Naroda case: Quantum of sentence to be pronounced today

Ahmedabad: A special court will pronounce the quantum of punishment for 32 convicts in the 2002 post-Godhra Naroda Patiya riots case today.

BJP MLA and former minister in the Narendra Modi government Maya Kodnani and Bajrang Dal leader Babu Bajrangi are among the 32 people convicted by a special court in the Naroda Patiya riots case on Wednesday, in which, 97 people belonging to the minority community were killed.

Special court judge Jyotsana Yagnik convicted them on charges of conspiracy and murder in the case, even as 29 other accused were acquitted.

 Ms Kodnani, a three-time MLA from Naroda area, who was considered to be close to Chief Minister Narendra Modi, is the first woman and first MLA to be convicted in a post-Godhra riots case.

Ms Kodnani and Mr Bajrangi were held guilty under sections 120 (B) (criminal conspiracy), 302 (murder) and 307 (attempt to murder) of IPC and the prosecution sought the maximum punishment of death sentence for all the convicts.

During the arguments on the quantum of sentence, lawyers of Ms Kodnani and other convicts had sought leniency from the court.

Among the 2002 riots cases probed by the Special Investigation Team or SIT, in which rulings have come, Naroda is the only case, where convicts (32) outnumber those acquitted (29).

In the Godhra train carnage case, court had convicted 31 and acquitted 63. In Sardarpura case, court had convicted 31 and acquitted 42, while in Dipda Darwaja case 22 had been convicted and 61 acquitted.

From: NDTV

Assam: Militant violence, not ethnic clashes?

Kokrajhar: 20 minutes from Kokrajhar town through lush green fields and a forest is Pakritol village. Not a recent habitat but a very old settlement with neat rows of houses. We hesitate to enter knowing that people there must be agitated. An Army convoy with red flags overtake us to go into the village and we follow them. A crowd waiting at the bend and a family mourning. But this is not from Monday's violence. We learn that someone keeping unwell has passed away. We are then led to the scene of destruction.

A father sits on the roadside unable to speak. His 16-year-old daughter was hit by a bullet on Monday evening. His world seems to have slipped beneath. Four persons were hit by bullets the same evening.

The villagers narrate the nightmare blow-by-blow but we know that we can't stay here for long. Emotions are running high and a lone media crew can easily become a target for their anger and frustration.

We are shown evidences of Monday evening's attack. Objects meant to torch houses; the attackers spilled some inflammable fluid, probably Mobil, to set fire. They also left behind a pair of sneakers and sandals and while running away they shot at a girl who is now battling for life in a Guwahati hospital.

Though they haven't been able to torch houses, they set some haystacks on fire and then they moved across the village firing several rounds of which we have been able to collect evidence. A villager takes me aside to show a dozen bullet shells. All AK-47 bullets. They claim they collected 3000 of them.

Everybody wanted us visit their home and inspect the bullet marks. In one house the wall next to the bed was shot at. The family then preparing to sleep escaped unhurt.

Every single house in this village was fired at. People fled and that is how the casualty is low. But the bullets were flying and hit domestic animals. Several cows were bleeding. This has been a pattern elsewhere in the state as well. The attackers don't spare even the livestock.

Mutiur Rahman, a young man calmly explains that, "We are not blaming the Bodos, we are accusing the government here." His anger shows and the pitch of his voice rises, "Yes it is definitely work of militants, the weapons used look at how they have fired at... the government here, Bodoland Territorial Council (BTC), is responsible for this... we want Army rule here... we want security, if we don't get security we will block the railway and let police fire at us or kill us, we are ready to commit suicide."

Not just bullets to kill and mashals to torch the village. They came armed with bows and arrows as well. We found an arrow which came and hit a television screen while people were watching the evening soap.

The Chief Minister had sent six of his senior ministers to tour the area. All India Congress Committee (AICC) had also sent a team. Both admitted that the Bodo autonomous council members who are former militants must be reined in. While rushing out to visit another site, Parvez Hashmi, a Member of Parliament, is in agreement that the Bodo legislators running the autonomous council must own up this time. "If before 2011 they were voters and have voted and elected BTC MLAs then they are residents of this place and after 2011 whatever people have entered this place we will decide their fate accordingly."

There is enough evidence with the government now that the violence continuing for the last five weeks was also militant violence and not just ethnic violence. It is political violence propped up and backed by militant bodies. The chief minister is fast running out of options but the first step could be to start disarming the population using guns to prove their point. 

From: NDTV

Naroda Patiya riots case: Former BJP minister Maya Kodnani among 32 convicted

Ahmedabad: Ten years after a mob killed 95 people in Naroda Patiya, on the outskirts of Ahmedabad during the 2002 riots, a special court today convicted 32 people, including former BJP minister Mayaben Kodnani and Bajrang Dal leader Babu Bajrangi, for the carnage. The special court in Ahmedabad also acquitted 29 people. The quantum of sentence will be announced on Friday.

Ms Kodnani and Mr Bajrangi have been held guilty of murder under Section 302, and of criminal conspiracy under Section 120B of the Indian Penal Code (IPC). The maximum sentence under these sections is the death penalty. This is the first time that a former minister has been convicted in a Gujarat riots case.

"It's a great verdict, we would have liked many more convicted but let's hope that truth and justice will finally prevail," said one of the victims.

 Public prosecutor Akhil Desai said the charge of criminal conspiracy has been proved and no leniency should be shown to the guilty. Mr Desai told reporters that the guilty were charged for rioting, murder, arson and attack on a religious structure, adding that he would argue for "imprisonment for life" for the guilty.

Welcoming the verdict, Law Minister Salman Khurshid today said the judgement enhances faith of the people in the legal system. "Every time this kind of inhuman act is made accountable, people who are responsible should feel a sense of reprimand. Those who wait for justice want to hear that the scales of justice have finally shown that rule of law prevails in the country," Mr Khurshid  told reporters in New Delhi.

"It has been proved now that BJP's minister and officials were involved in the Gujarat riots. Everything that happened was at the behest of Narendra Modi," said Congress leader Digvijaya Singh.

The conviction of Ms Kodnani, believed to be close to Chief Minister Narendra Modi, has left the state's BJP government on the defensive, just months ahead of assembly elections.  "An MLA is not a state government functionary as you are trying to say. Maya was not a minister when this incident took place. We don't have the judgement before us, so won't be able to say anything. She is a party functionary. The moment she was summoned for interrogations, she ceased to be a minister. And at the time it took place, she was not a minister," said Gujarat Health Minister Jaynarayan Vyas.

A practising doctor, Ms Kodnani was the Minister for Women and Child Development in the Narendra Modi-government between 2007 and 2009 when she was arrested by  the Supreme Court appointed Special Investigation Team (SIT).

On February 28, 2002, a day after the Godhra train burning incident, a rioting mob had attacked Naroda Patiya with guns, bombs and machettes, killing 95 Muslims. The incident took place during a bandh call given by the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP).

The case was first investigated by the Gujarat Police, but in 2009, the Supreme Court appointed a SIT to probe ten cases, including the Naroda Patiya incident. The SIT registered cases against many of the accused, including the then Minister of Women and Child Development Mayaben Kodnani. Witnesses in Naroda Patiya have made statements alleging that Ms Kodnani had incited mobs.  Babu Bajrangi, the Bajrang Dal leader, was accused of leading the mob that attacked the Naroda Patiya victims.

As many as 327 witnesses were examined by the court. Of the 64 people accused in the case, three died during trial. The remaining 61 accused were tried for murder, arson and rioting. Most of them were out on bail.

(With inputs from Agencies)

Narendra Modi rules out apology for 2002 Gujarat riots

Washington: Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi has refused to apologise for the 2002 riots in the state.

"One only has to ask for forgiveness if one is guilty of a crime. If you think it's such a big crime, why should the culprit be forgiven?

"Just because Modi is a chief minister, why should he be forgiven. I think Modi should get the biggest punishment possible if he is guilty. And the world should know that there isn't any tolerance for such political leaders," he told The Wall Street Journal.

Mr Modi parried a question whether he sees himself as a future prime minister, saying he was concentrating on Gujarat.

"I can't think beyond that," he said.

The paper also said that the Gujarat Chief Minister attributed malnutrition problems in his state partly to Gujaratis being largely vegetarian and partly to body, image issues among young women.

"The middle class is more beauty conscious than health conscious - that is a challenge," he said.

"If a mother tells her daughter to have milk, they'll have a fight- she'll tell her mother 'I won't drink milk. I'll get fat," Mr Modi added.

From: NDTV

Naroda Patiya riot: Death penalty sought for convicts

BJP MLA and former minister in the Narendra Modi government Maya Kodnani and a Bajrang Dal leader were among 32 people convicted by a special court today in the 2002 Naroda Patiya riots case in which 97 people belonging to the minority community were killed.

Additional principal judge

Jyotsna Yagnik held Kodnani and Babu Bajrangi guilty under sections 120 (B) (criminal conspiracy) and 302 (murder) of IPC in the post-Godhra riots case, while acquitting 29 others.
The quantum of sentence is likely to be announced on August 31. The prosecution has demanded death sentence for all the accused convicted in the Naroda Patiya case.
The massacre had taken place a day after the Godhra train burning incident of February 27, 2002.
On February 28, 2002 when a bandh call was given by the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP), a large crowd gathered in the Naroda Patiya area and attacked people belonging to minority community that resulted in the death of 97 people while 33 others were injured in the violence.
The trial began in August 2009 and charges were framed against 62 accused, one of the accused, Vijay Shetty, died during the course of trial.
As many as 327 witnesses, comprising eye witnesses, victims, doctors, police personnel, government officials, forensic experts and journalists including Ashish Khetan, who conducted a TV sting operation on the accused, have been examined by the court.
Initially, 46 people were arrested by the Gujarat Police, whereas 24 more people were apprehended after the probe was handed over to the Supreme Court-appointed Special Investigation Team (SIT) in 2008. In all, 70 people were arrested in the case.
Six persons died before the charges could be framed and trial started, while two others identified as Mohan Nepali and Tejas Pathak jumped bail and are still absconding.
Kodnani was arrested by the SIT when she was a minister of state for women and child development in Modi government in March 2009. She was an MLA at the time of the incident.
The Naroda Patiya case was probed by eight investigating officers over the last decade with the latest being Himanshu Shukla on behalf of the Special Investigation Team (SIT).
The Naroda Patiya case was one of the nine cases of Gujarat riots being probed by the SIT, including the Godhra train burning case.

Naroda Patiya resident Naimuddin Ibrahim Sheikh lost his mother and a sister among other members of the family in the riots.

The other cases probed by SIT where judgements have been pronounced include the case in Ode village of Anand where 18 persons were sentenced to life imprisonment and five others to seven years in prison by a special court last month, for the killing of 23 persons on March 1, 2002.
Last year, a special court had awarded death sentence to 11 and life imprisonment to 20 others in the Godhra train burning case where 59 persons were burnt alive in S-6 coach of Sabarmati Express train near Godhra railway station.
Also, 31 persons were sentenced to life imprisonment by another designated court of Mehsana district in connection with Sardarpura riot case where 33 persons were killed during post-Godhra riots.
On July 30, 21 accused were sentenced to life imprisonment by a special court in another case of Dipda Darwaja area of Mehsana, where 11 persons were killed during 2002 riots.

2002 Gujarat riots: Verdict in Naroda Patiya case likely today

Ahmedabad: Almost a decade after 95 people were killed in one of the worst 2002 Gujarat riots cases, a special court in Ahmedabad is expected to deliver its verdict today in the Naroda Patiya case against the 61 accused, including former BJP minister Maya Kodnani and former Bajrang Dal leader Babu Bajrangi.

On February 28, 2002 during the bandh call given by the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP), a rioting mob had attacked Naroda Patiya, killing 95 Muslims.

"What was the fault of people of Naroda Patiya? What wrong had small children done that they were killed mercilessly?" questions Shakeela Bano, a Naroda Patiya riot victim, who is still haunted by images of her children being brutally murdered.

With communal riots were fast spreading across Gujarat, a day after a coach of the Sabarmati Express was set on fire, Shakeela, her husband, her mother, two children and others were praying the mayhem would not reach Naroda Patiya in Ahmedabad.

Then, during the VHP sponsored bandh, a murderous mob attacked the area. For almost the entire day they tried escaping the mob's fury, pleading for mercy. But they weren't spared; eight members of her family were killed.

"We only want those who have committed this heinous act should be punished. Imagine how innocent people were killed mercilessly. What was their fault? Punish those who were responsible for Godhra, be it Muslims or Hindus," said Shakeela.

95 innocent lives were lost in the carnage. Many were burnt alive.

Shopkeeper Nazeer Mohammad was lucky, but he is still trying to piece his life together. His family managed to escape the rioters, but their home, business and all their savings were gone in the anarchy that followed.

"They first took away whatever they could lay their hands on. My wife used to sell bangles from home... that was also looted... all valuables were taken away before they set the house afire," recalls Nazeer.

The case was first investigated by the Gujarat Police, but in 2009, the Supreme Court appointed a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to probe ten cases including this incident.

The SIT registered cases against many accused including the then minister Mayaben Kodnani and arrested her. This was the first time a minister was arrested in a riot case. The Naroda Patiya victims had given statements stating that Ms Kodnani had incited mobs.

Of the 64 people accused, three died during trial. The remaining 61 accused were tried for murder, arson and rioting - most of them are out on bail.

Now, 10 years on, it's judgement day. And the victims of Naroda Patiya are hoping, justice will bring some closure.

From: NDTV