An Indian court on Thursday acquitted 69 Hindus, including a former Bharatiya Janata party (BJP) minister, of the murder of 11 Muslims during riots in the western state of Gujarat in 2002.
The killings took place in Ahmedabad on February 28, 2002, the day after an alleged Muslim mob set fire to a train carrying Hindu pilgrims, triggering one of the worst outbreaks of religious bloodshed in independent India.
A total of 86 Hindus were charged with murders in the Naroda Gam district of Ahmedabad, 17 of whom died during the trial. All the accused were released on bail.
“We’ve been saying from day one that they were framed,” said defense attorney Chetan Shah, who represented 82 of the defendants. “Some of the accused were not present at the scene on the day of the incident.”
Shamshad Pathan, who represented the victims, said he would challenge the court’s decision in a higher court.
“Justice has eluded the victims once again. We will study the reasons why the court acquitted the accused,” Pathan said.
Those acquitted include Maya Kodnani, former BJP minister under Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who was a lawmaker at the time of the riots, former Bajrang Dal leader Babu Bajrangi, and Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) leader Jaydeep Patel .
Bajrang Dal and VHP are Hindu nationalist groups and have close links with the BJP.
Kodnani was also charged in a case where 97 people were killed in the 2002 riots. She was convicted but later acquitted by a higher court.
At least 1,000 people, mostly Muslims, were killed in Gujarat in the 2002 riots. Activists estimate the number to be twice that number.
Critics accused Modi, who was chief minister at the time, of failing to protect Muslims. Modi has denied the allegations and an investigation ordered by the Supreme Court found no evidence to prosecute him.
The acquittal comes eight months after 11 men sentenced to life imprisonment for the gang rape of a pregnant Muslim woman during the riots were released in remission, according to Reuters, drawing condemnation from the victim’s widower, lawyers and politicians.
The men were convicted in early 2008 and released from prison in Panchmahals, in the western state of Gujarat, on Aug. 15, as India celebrated 75 years since the end of British rule.
The top Panchmahals bureaucrat said the prison’s district advisory committee had recommended the release after considering the time the 11 had spent in prison and their good behaviour.
(With information from Reuters)
Source: CNN Brasil
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