Jafri filed a plea demanding a chargesheet against now-Indian PM Narendra Modi and others she believed were responsible. / Photo: AP Archive
Zakia Jafri, the widow of a former Member of Parliament in India who was killed in the 2002 anti-Muslim Gujarat riots, fought legal cases to ensure accountability for the riots in various courts breathed her last on Saturday at the age of 86.
Her husband a member of the Congress party, was among 69 persons killed inside Gulbarg Society, a Muslim neighbourhood in the Indian state of Gujrat, on February 28, 2002.
According to official government figures, at least 790 Muslims were killed, 223 more were reported missing and another 2,500 were wounded in the rioting in Gujrat when Hindu mobs went on a rampage for over a week.
Rights groups however put the number much higher, and have documented rapes and killing of children.
The Human Rights Watch reported that the attacks on Muslims were part of a concerted campaign of Hindu nationalist organisations to promote and exploit communal tensions to further the BJP’s political rule movement that is supported at the local level by militant groups that operate with impunity and under the patronage of the state.
‘Larger conspiracy’
According to the English daily Hindustan Times, Zakia Jafri fought a protracted legal battle to hold top political leaders accountable.
Jafri alleged a “larger conspiracy” that she claimed involved high-ranking officials, including the then Chief Minister of Gujarat, Narendra Modi.
She argued that there was bureaucratic inaction and police complicity, which exacerbated the violence.
Furthermore, she accused the state government of delaying the deployment of the army, which could have potentially contained the riots more swiftly.
Jafri filed a plea demanding a chargesheet against now-Indian PM Narendra Modi and others she believed were responsible.
In 2007, the Supreme Court ordered the Gujarat government to reopen the case.
In the later years, Jafri petitioned against a clean chit given by the special investigation team to 63 people, including Modi, at the magistrate court, the Gujarat High Court and the Supreme Court.
In 2011, the Supreme Court of India formed a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to probe the events surrounding the riots.
‘Clean chit’
The SIT submitted a closure report in February 2012.
This report concluded that there was “no prosecutable evidence” against Narendra Modi and 63 others, effectively giving them a clean chit.
The findings were based on the lack of concrete evidence to support the claims of conspiracy and deliberate inaction by the state machinery.
Supporters of Modi viewed it as a vindication, while critics and victims’ families, including Jafri, expressed disappointment and continued to seek justice through other legal avenues.
The case highlighted the complexities involved in addressing communal violence and the challenges of holding powerful individuals accountable in such scenarios.
According to the Guardian, the 2002 violence led to a de facto travel ban imposed on Modi by the UK, the US and some European nations.
In 2005, Modi was refused a US visa as someone held responsible for a serious violation of religious freedom.
In 2023 a BBC documentary on Prime Minister Narendra Modi, titled India: The Modi Question carried an inquiry conducted by the government of the United Kingdom into the 2002 Gujarat violence.
The report states that the violence was “planned, possibly in advance” by Vishva Hindu Parishad, a Hindu nationalist organisation.
It also indicts the Gujarat state government, stating that the then Chief Minister Narendra Modi was directly responsible.
The documentary was banned in India.
source : trtworld