NEW DELHI: An Indian court has acquitted 69 Hindus, including a former minister from the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), of the murder of 11 Muslims during the deadly Gujarat riots of 2002.
The killings occurred on February 28, 2002, a day after a suspected Muslim mob set ablaze a train carrying Hindu pilgrims.
Out of a total of 86 Hindus accused of the killings in Ahmedabad’s Naroda Gam district, 17 died during the course of court proceedings.
“We have been saying from the first day that they were framed,” defense lawyer Chetan Shah, who represented 82 of the accused Hindus, said. “Some of the accused were not present at the scene on the day of the incident.”
Shamshad Pathan, who represented the victims, said they would challenge the verdict in a higher court.
“Justice has once again eluded the victims. We will study the grounds on which the court acquitted the accused persons,” he said.
Those acquitted include Maya Kodnani, a former BJP minister who was a lawmaker at the time of the riots, Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) leader Jaydeep Patel and former Bajrang Dal leader Babu Bajrangi.
Hindu nationalist groups Bajrang Dal and VHP have close ties with the BJP.
Kodnani was also an accused in another case in which 97 people were murdered in the same riots. She was convicted but later a higher court acquitted her.
The deadly communal riots of 2002
More than 1,000 people, most of whom were Muslims, were killed across the western state of Gujarat in the 2002 riots. Activists claim the toll to be over twice that number.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who was Gujarat chief minister at the time, had been accused of failing to protect Muslims. However, Modi denied the allegations and an investigation ordered by the Supreme Court found no evidence to prosecute him.
The decision to acquit 69 Hindus comes eight months after 11 men jailed for life for gang-raping a pregnant Muslim woman during the riots were set free on remission drawing condemnation from the victim’s widower, lawyers and politicians.
The men were convicted in early 2008. They were released from prison in Panchmahals, Gujarat on August 15, 2022, when India celebrated 75 years of getting independence from British rule. Reportedly, the district jail advisory committee had recommended the release of the convicts after considering the time they had spent in jail and their good behavior.
