When the verdict changed

On October 9, the Gujarat High Court in India delivered a changed verdict. Before discussing this further, it is worth recalling that in 2002, a Sabarmati Express train was burnt near Godhra Station in Gujarat. The fire killed 59 people. A majority of people who were killed included Hindu volunteers. Later, 11 culprits were sentenced to death.

Now, the death sentence has been commuted to life imprisonment while there has been no change in the life sentence awarded to 20 other accused. After this incident in 2002, widespread anti-Muslim riots had started across Gujarat in which over 1,000 people, mostly Muslims, were killed.

Interestingly, just a week before this verdict, the Gujarat High Court had given a clean chit to Narendra Modi and 60 others regarding their involvement in the anti-Muslim riots that followed the arson.

Modi was the chief minister of Gujarat when over 1,000 Muslims were killed. But the court found no evidence that the riots were preplanned. It is strange that the court has found evidence that the train arson was pre-planned but there is no evidence that the riots were also planned in advance. After all, there were many eyewitnesses who confirmed that the state machinery was involved – or at least complicit – in the murder of a 1,000 Muslims.

Another surprising verdict was delivered in August when the Supreme Court of India absolved the Gujarat government from paying any damages for rebuilding mosques and other religious buildings that were destroyed in the riots. Around 15 years ago in 2002, hundreds of mosques and other religious places were also targeted by Hindu zealots who were trying to avenge the Sabarmati arson. But the Supreme Court has declared that it was not the government’s responsibility to rebuild the affected premises. The Gujrat government had informed the court that it had allocated a specific amount to rebuild houses and shops and the court accepted this as sufficient.

It is disappointing to observe the contradictions in the court decisions. The Gujrat High Court had earlier ordered the government to rebuild the religious building through the public exchequer. But now, the Supreme Court has overturned that order. This is not to say that all verdicts are going against Muslims. In the infamous Bilquis Bano case, the Bombay High Court rejected an appeal against the life imprisonment of 11 criminals. In the post-Godhra riots, Bilquis Bano’s entire family of 14 was burned alive and she was raped.

In that case, the accused were identified by Bilquis. The court found them guilty and sentenced them to life imprisonment. The court didn’t even spare the police and five police officers who were responsible for destroying evidence were also sentenced. These policemen had earlier been acquitted by a lower court. It is interesting to note that two Gujarati-speaking leaders – Mahatma Gandhi and M A Jinnah – played a decisive role in the history of the Subcontinent. But Modi’s government has surpassed all boundaries in its anti-Muslim rhetoric and repression.

In Gujarat, the Muslim population has been under tremendous pressure and both the BJP and the Congress have been responsible for this. The Muslim areas in Gujarat are far worse in terms of municipal and social services, such as water and sanitation, health and education. Apparently, the increasing intensity of the freedom movement in Kashmir has adversely affected Muslims in India and has given a new impetus to Hindu fundamentalism and extremism. The BJP has been spreading venom against Muslims by declaring them traitors. 

The BJP argues that if the Muslims in Kashmir do not want to remain in India, the rest of the Muslim population in India also has no right to stay in the country. Due to this extremist and fundamentalist approach, the BJP has never nominated any Muslim candidate to contest elections in Gujarat. It used the same strategy to win the elections in Uttar Pradesh. For the past 22 years, the BJP has never awarded a single assembly ticket to a Muslim in Gujarat. In the 182-member Gujarat Assembly, the ruling party has never had a Muslim representative in the past 25 years.

Even now, just two assembly members are Muslims who were elected on a Congress ticket. The population of Gujarat is around 65 million. The last Muslim member from Gujarat to the Lok Sabha (national assembly) was Ahmed Patel, who was elected in 1980. Perhaps the worst trend is emerging among the Congress Party leaders and members who think that the declining electoral performance of their party has something to do with their pro-minority politics at the cost of the Hindu majority, which the BJP has capitalised on.

In our region, Hindu and Muslim extremists and fundamentalists have not only tried to stifle the liberal and secular voices but have also shattered the fabric of society. Religious and sectarian politics has numbed people’s minds and blinded them. They have no remorse while committing heinous crimes in the name of protecting their religion or sect. If this trend continues – as has become evident through the recent outburst by PML-N MNA Captain Safdar, the son-in law of the former prime minister Nawaz Sharif – it could spell further trouble. Now is the time to work towards disentangling religious bigotry and sectarianism from our societies.

If religious and sectarian hatred is fanned at the state level, our society will descend into the chaos of destruction. We can only wish that our rulers start thinking beyond the lens of their religion and sect. 

 The writer holds a PhD from the University of Birmingham, UK and works in Islamabad.

Email: Mnazir1964@yahoo.co.uk