By D. P. Bhattacharya in Gandhinagar
AT A time when violence is fast posing
a serious challenge to the multi- ethnic fabric of the country, more
than 50 per cent conviction in a 10- year- old riot case in Gujarat
restores the celebration of pluralism in the corridors of India's premier
business state.
A special court in Ahmedabad on Wednesday
convicted 32 people in the Naroda Patiya massacre case, including BJP
MLA Maya Kodnani -- a former MoS ( women and child development) -- and
Bajrang Dal strongman Babu Bajrangi.
Lawyer- activist Mukul Sinha, whose
NGO Jan Sangharsh Manch has been representing the victims in the court,
described the judgment as the light at the end of a long tunnel.
For those left devastated by the violence,
it meant a sense of closure.
“ Nothing will bring back the loved
ones we have lost, but after 10 years this judgment has brought some
sense of solace,” Shakila Bano, who lost three of her children in
the massacre, said.
But for Dildar Umraav Saiyed, the
journey wasn't over. “ This is half- justice. Only when the court
awards strict punishment to them, we will get full justice,” he said.
Victims of the violence have been
playing host to an inquisitive media ever since their neighbours turned
on them on February 28, 2002.
On that day, during a strike called
by the VHP, a large crowd gathered in the Naroda Patiya area and attacked
Muslims, resulting in the death of 97 people while 33 others were injured.
In Bajrangi's conviction rests the
solace of Nazir Master, who had lost everything to the rioters.
“ It has been a long wait, but a
worthy one,” he said. “ Though 10 long years have gone by, it does
bring some peace when you see the guilty being punished,” he added.
The narrative largely mirrors the
ones seen in the earlier cases such as the Godhra train burning, the
Sardarpura massacre and the Ode massacre.
“ The raw courage of the witnesses,
especially women who deposed fearlessly while still residing in Naroda
Patiya, is a reflection of the confidence generated with the Supreme
Court monitoring the case and protection from central paramilitary forces
provided by the apex court,” activist Teesta Setalvad, working with
the victims since the riot days, said.
But the developments have put one
man in a tight spot -- Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi.
With a one- time member of his government
being convicted, uncomfortable questions such as why Kodnani was inducted
in the ministry even after it was alleged that she played an important
role in the massacre, are being raised.
Most of those convicted belong to
the Patel community, who believed the establishment will save them in
their time of need.
But with every conviction, the community
feels they are being systemically betrayed. This isn't the best case
scenario for the CM of a state where elections are likely to take place
at the end of the year.
Gujarat BJP spokesperson I. K. Jadeja
has already distanced the government from Kodnani saying she wasn't
a minister in 2002.
But both he and Gujarat government
spokesperson Jaynarayan Vyas chose to not explain why she was inducted
into the ministry.
Vyas also dismissed demands for Modi's
resignation following the verdict.
Court convicts
BJP ex- minister Maya Kodnani & Bajrang Dal strongman Babu Bajrangi,
along with 30 others, for Naroda Patiya massacre
QUANTUM OF PUNISHMENT
THE prosecution has demanded death
sentence for all 32 convicted by the trial court, calling it a “ rarest
of rare case”. They have been convicted under Sections 120 ( B) (
criminal conspiracy), 302 ( murder) and 307 ( attempt to murder) of
the Indian Penal Code. The minimum punishment is imprisonment for life,
while the maximum punishment is the death penalty
