Gujarat riots: BJP's Maya Kodnani jailed for 28 years

[naveed]

An Indian court has sentenced a senior BJP party member to 28 years in jail for her part in murdering 97 people in the 2002 Gujarat religious riots.
Maya Kodnani, an ex-minister and aide to Chief Minister Narendra Modi, is the most senior figure so far convicted.
Thirty others received life sentences for their part in the killings in Naroda Patiya, a suburb of Ahmedabad.
The riots left more than 1,000 people, mostly Muslims, dead, and were among India's worst outbreaks of unrest.
The rioting began after 60 Hindu pilgrims died in a train fire blamed on Muslims in the town of Godhra.


Ms Kodnani was not a minister at the time of the riots, but was appointed junior minister for women and child development by Mr Modi in 2007.
She quit her post when she was arrested in 2009 in connection with the massacre but remained a member of the state assembly.
On Wednesday she was convicted of murder, attempted murder and conspiracy. Thirty-one others were also found guilty of involvement in the case. One of those convicted has never been brought to justice and was tried in absentia.

Babu Bajrangi, a former leader of the militant Hindu group Bajrang Dal, was found guilty on the same charges as Ms Kodnani. He has been sentenced to remain in jail until he dies.


'Kingpin of riots' Announcing the sentences on Friday, Judge Jyotsna Yagnik named Ms Kodnani as "a kingpin of riots" in the Naroda Patiya area.
"Communal riots are like cancer on constitutional secularism and the incident in Naroda Patiya was a black chapter in the history of the Indian constitution," the Press Trust of India quoted him as saying.


"Acts of communal [religious] violence are brutal, inhuman and shameful. It was a clear incident of human rights violation as 97 people were killed brutally within a day which included helpless women, children, aged persons.


"The climax of this inhuman and brutal act of violence was reflected in [the] murder of an infant, who was 20 days old," the judge said.
Following Ms Kodnani's conviction on Wednesday, Gujarat's ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government quickly distanced itself from her saying that she had not been a state minister at the time of the riots.

Correspondents, however, say her conviction is an embarrassment for Mr Modi who elevated her to ministerial office in 2007 despite being aware that her role in the riots was being investigated.


Gujarat assembly elections are due later in the year and the Congress party is bound to use the court ruling to criticise Mr Modi during the campaign.


Mr Modi, touted by some as a future prime minister, has been accused of not doing anything to stop the riots - a charge he has always denied.
Ninety-five bodies were found after the Naroda Patiya massacre - the worst of the Gujarat riots cases - on 28 February 2002. The bodies of two other people missing after the massacre and presumed dead were never found.
The trial began in August 2009 and charges were brought against 62 people. One of the accused died during the trial.

source

 

[only_truths]

Everyone should accept court rulings, but however it will not end here. I always had faith in Indian secularism where justice would be provided because the majority may sometimes go insane but return to sanity. (read here: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/...-Patia-10-years-late/articleshow/16101363.cms)

Gujarat riots was wrongly described as genocide of Muslims where as no one talks about Hindus killed in the riots. A genocide is one where only one community gets killed like in East Pakistan in 1970's . To me Gujarat riots, a communal disturbance which happens now and then in India due to religion greater than human values. When people talk about Gujarat riots, no one talks about the Sabarmati express episode at Godhra which acted as catalyst for the riots as Babri Masjid demolition acted as catalyst earlier. Both were wrong.

I believe as humans, we should never carry the baggage of past, if we really want to move forward.

 

[guest]

i agree with parts of ur argument. but the big difference was that while the sabarmati express may have been burnt by miscreants, the riots against muslims was conducted by a state power. in modern society, the state is entrusted with the exclusive right to bear arms and commit violence. when that kind of power is misused, it is a much greater violation of human rights and much more dangerous irresepective of the body count and who killed how many.

Everyone should accept court rulings, but however it will not end here. I always had faith in Indian secularism where justice would be provided because the majority may sometimes go insane but return to sanity. (read here: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/...-Patia-10-years-late/articleshow/16101363.cms)

Gujarat riots was wrongly described as genocide of Muslims where as no one talks about Hindus killed in the riots. A genocide is one where only one community gets killed like in East Pakistan in 1970's . To me Gujarat riots, a communal disturbance which happens now and then in India due to religion greater than human values. When people talk about Gujarat riots, no one talks about the Sabarmati express episode at Godhra which acted as catalyst for the riots as Babri Masjid demolition acted as catalyst earlier. Both were wrong.

I believe as humans, we should never carry the baggage of past, if we really want to move forward.

 

[only_truths]

i agree with parts of ur argument. but the big difference was that while the sabarmati express may have been burnt by miscreants, the riots against muslims was conducted by a state power. in modern society, the state is entrusted with the exclusive right to bear arms and commit violence. when that kind of power is misused, it is a much greater violation of human rights and much more dangerous irresepective of the body count and who killed how many.

I am not trying to wake u up . If you believe the Sabarmati episode is by miscreants, then why not the Babri masjid or the Gujarat riots is by miscreants , but by State Powers?

 

[gotti]

Everyone should accept court rulings, but however it will not end here. I always had faith in Indian secularism where justice would be provided because the majority may sometimes go insane but return to sanity. (read here: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/...-Patia-10-years-late/articleshow/16101363.cms)

Gujarat riots was wrongly described as genocide of Muslims where as no one talks about Hindus killed in the riots. A genocide is one where only one community gets killed like in East Pakistan in 1970's . To me Gujarat riots, a communal disturbance which happens now and then in India due to religion greater than human values. When people talk about Gujarat riots, no one talks about the Sabarmati express episode at Godhra which acted as catalyst for the riots as Babri Masjid demolition acted as catalyst earlier. Both were wrong.

I believe as humans, we should never carry the baggage of past, if we really want to move forward.

Here we go, apologists for extremism.

I wonder what I would be called if an extremist, non-violent instigator who claims to share the same faith as me, has a twisted ideology of using religion to "purify" his "nation" by the blood of vulnerable, defenseless minorities, and I would be presenting an apology for that person?

I don't know, I would call me all the filthy names in the mind of a drunken sailor. Despite willing to do the same for your hypocrisy when you claim to be supporting the legal system, I will not do so.

As an ardent supporter of the legal system, how do you have the audacity to also bring forth the suggestion that an unproven incident of people being burnt in the trains, whether accurate or not, gives the people a right to be Judge, Jury and executioner and start slaughtering people, vilify them and even murder an ex-MP.

I wonder what they had to do with the acts of a few, who, at this point, have not been taken to court in one of the most corrupt nations in the world (corruption is not a right vs. left issue, that, too when the fasts were first started by a man on the left coupled with a religious nut job like Baba Ramdev).

In essence, your so-called moral authority and so-called pride for a "secular" nation that you are trying to project onto a Pakistani forum have been completely eradicated.

You have personally destroyed your credibility and the high pedestal on which you stand, claiming to be secular, while having sympathies for religious extremists as well as ugly and disgusting biases against a community has proven that even a single post by you in the future will get absolutely no attention (not like it was, in the past).

 

[gotti]

I am not trying to wake u up . If you believe the Sabarmati episode is by miscreants, then why not the Babri masjid or the Gujarat riots is by miscreants , but by State Powers?

Here, this extremist, religious nut job who will send his 4-foot something stooges with Trishuls and statues of his god to your home, has suggested that the incident that took place at the train was caused by a state, and it needs to be called as such just because what happened at Babri was exactly the same issue.

Here, people, please witness extremism and it's blatant and bare-faced support, with no shame, whatsoever rambling on about what happened at Babri Masjid or Gujrat under state patronage is the same as what a handful of people did in a train, in a dubious incident, which was not aired or proven to have taken place and even if it did, this man's vision of "secularism" allows people to go and enact Nazi-era pograms. To him, it is justified because of the logical, Newtonian response that such incidents bring forth.

Can anyone believe and is in awe, as I am that this joke of a man just said what he said and still insists for people to take him seriously or accept his apology?

His suggestion means that the Congress has stooges, like the BJP, that has colluded to attack a train, after which, using the Gujarat state's powers, they went and killed Muslims (Mohammadens or Lan-katva's) all over the state.

This is only logical because there was support of the state for one community so the other community should do the same.:smashfreakB:

What's even more ironic is that Babri Masjid in which L.K. Advani and other national leaders were involved is put at the same scale. ^^^*double, rather triple smashing my head smiley*

I am just appalled that this man, himself, had the guts to come out and actually make these arguments while, at the same time, try to sound just and balanced and think people would not call him out on that.

This is like a bad David Blaine magic trick, gone even worse when even little kids figure out what the street-magician was doing, yet, the stubborn "entertainer" kept going on with the act instead of walking off the stage (even though, he was being booed the whole time).

This is by far the most hysterical thing I've ever read and the hope that this logic would actually be "sold" to the audience is beyond amazement

 

[Zionist Hindu]

Everybody has to pay for his/her karma. There should be no place for riots and vote bank politics in India. India should learn from past mistakes and move forward...

 

[guest]

so who did the sabarmati burning? modi himself? there are people who believe that conspiracy theory. I dont. babri masjid was also done partially under state banner since kalyan singh was BJP CM in UP, though center was narasimha raos's congress. no riot/event of such a grand scale like the babri or godhra can take place without state connivance,especially in an urban environment. of course if you are one of those who thinks modi and the gujarat BJP didnt have anything to do with the riots, then i cannot help you.
dont u understand the difference between non-state miscreants (however organized they might be) and a state which controls the police, the local administration and has exclusive rights to use force? maybe if you are on the receiving end of state brutality, you might appreciate it more.

I am not trying to wake u up . If you believe the Sabarmati episode is by miscreants, then why not the Babri masjid or the Gujarat riots is by miscreants , but by State Powers?

 

[only_truths]

so who did the sabarmati burning? modi himself? there are people who believe that conspiracy theory. I dont. babri masjid was also done partially under state banner since kalyan singh was BJP CM in UP, though center was narasimha raos's congress. no riot/event of such a grand scale like the babri or godhra can take place without state connivance,especially in an urban environment. of course if you are one of those who thinks modi and the gujarat BJP didnt have anything to do with the riots, then i cannot help you.
dont u understand the difference between non-state miscreants (however organized they might be) and a state which controls the police, the local administration and has exclusive rights to use force? maybe if you are on the receiving end of state brutality, you might appreciate it more.

Believe in what you want to, no body can stop you. I cannot wake people who pretend sleeping and deeply entrenched in conspiracy theories.

What ever happens in Pakistan is non-state and what ever happens in by the State. The whole world is laughing at the non-state theory.

 

[only_truths]

Everybody has to pay for his/her karma. There should be no place for riots and vote bank politics in India. India should learn from past mistakes and move forward...

I agree every body will pay for his/her karma in their life time. I have seen ample examples of this. Assam riots recently is the result of vote bank politics allowing poor immigrants to settle down.

 

[guest]

i am entrenched in conspiracy theory? lol. which one? that modi orchestrated the riots? thats a conspiracy theory? then who did it? yours truly?

when did i say what happens in pakistan is non-sate? we are talking about india here, not pakistan. so how did you conclude that about my opinion on pakistan? strange.

Believe in what you want to, no body can stop you. I cannot wake people who pretend sleeping and deeply entrenched in conspiracy theories.

What ever happens in Pakistan is non-state and what ever happens in by the State. The whole world is laughing at the non-state theory.

 

[mehwish_ali]

@guest @only_truths

I personally believe that:

1. In Pakistan, State is not involved in Sectarian violence.

2. But a great number of "Bad Elements" have succeeded in entering the Institutions. They are in position of misusing the Gov powers in favour of their wishes to certain extent.



In case of Babari Masjid:

1. Kulyan Singh was not against Muslim community. Also center was not against the Muslim community.

2. But among the Police force and other institutions, there were great number of rough elements, who were supportive of destruction of Babari Mosque. Therefore, they didn't take the action once Babari mosque was attacked.

3. Also political parties were at back step and didn't had the enough will or courage to make "Unpopular" decision against the Majority.

4. But Supreme Court of India does have the Courage to make such Tough Decision.