities, a metaphor perhaps for communal fissures that run deep in a town that instantly recalls the 2002 Gujarat riots.

    Twenty years after the burning of a train in Godhra killed 59 ‘karsevaks’ and triggered one of India’s worst post-Partition riots, the poll-scape reflects the yawning gulf between the two communities.

    While several minority community residents complain of no development in their localities, people from other areas of the city admit to problems but say they will vote on the issue of Hindutva and Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s popularity.

    Corruption, rising unemployment and anti-incumbency against the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) that has been ruling the state for 27 years remain major issues in this sensitive constituency. However, Hindutva and Modi are determining factors and may triumph over them all.ALSO READ | Taught a lesson to 2002 rioters, says Amit Shah

    The road cuts through Patelwada and Polan Bazaar area near Rani Masjid, the former home to most Hindus and other communities and the latter dominated by Muslims.

    And the differences are visible.

    Polan Bazaar and its surrounding areas are crisscrossed by potholed, shoddily patchworked roads, garbage piled up on the sides and a choked drain winding through a distance away.

    The roads on the other side of the Muslim ghetto are wide.

    The Gujarat Industrial Development Corporation (GIDC) houses small industrial units. There is also a theatre, a Pantaloon showroom, and car showrooms.

    “There are no banks, ATMs, playgrounds on our side of town,” Ishak Bokda, a supporter of the All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen’s (AIMIM), told PTI.

    “Development has always been on the other side dominated by Hindus and other communities,” added Faisal Suleja, AIMIM’s councillor. The Asaduddin Owaisi-led AIMIM stunned everyone last year by bagging seven seats in the 44-member civic body.

    Godhra has around 2,79,000 voters. Of these, 72,000 are in the Muslim-dominated area.

    As the campaign picks up for the 182-member Assembly elections being held over two phases on December 1 and 5, most bets are on BJP’s sitting MLA C K Raulji who has been representing Godhra since 2007 — from 2007 to 2016 as part of the Congress and the saffron party since 2017.

    Against him are the Congress’ Rashmitaben Chauhan, new entrant Aam Aadmi Party’s (AAP) Rajeshbhai Patel and AIMIM’s Shabbir Kachba who is seeking to cement the gains made by the party in the civic polls last year.

    Kachba, a 33-year-old local imam, accused Raulji of not addressing the issues faced by the constituency, which votes in the second phase.

    “More importantly, how can a person who called Bilkis Bano case convicts ‘sanskari’ be elected,” he said, referring to Raulji’s comments on those convicted in the 2002 gangrape and murder case. They have now been freed.

    According to Raulji, his main agenda will be to fully implement the projects started in 2017, including a 400-bed medical college and an irrigation project for 104 villages.

    The pandemic, lack of opportunities and development are a constant concern.

    No riots have been reported after 2002 from this town in the Panchmahal district of Gujarat which has had a chequered history of communal riots since Independence.

    The polarisation is evident. Many expressed their disappointment with the ruling BJP but said they would again vote for the party.

    Manish Shah, 48, a restaurateur and real estate developer who lost his mother to Covid and said lack of major industries and corruption are major issues in Godhra.

    “But we will vote on the issue of Hindutva and Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s popularity,” Shah told PTI. Shah said he owned an oil depot on a road that borders the Muslim area of the city but sold his property in 2011 and ventured into real estate.

    His business partner Indubhai Bhojwani, 53, said corruption is an issue “but the safety of Hindus is an important factor.”

    Mukeshbhai Relwani, 47, who owns a paan shop at Lalbaug Chowk said he will “bleed lotus (the symbol of BJP)” if his vein is cut. “That (the other side where the Muslims reside) is mini-Pakistan. My vote will be for Hindutva,” he said reflecting the distrust between the two communities.ALSO READ | No material to support 2002 Godhra riots were pre-planned events: SC

    However, Relwani also said the BJP would have been certainly defeated if the opposition had fielded stronger candidates.

    “There is no option,” said a businessman on condition of anonymity.

    Harin Patel, 43, who is into mining said he had to send his son away to study engineering because Godhra lacks colleges that provide quality education.

    Some in the younger lot spoke of their willingness to give the Arvind Kejriwal-led AAP a chance. Primary factors, they said, were unemployment and lack of opportunities.

    Deepak Padhiyar, 19, a second-year student at the Seth PT Arts and Science and Law College said he had applied for the post of a police constable but could not clear the written exam but his quest for a better life will continue.

    His father is a cobbler with the State Reserve Police Force and his mother is a homemaker who also takes care of their footwear shop.

    “There is hardly any income from the shop. Now I want to apply for the post of Talati (revenue officer). This time my preference will be to AAP,” Padhiyar said, citing the ‘Delhi model of governance’.

    Srimali Kirit (22), a first-year law student, claimed unemployment is a crucial factor here.

    “This (BJP) government is emphasising on contractual workers who have no pension. There is need for government jobs with the implementation of the old pension scheme that will give workers protection after retirement,” Kirit said.

    Kirit said his father is no more and his mother gets a pension of Rs 12,000 and another pension of Rs 1,200 under a central scheme for widows, not enough for the family to sustain their livelihood.

    The AAP has been pushing for the old pension scheme (OPS) in Gujarat if it is voted to power.

    The Gujarat government introduced a new contributory pension scheme for employees joining the service on or after April 1, 2005. According to the notification, it will make a matching contribution of 10 per cent of the basic pay plus dearness allowance contributed by the employees in the NPS fund.

    Under the Centre’s scheme, the government will contribute 14 per cent against an employee’s contribution of 10 per cent of his/her salary and DA with effect from April 1, 2019.

    After protests by employees, the state government said the new pension will not be applicable to those employees who had joined duty before April 2005.

    It also promised to increase its contribution to the fund to 14 per cent from 10 per cent earlier.

    The employees have staged massive agitations against the government in Gujarat while demanding restoration of the OPS because they believe the NPS is not in the interest of retiring employees.

    GODHRA: A road cleaves through, marking the divide between Muslim-dominated areas and Hindu-majority localities, a metaphor perhaps for communal fissures that run deep in a town that instantly recalls the 2002 Gujarat riots.

    Twenty years after the burning of a train in Godhra killed 59 ‘karsevaks’ and triggered one of India’s worst post-Partition riots, the poll-scape reflects the yawning gulf between the two communities.

    While several minority community residents complain of no development in their localities, people from other areas of the city admit to problems but say they will vote on the issue of Hindutva and Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s popularity.

    Corruption, rising unemployment and anti-incumbency against the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) that has been ruling the state for 27 years remain major issues in this sensitive constituency. However, Hindutva and Modi are determining factors and may triumph over them all.ALSO READ | Taught a lesson to 2002 rioters, says Amit Shah

    The road cuts through Patelwada and Polan Bazaar area near Rani Masjid, the former home to most Hindus and other communities and the latter dominated by Muslims.

    And the differences are visible.

    Polan Bazaar and its surrounding areas are crisscrossed by potholed, shoddily patchworked roads, garbage piled up on the sides and a choked drain winding through a distance away.

    The roads on the other side of the Muslim ghetto are wide.

    The Gujarat Industrial Development Corporation (GIDC) houses small industrial units. There is also a theatre, a Pantaloon showroom, and car showrooms.

    “There are no banks, ATMs, playgrounds on our side of town,” Ishak Bokda, a supporter of the All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen’s (AIMIM), told PTI.

    “Development has always been on the other side dominated by Hindus and other communities,” added Faisal Suleja, AIMIM’s councillor. The Asaduddin Owaisi-led AIMIM stunned everyone last year by bagging seven seats in the 44-member civic body.

    Godhra has around 2,79,000 voters. Of these, 72,000 are in the Muslim-dominated area.

    As the campaign picks up for the 182-member Assembly elections being held over two phases on December 1 and 5, most bets are on BJP’s sitting MLA C K Raulji who has been representing Godhra since 2007 — from 2007 to 2016 as part of the Congress and the saffron party since 2017.

    Against him are the Congress’ Rashmitaben Chauhan, new entrant Aam Aadmi Party’s (AAP) Rajeshbhai Patel and AIMIM’s Shabbir Kachba who is seeking to cement the gains made by the party in the civic polls last year.

    Kachba, a 33-year-old local imam, accused Raulji of not addressing the issues faced by the constituency, which votes in the second phase.

    “More importantly, how can a person who called Bilkis Bano case convicts ‘sanskari’ be elected,” he said, referring to Raulji’s comments on those convicted in the 2002 gangrape and murder case. They have now been freed.

    According to Raulji, his main agenda will be to fully implement the projects started in 2017, including a 400-bed medical college and an irrigation project for 104 villages.

    The pandemic, lack of opportunities and development are a constant concern.

    No riots have been reported after 2002 from this town in the Panchmahal district of Gujarat which has had a chequered history of communal riots since Independence.

    The polarisation is evident. Many expressed their disappointment with the ruling BJP but said they would again vote for the party.

    Manish Shah, 48, a restaurateur and real estate developer who lost his mother to Covid and said lack of major industries and corruption are major issues in Godhra.

    “But we will vote on the issue of Hindutva and Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s popularity,” Shah told PTI. Shah said he owned an oil depot on a road that borders the Muslim area of the city but sold his property in 2011 and ventured into real estate.

    His business partner Indubhai Bhojwani, 53, said corruption is an issue “but the safety of Hindus is an important factor.”

    Mukeshbhai Relwani, 47, who owns a paan shop at Lalbaug Chowk said he will “bleed lotus (the symbol of BJP)” if his vein is cut. “That (the other side where the Muslims reside) is mini-Pakistan. My vote will be for Hindutva,” he said reflecting the distrust between the two communities.ALSO READ | No material to support 2002 Godhra riots were pre-planned events: SC

    However, Relwani also said the BJP would have been certainly defeated if the opposition had fielded stronger candidates.

    “There is no option,” said a businessman on condition of anonymity.

    Harin Patel, 43, who is into mining said he had to send his son away to study engineering because Godhra lacks colleges that provide quality education.

    Some in the younger lot spoke of their willingness to give the Arvind Kejriwal-led AAP a chance. Primary factors, they said, were unemployment and lack of opportunities.

    Deepak Padhiyar, 19, a second-year student at the Seth PT Arts and Science and Law College said he had applied for the post of a police constable but could not clear the written exam but his quest for a better life will continue.

    His father is a cobbler with the State Reserve Police Force and his mother is a homemaker who also takes care of their footwear shop.

    “There is hardly any income from the shop. Now I want to apply for the post of Talati (revenue officer). This time my preference will be to AAP,” Padhiyar said, citing the ‘Delhi model of governance’.

    Srimali Kirit (22), a first-year law student, claimed unemployment is a crucial factor here.

    “This (BJP) government is emphasising on contractual workers who have no pension. There is need for government jobs with the implementation of the old pension scheme that will give workers protection after retirement,” Kirit said.

    Kirit said his father is no more and his mother gets a pension of Rs 12,000 and another pension of Rs 1,200 under a central scheme for widows, not enough for the family to sustain their livelihood.

    The AAP has been pushing for the old pension scheme (OPS) in Gujarat if it is voted to power.

    The Gujarat government introduced a new contributory pension scheme for employees joining the service on or after April 1, 2005. According to the notification, it will make a matching contribution of 10 per cent of the basic pay plus dearness allowance contributed by the employees in the NPS fund.

    Under the Centre’s scheme, the government will contribute 14 per cent against an employee’s contribution of 10 per cent of his/her salary and DA with effect from April 1, 2019.

    After protests by employees, the state government said the new pension will not be applicable to those employees who had joined duty before April 2005.

    It also promised to increase its contribution to the fund to 14 per cent from 10 per cent earlier.

    The employees have staged massive agitations against the government in Gujarat while demanding restoration of the OPS because they believe the NPS is not in the interest of retiring employees.

  • SIT files charge sheet against Teesta Setalvad, two others in Gujarat riots case

    By PTI

    AHMEDABAD: A special investigation team (SIT) on Wednesday submitted a charge sheet against activist Teesta Setalvad, retired Director General of Police R B Sreekumar and former IPS officer Sanjiv Bhatt in a case of alleged fabrication of evidence in connection with the 2002 Gujarat riots cases.

    Investigating Officer and Assistant Commissioner of Police B V Solanki told PTI that the charge sheet was filed in the court of the chief metropolitan magistrate here.

    Former IPS officer-turned-lawyer Rahul Sharma has also been made a witness in the case, he added.

    The crime branch FIR reportedly states that the trio abused the process of law by conspiring to fabricate evidence in an attempt to frame innocent people for an offence punishable with capital punishment in connection with the 2002 Gujarat riots.

    The accused have been charged under sections 468 (forgery for purpose of cheating), 194 (giving or fabricating false evidence with intent to procure conviction for capital offence) and 218 (public servant framing incorrect record or writing with intent to save person from punishment or property from forfeiture) of the IPC, among other provisions.

    ALSO READ | 2002 Gujarat riots: Activist Teesta Setalvad walks out of jail after over two months

    Setalvad, arrested in the last week of June, was released on interim bail following a September 2 order of the Supreme Court.

    Sreekumar remains lodged in the jail in the case.

    The third accused, Bhatt is in a jail in Palanpur where he is serving life sentence in a custodial death case.

    AHMEDABAD: A special investigation team (SIT) on Wednesday submitted a charge sheet against activist Teesta Setalvad, retired Director General of Police R B Sreekumar and former IPS officer Sanjiv Bhatt in a case of alleged fabrication of evidence in connection with the 2002 Gujarat riots cases.

    Investigating Officer and Assistant Commissioner of Police B V Solanki told PTI that the charge sheet was filed in the court of the chief metropolitan magistrate here.

    Former IPS officer-turned-lawyer Rahul Sharma has also been made a witness in the case, he added.

    The crime branch FIR reportedly states that the trio abused the process of law by conspiring to fabricate evidence in an attempt to frame innocent people for an offence punishable with capital punishment in connection with the 2002 Gujarat riots.

    The accused have been charged under sections 468 (forgery for purpose of cheating), 194 (giving or fabricating false evidence with intent to procure conviction for capital offence) and 218 (public servant framing incorrect record or writing with intent to save person from punishment or property from forfeiture) of the IPC, among other provisions.

    ALSO READ | 2002 Gujarat riots: Activist Teesta Setalvad walks out of jail after over two months

    Setalvad, arrested in the last week of June, was released on interim bail following a September 2 order of the Supreme Court.

    Sreekumar remains lodged in the jail in the case.

    The third accused, Bhatt is in a jail in Palanpur where he is serving life sentence in a custodial death case.

  • Will Bilkis Bano’s rapists go back to prison?  SC to hear plea against Gujarat government’s remission order on Thursday

    By Online Desk

    The Supreme Court on Thursday will hear a PIL filed by social activist Subhashini Ali, journalist Revati Laul and professor Roop Rekha Verma challenging the remission granted to the 11 convicts in the Bilkis Bano case.

    The petition wherein the activists had sought for production as well as setting aside of the remission order dated August 15, 2022, passed by the Government of Gujarat and directing immediate re-arrest of the convicts was mentioned by Senior Advocate Kapil Sibal and Advocate Aparna Bhat before the bench of CJI NV Ramana, Justices Hima Kohli and CT Ravikumar.

    Sibal submitted that challenge was only preferred against the remission order granted to the 11 persons and not the Supreme Court’s order which had held that Gujarat Government was the appropriate government to consider the remission in the case.

    “We’re challenging the remission order granted to 11 persons who were convicted for killing 14 persons. The Supreme Court order is fine. Pregnant women were raped & killed,” Sibal said.

    Bhat also urged the bench to consider the matter tomorrow. Considering the submission, CJI said, “We will see”.

    The 11 convicts who were freed were sentenced to life imprisonment for gang rape and murder of multiple people during the Godhra riots in 2002 by the Sessions Court.

    Their conviction was even upheld in 2017 by the Gujarat HC. Bilkis Bano who was pregnant at the time was gang raped and her three-year-old daughter was killed by a mob during the violence that broke across the state after Sabarmati Express was attacked in Godhra.

    It has been argued in the petition that the competent authority was not an authority which was entirely independent and one that could apply its mind to the facts.

    “It would appear that the constitution of members of the competent authority of the State of Gujarat, also bore allegiance to a political party, and also were sitting MLAs. As such, it would appear that the competent authority was not an authority that was entirely independent, and one that could independently apply its mind to the facts at hand,” plea stated.

    Activists in the plea have also argued that no right thinking authority applying any test under any extant policy would consider it fit to grant remission to persons who were found to have been involved in the commission of such gruesome acts.

    (With Inputs from ENS’ Shruti Kakkar)

    The Supreme Court on Thursday will hear a PIL filed by social activist Subhashini Ali, journalist Revati Laul and professor Roop Rekha Verma challenging the remission granted to the 11 convicts in the Bilkis Bano case.

    The petition wherein the activists had sought for production as well as setting aside of the remission order dated August 15, 2022, passed by the Government of Gujarat and directing immediate re-arrest of the convicts was mentioned by Senior Advocate Kapil Sibal and Advocate Aparna Bhat before the bench of CJI NV Ramana, Justices Hima Kohli and CT Ravikumar.

    Sibal submitted that challenge was only preferred against the remission order granted to the 11 persons and not the Supreme Court’s order which had held that Gujarat Government was the appropriate government to consider the remission in the case.

    “We’re challenging the remission order granted to 11 persons who were convicted for killing 14 persons. The Supreme Court order is fine. Pregnant women were raped & killed,” Sibal said.

    Bhat also urged the bench to consider the matter tomorrow. Considering the submission, CJI said, “We will see”.

    The 11 convicts who were freed were sentenced to life imprisonment for gang rape and murder of multiple people during the Godhra riots in 2002 by the Sessions Court.

    Their conviction was even upheld in 2017 by the Gujarat HC. Bilkis Bano who was pregnant at the time was gang raped and her three-year-old daughter was killed by a mob during the violence that broke across the state after Sabarmati Express was attacked in Godhra.

    It has been argued in the petition that the competent authority was not an authority which was entirely independent and one that could apply its mind to the facts.

    “It would appear that the constitution of members of the competent authority of the State of Gujarat, also bore allegiance to a political party, and also were sitting MLAs. As such, it would appear that the competent authority was not an authority that was entirely independent, and one that could independently apply its mind to the facts at hand,” plea stated.

    Activists in the plea have also argued that no right thinking authority applying any test under any extant policy would consider it fit to grant remission to persons who were found to have been involved in the commission of such gruesome acts.

    (With Inputs from ENS’ Shruti Kakkar)

  • Bilkis Bano case: SC to hear plea against relief to 11 gangrape convicts

    Express News Service

    CHENNAI: The Supreme Court on Tuesday agreed to consider listing of the PIL filed by social activist Subhashini Ali, journalist Revati Laul and professor Roop Rekha Verma challenging the remission granted to the 11 convicts in the Bilkis Bano case.

    The petition wherein the activists had sought for production as well as setting aside of the remission order dated August 15, 2022 passed by the Government of Gujarat and directing immediate re arrest of the convicts was mentioned by Senior Advocate Kapil Sibal and Advocate Aparna Bhat before the bench of CJI NV Ramana, Justices Hima Kohli and CT Ravikumar.

    Sibal submitted that challenge was only preferred against the remission order granted to the 11 persons and not the Supreme Court’s order which had held that Gujarat Government was the appropriate government to consider the remission in the case.

    “We’re challenging the remission order granted to 11 persons who were convicted for killing 14 persons. The Supreme Court order is fine. Pregnant women were raped & killed,” Sibal said. Bhat also urged the bench to consider the matter tomorrow.Considering the submission, CJI said, “We will see”.

    The 11 convicts who were freed were sentenced to life imprisonment for gang rape and murder of multiple people during the Godhra riots in 2002 by the Sessions Court. Their conviction was even upheld in 2017 by the Gujarat HC. Bilkis Bano who was pregnant at the time was gang raped and her 3 year old daughter was killed by a mob during the violence that broke across the state after Sabarmati Express was attacked in Godhra.

    It has been argued in the petition that the competent authority was not an authority which was entirely independent and the one that could apply its mind to the facts.“It would appear that the constitution of members of the competent authority of the State of Gujarat, also bore allegiance to a political party, and also were sitting MLAs. As such, it would appear that the competent authority was not an authority that was entirely independent, and one that could independently apply its mind to the facts at hand,” plea stated.

    Activists in the plea have also argued that no right thinking authority applying any test under any extant policy would consider it fit to grant remission to persons who were found to have been involved in the commission of such gruesome acts.

    CHENNAI: The Supreme Court on Tuesday agreed to consider listing of the PIL filed by social activist Subhashini Ali, journalist Revati Laul and professor Roop Rekha Verma challenging the remission granted to the 11 convicts in the Bilkis Bano case.

    The petition wherein the activists had sought for production as well as setting aside of the remission order dated August 15, 2022 passed by the Government of Gujarat and directing immediate re arrest of the convicts was mentioned by Senior Advocate Kapil Sibal and Advocate Aparna Bhat before the bench of CJI NV Ramana, Justices Hima Kohli and CT Ravikumar.

    Sibal submitted that challenge was only preferred against the remission order granted to the 11 persons and not the Supreme Court’s order which had held that Gujarat Government was the appropriate government to consider the remission in the case.

    “We’re challenging the remission order granted to 11 persons who were convicted for killing 14 persons. The Supreme Court order is fine. Pregnant women were raped & killed,” Sibal said. Bhat also urged the bench to consider the matter tomorrow.Considering the submission, CJI said, “We will see”.

    The 11 convicts who were freed were sentenced to life imprisonment for gang rape and murder of multiple people during the Godhra riots in 2002 by the Sessions Court. Their conviction was even upheld in 2017 by the Gujarat HC. Bilkis Bano who was pregnant at the time was gang raped and her 3 year old daughter was killed by a mob during the violence that broke across the state after Sabarmati Express was attacked in Godhra.

    It has been argued in the petition that the competent authority was not an authority which was entirely independent and the one that could apply its mind to the facts.“It would appear that the constitution of members of the competent authority of the State of Gujarat, also bore allegiance to a political party, and also were sitting MLAs. As such, it would appear that the competent authority was not an authority that was entirely independent, and one that could independently apply its mind to the facts at hand,” plea stated.

    Activists in the plea have also argued that no right thinking authority applying any test under any extant policy would consider it fit to grant remission to persons who were found to have been involved in the commission of such gruesome acts.

  • ‘I’m Still Numb,’ says Bilkis Bano on release of 11 convicts

    By Online Desk

    The survivor of one of the most horrific rape cases during the 2002 Gujarat riots, Bilkis Bano, has said the release of the 11 rapists has “shaken” her faith in justice.

    Her first statement since the release of the convicts two days ago hinted at a sense of deep hurt and betrayal.

    “How can justice for any woman end like this? I trusted the highest courts in our land. I trusted the system, and I was learning slowly to live with my trauma… My sorrow and my wavering faith is not for myself alone but for every woman who is struggling for justice in courts,” said Bilkis in the statement.

    The 11 convicts on Monday walked out of the Godhra sub-jail after the Gujarat government allowed their release under its remission policy. Her statement hinted at the shock of the government’s move without her consultation.

    “No one enquired about my safety and well-being, before taking such a big and unjust decision,” she said.

    “Give me back my right to live without fear and in peace. Please ensure that my family and I are kept safe,” the statement read.

    Bilkis Bano was 21 when she witnessed the murder of seven members of her family, including her three-year-old daughter. Seven other relatives, who she says were also killed, were declared “missing”.

    A special Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) court in Mumbai on January 21, 2008, sentenced the 11 accused to life imprisonment on the charge of gang rape and murder of seven members of Bilkis Bano’s family.

    Their conviction was later upheld by the Bombay High Court.

    The rapists walked free on Monday and were greeted with sweets, hugs and garlands by groups linked to the ruling BJP.

    Opposition parties targeted Prime Minister Narendra Modi over the release of the convicts in the Bilkis Bano case with Rahul Gandhi saying the entire country is seeing the difference between the PM’s words and deeds.

    The Congress also asked whether it was possible for the Gujarat government to approve early release of the convicts without the knowledge and approval of Prime Minister Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah.

    (With inputs from PTI)

    The survivor of one of the most horrific rape cases during the 2002 Gujarat riots, Bilkis Bano, has said the release of the 11 rapists has “shaken” her faith in justice.

    Her first statement since the release of the convicts two days ago hinted at a sense of deep hurt and betrayal.

    “How can justice for any woman end like this? I trusted the highest courts in our land. I trusted the system, and I was learning slowly to live with my trauma… My sorrow and my wavering faith is not for myself alone but for every woman who is struggling for justice in courts,” said Bilkis in the statement.

    The 11 convicts on Monday walked out of the Godhra sub-jail after the Gujarat government allowed their release under its remission policy. Her statement hinted at the shock of the government’s move without her consultation.

    “No one enquired about my safety and well-being, before taking such a big and unjust decision,” she said.

    “Give me back my right to live without fear and in peace. Please ensure that my family and I are kept safe,” the statement read.

    Bilkis Bano was 21 when she witnessed the murder of seven members of her family, including her three-year-old daughter. Seven other relatives, who she says were also killed, were declared “missing”.

    A special Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) court in Mumbai on January 21, 2008, sentenced the 11 accused to life imprisonment on the charge of gang rape and murder of seven members of Bilkis Bano’s family.

    Their conviction was later upheld by the Bombay High Court.

    The rapists walked free on Monday and were greeted with sweets, hugs and garlands by groups linked to the ruling BJP.

    Opposition parties targeted Prime Minister Narendra Modi over the release of the convicts in the Bilkis Bano case with Rahul Gandhi saying the entire country is seeing the difference between the PM’s words and deeds.

    The Congress also asked whether it was possible for the Gujarat government to approve early release of the convicts without the knowledge and approval of Prime Minister Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah.

    (With inputs from PTI)

  • Gujarat court quashes bail plea of Teesta Setalvad, Sreekumar in ‘fabrication of evidence’ case

    By PTI

    AHMEDABAD: A sessions court in Ahmedabad on Saturday refused bail to activist Teesta Setalvad and former Director General of Police R B Sreekumar, arrested for allegedly fabricating evidence to frame innocent people in the 2002 Gujarat riots cases.

    Additional principal judge D D Thakkar said that both the bail applications were being rejected.

    Setalvad and Sreekumar were arrested by the city crime branch around a month ago on the basis of a First Information Report registered against them under Indian Penal Code sections 468 (forgery for purpose of cheating) and 194 (giving or fabricating false evidence with intent to procure conviction for capital offence).

    The Special Investigation Team formed to probe the case alleged that the duo were part of a larger conspiracy carried out at the behest of late Congress leader Ahmed Patel to destabilise the Gujarat government led by then chief minister Narendra Modi.

    Setalvad was paid Rs 30 lakh at Patel’s behest soon after the Godhra train burning incident of 2002, the SIT alleged.

    Sreekumar was a “disgruntled government officer” who “abused the process for damning the elected representatives, bureaucracy and police administration of the whole state of Gujarat for ulterior purposes”, the SIT claimed.

    AHMEDABAD: A sessions court in Ahmedabad on Saturday refused bail to activist Teesta Setalvad and former Director General of Police R B Sreekumar, arrested for allegedly fabricating evidence to frame innocent people in the 2002 Gujarat riots cases.

    Additional principal judge D D Thakkar said that both the bail applications were being rejected.

    Setalvad and Sreekumar were arrested by the city crime branch around a month ago on the basis of a First Information Report registered against them under Indian Penal Code sections 468 (forgery for purpose of cheating) and 194 (giving or fabricating false evidence with intent to procure conviction for capital offence).

    The Special Investigation Team formed to probe the case alleged that the duo were part of a larger conspiracy carried out at the behest of late Congress leader Ahmed Patel to destabilise the Gujarat government led by then chief minister Narendra Modi.

    Setalvad was paid Rs 30 lakh at Patel’s behest soon after the Godhra train burning incident of 2002, the SIT alleged.

    Sreekumar was a “disgruntled government officer” who “abused the process for damning the elected representatives, bureaucracy and police administration of the whole state of Gujarat for ulterior purposes”, the SIT claimed.

  • ‘SIT dancing to tune of its political master’: Congress on allegations against Ahmed Patel

    By ANI

    NEW DELHI: The Congress on Saturday dismissed as “mischievous and manufactured”, Gujarat police SIT’s charges that its leader Ahmed Patel had financed civil rights activist Teesta Setalvad and hatched a conspiracy to dislodge the then Chief Minister Narendra Modi-led state government.

    “This is part of the Prime Minister’s systematic strategy to absolve himself of any responsibility for the communal carnage unleashed when he was chief minister of Gujarat in 2002. It was his unwillingness and incapacity to control this carnage that had led the-then Prime Minister of India Atal Bihari Vajpayee to remind the chief minister of his rajdharma,” Congress General Secretary Jairam Ramesh said.

    The statement said that this is Prime Minister’s political vendetta machine which does not even spare the departed who were his political adversaries.

    “This SIT is dancing to the tune of its political master and will sit wherever it is told to. We know how an earlier SIT chief was rewarded with a diplomatic assignment after he had given a ‘clean chit’ to the chief minister,” Jairam said.

    He said giving judgment through press, in an ongoing judicial process, through puppet investigative agencies who trumpet wild allegations as supposed findings, has been the hallmark of the Modi-Shah duo’s tactics for years.

    “This is nothing but another example of the same, with the added object of vilifying a deceased person since he is obviously unable and unavailable to refute such brazen lies.”

    NEW DELHI: The Congress on Saturday dismissed as “mischievous and manufactured”, Gujarat police SIT’s charges that its leader Ahmed Patel had financed civil rights activist Teesta Setalvad and hatched a conspiracy to dislodge the then Chief Minister Narendra Modi-led state government.

    “This is part of the Prime Minister’s systematic strategy to absolve himself of any responsibility for the communal carnage unleashed when he was chief minister of Gujarat in 2002. It was his unwillingness and incapacity to control this carnage that had led the-then Prime Minister of India Atal Bihari Vajpayee to remind the chief minister of his rajdharma,” Congress General Secretary Jairam Ramesh said.

    The statement said that this is Prime Minister’s political vendetta machine which does not even spare the departed who were his political adversaries.

    “This SIT is dancing to the tune of its political master and will sit wherever it is told to. We know how an earlier SIT chief was rewarded with a diplomatic assignment after he had given a ‘clean chit’ to the chief minister,” Jairam said.

    He said giving judgment through press, in an ongoing judicial process, through puppet investigative agencies who trumpet wild allegations as supposed findings, has been the hallmark of the Modi-Shah duo’s tactics for years.

    “This is nothing but another example of the same, with the added object of vilifying a deceased person since he is obviously unable and unavailable to refute such brazen lies.”

  • 2002 Gujarat riots: SIT’s charges against Ahmed Patel manufactured, mischievous, says Congress

    By Agencies

    NEW DELHI: The Congress on Saturday dismissed as “mischievous and manufactured”, Gujarat police SIT’s charges that its leader Ahmed Patel had financed civil rights activist Teesta Setalvad and hatched a conspiracy to dislodge the then Chief Minister Narendra Modi-led state government.

    “This is part of the Prime Minister’s systematic strategy to absolve himself of any responsibility for the communal carnage unleashed when he was chief minister of Gujarat in 2002. It was his unwillingness and incapacity to control this carnage that had led the-then Prime Minister of India Atal Bihari Vajpayee to remind the chief minister of his ‘rajdharma’,” Congress General Secretary Jairam Ramesh said.

    The statement said that this is Prime Minister’s political vendetta machine which does not even spare the departed who were his political adversaries.

    “This SIT is dancing to the tune of its political master and will sit wherever it is told to. We know how an earlier SIT chief was rewarded with a diplomatic assignment after he had given a ‘clean chit’ to the chief minister,” Jairam said.

    He said giving judgment through press, in an ongoing judicial process, through puppet investigative agencies who trumpet wild allegations as supposed findings, has been the hallmark of the Modi-Shah duo’s tactics for years.

    “This is nothing but another example of the same, with the added object of vilifying a deceased person since he is obviously unable and unavailable to refute such brazen lies.”

    Setalvad has been arrested, along with former IPS officers R B Sreekumar and Sanjiv Bhatt, for allegedly fabricating evidence to frame innocent people in the Gujarat riots case.

    Citing the statements of a witness, the SIT HAD said the conspiracy was carried out at the behest of late Ahmed Patel. At Patel’s behest, Setalvad received Rs 30 lakh after post-Godhra riots in 2002, it alleged.

    Setalvad used to meet the leaders of a “prominent national party in power at that time in Delhi to implicate names of senior leaders of the BJP government in riot cases,” the SIT further claimed.

    It cited another witness to claim that Setalvad in 2006 had asked a Congress leader why the party was giving “chance to only Shabana and Javed” and not making her a member of the Rajya Sabha.

    Last month, the Supreme Court dismissed the plea filed by Zakia Jafri, widow of former Congress MP Ehsan Jafri, challenging the clean chit given by the Special Investigation Team (SIT) to then Chief Minister Narendra Modi and several others in the 2002 Gujarat riots.

    Ehsan Jafri was among 69 people killed during violence at the Gulbarg Society in Ahmedabad on February 28, 2002. His widow Zakia Jafri challenged the SIT’s clean chit to 64 people including Narendra Modi who was Chief Minister of Gujarat at the time.

    After 58 pilgrims were burnt alive on the Sabarmati Express train at Gujarat’s Godhra Railway Station on February 27, 2002, riots broke out across the state in which more than 1,000 people were killed. (ANI)

    ALSO READ | Pinarayi flays Congress’ ‘silence’ on arrests of RB Sreekumar, Teesta Setalvad

    (With online desk inputs)

    NEW DELHI: The Congress on Saturday dismissed as “mischievous and manufactured”, Gujarat police SIT’s charges that its leader Ahmed Patel had financed civil rights activist Teesta Setalvad and hatched a conspiracy to dislodge the then Chief Minister Narendra Modi-led state government.

    “This is part of the Prime Minister’s systematic strategy to absolve himself of any responsibility for the communal carnage unleashed when he was chief minister of Gujarat in 2002. It was his unwillingness and incapacity to control this carnage that had led the-then Prime Minister of India Atal Bihari Vajpayee to remind the chief minister of his ‘rajdharma’,” Congress General Secretary Jairam Ramesh said.

    The statement said that this is Prime Minister’s political vendetta machine which does not even spare the departed who were his political adversaries.

    “This SIT is dancing to the tune of its political master and will sit wherever it is told to. We know how an earlier SIT chief was rewarded with a diplomatic assignment after he had given a ‘clean chit’ to the chief minister,” Jairam said.

    He said giving judgment through press, in an ongoing judicial process, through puppet investigative agencies who trumpet wild allegations as supposed findings, has been the hallmark of the Modi-Shah duo’s tactics for years.

    “This is nothing but another example of the same, with the added object of vilifying a deceased person since he is obviously unable and unavailable to refute such brazen lies.”

    Setalvad has been arrested, along with former IPS officers R B Sreekumar and Sanjiv Bhatt, for allegedly fabricating evidence to frame innocent people in the Gujarat riots case.

    Citing the statements of a witness, the SIT HAD said the conspiracy was carried out at the behest of late Ahmed Patel. At Patel’s behest, Setalvad received Rs 30 lakh after post-Godhra riots in 2002, it alleged.

    Setalvad used to meet the leaders of a “prominent national party in power at that time in Delhi to implicate names of senior leaders of the BJP government in riot cases,” the SIT further claimed.

    It cited another witness to claim that Setalvad in 2006 had asked a Congress leader why the party was giving “chance to only Shabana and Javed” and not making her a member of the Rajya Sabha.

    Last month, the Supreme Court dismissed the plea filed by Zakia Jafri, widow of former Congress MP Ehsan Jafri, challenging the clean chit given by the Special Investigation Team (SIT) to then Chief Minister Narendra Modi and several others in the 2002 Gujarat riots.

    Ehsan Jafri was among 69 people killed during violence at the Gulbarg Society in Ahmedabad on February 28, 2002. His widow Zakia Jafri challenged the SIT’s clean chit to 64 people including Narendra Modi who was Chief Minister of Gujarat at the time.

    After 58 pilgrims were burnt alive on the Sabarmati Express train at Gujarat’s Godhra Railway Station on February 27, 2002, riots broke out across the state in which more than 1,000 people were killed. (ANI)

    ALSO READ | Pinarayi flays Congress’ ‘silence’ on arrests of RB Sreekumar, Teesta Setalvad

    (With online desk inputs)

  • MP minister demands withdrawal of Teesta Setalvad’s Padma award

    By PTI

    BHOPAL: Madhya Pradesh Home Minister Narottam Mishra on Tuesday demanded withdrawal of the ‘Padma Shri’ award bestowed on social activist Teesta Setalvad, who was arrested by the Gujarat police recently in a case of fabricating evidence to frame innocent persons in connection with the 2002 Gujarat riots.

    The Centre had in 2007 honoured Setalvad with the Padma Shri, one of the highest civilian awards in the country to recognise people’s contribution in various spheres. Talking to reporters on Tuesday, Mishra accused the previous Congress government of giving the award to Setalvad for the appeasement of minorities.

    “She was a member of the ‘award vapsi’ gang (those threatening to return awards). The award should be taken back from people like Teesta Javed Setalvad, in the wake of the Supreme Court’s remarks against such people, whose conduct becomes questionable and have been arrested,” said the minister, who is also the state government’s spokesperson.

    The Gujarat Anti-Terrorist Squad had on Saturday picked up Setalvad from her Mumbai home. She was later taken to Ahmedabad and handed over to the crime branch there.

    ALSO READ | Gujarat crime branch arrests Teesta Setalvad; probe on 

    A court in Ahmedabad on Sunday remanded Setalvad in police custody till July 2 in the case of fabricating evidence to frame innocent persons in connection with the 2002 Gujarat riots.

    On Friday, the Supreme Supreme Court dismissed a petition challenging the clean chit given by a special investigation team (SIT) to then Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi and others in 2002 post-Godhra riots cases.

    Setalvad and her NGO were co-petitioner with Zakia Jafri (wife of Congress leader Ehsan Jafri who was killed in the riots) in the plea filed against Modi and others in the Supreme Court.

  • Gujarat crime branch arrests Teesta Setalvad; probe on to find role of others in criminal conspiracy

    By PTI

    AHMEDABAD: The Ahmedabad crime branch on Sunday arrested activist Teesta Setalvad, a day after she was detained in Mumbai and shifted to Gujarat, in connection with a fresh case of forgery, criminal conspiracy and insulting criminal proceedings to cause injury registered against her, officials said.

    A day earlier, the crime branch had arrested former Gujarat DGP Sreekumar and is in the process of getting a transfer warrant for ex-IPS officer Sanjiv Bhatt’s custody in connection with the FIR lodged against them, said DCP (crime), Chaitanya Mandlik.

    He said the crime branch will collect documents submitted by Setalvad, Sreekumar and Bhatt to the Commission of Inquiry, the Special Investigation Team (SIT), and courts regarding the 2002 communal riots cases as part of the investigation.

    “The investigation is underway in this case and we are procuring documents that were submitted by the accused persons before the Commission of Inquiry, SIT (formed by the Supreme Court to investigate 2002 riots cases), and different courts. Affidavits and other documents are the main basis for the FIR, and we are trying to collect other documents as well,” he told reporters.

    Investigators believe that more people may be involved in the criminal conspiracy and the probe is conducted from this angle, Mandlik said, adding that none of the two accused-Sreekumar and Setalvad- are cooperating in the investigation.

    Setalvad was detained from her house in Juhu area of Mumbai on Saturday afternoon after an FIR was registered against her at the Ahmedabad crime branch based on a complaint lodged by a crime branch inspector D B Barad.

    She was brought to Ahmedabad via road by the Gujarat police squad.

    “After being brought here, Setalvad was handed over to the city crime branch on Sunday morning. She will soon be placed under arrest,” a crime branch source had said earlier in the day.

    The FIR was lodged against Setalvad, Sreekumar, and Bhatt after the Supreme Court dismissed a petition challenging the clean chit given by the SIT to then chief minister Narendra Modi and others in the 2002 post-Godhra riots cases.

    “The FIR is based on the observation made by the Supreme Court in its judgment, which said, ‘As a matter of fact, all those involved in such abuse of process, need to be in the dock and proceed as per law,’ Mandlik said.

    Setalvad, who is the secretary of NGO Citizens for Justice and Peace, is also accused of conspiring to fabricate facts and documents, tutor witnesses and abuse the process of law by fabricating false evidence to frame people, based on the submissions made before the SIT formed by the Supreme Court to investigate the 2002 Gujarat riots cases and before the Justice Nanavati-Shah Commission of Inquiry.

    Setalvad and her NGO were co-petitioners with Zakia Jafri in the petition filed against Modi and others in the Supreme Court.

    Jafri’s husband and former Congress MP Ehsan Jafri was killed during the riots.

    While former DGP Sreekumar was arrested, Bhatt is currently lodged in jail after being convicted of life imprisonment in a custodial death case.

    In another case, he has also been charged with planting contraband to frame a lawyer.

    The FIR invoked sections 468, 471 (forgery), 194 (giving or fabricating false evidence with intent to procure conviction of capital offence), 211 (institute criminal proceedings to cause injury), 218 (public servant framing incorrect record or writing with intent to save a person from punishment or property from forfeiture), and 120 (B) (criminal conspiracy) of the Indian Penal Code.

    The officer said that while the investigation is at the primary stage, all the persons who are found to be involved in the criminal conspiracy will be arrested.

    After her detention, Setalvad claimed her “arrest” was illegal and apprehended a threat to her life.

    On her accusation that she was roughed up by the Gujarat police, Mandlik said that due process was followed and Setalvad is free to lodge a complaint before the court of the magistrate.

    Setalvad, Bhatt and Sreekumar have been accused of having conspired “to abuse the process of law by fabricating false evidence to make several persons to having committed an offence that is punishable with capital punishment.”