2003 Marad riots: court finds 63 guilty

Prosecution had arraigned 148 as the accused, but the chargesheet included 139 names. The court framed murder charges, among other offences, against 62 of the accused, while another was found guilty for misusing a Marad mosque for stashing weapons.

Pronouncing the verdict, Judge Babu Mathew P Joseph said the prosecution could not prove the conspiracy charges and there was no evidence against the 76 acquitted. Those who were exonerated by the court were released in the evening.

Marad, a village of Hindu and Muslim fishermen, had reported minor incidents of violence since 1950s. However, the beach emerged as a communal hotspot during the New Year celebrations of 2002, when members of both communities clashed over an eve-teasing incident, leading to the death of five Muslims. Since then, the village had been under police surveillance. As a façade of normalcy returned to the beach, the police lowered guard. But on the dusk of May 2, 2003, fishermen belonging to the Hindu community were attacked by a group of armed assailants, leaving nine dead and over a dozen injured.

Within days, the Congress-led United Democratic Front government constituted a special crime branch team, which submitted the chargesheet in a short period. Considering the magnitude of the case and the number of persons in the list of the accused, a special court complex was erected in Kozhikode in 2004.

In the wake of the carnage, Muslim families in the coast fled, fearing retaliation, which was prevented by the timely intervention of the local police. A huge cache of weapons was recovered from Marad Juma Masjid and other places along the beach. Indian Union Muslim League leader and the present Union Minister E Ahamed had drawn criticism after he ventured into the mosque to offer prayers during the troubled period.

As the Hindu ire failed to die down, the Muslim families had to stay in faraway relief camps for months. It was only after several rounds of concilliatory discussions and a huge compensation of Rs 10 lakh each for the dead that the Hindu organisations allowed the return of Muslim families.

Sangh Parivar organisations also sought a CBI probe into the incident, which was shot down by the then Congress government led by A K Antony. The Congress was apparently under pressure from its ally, the Muslim League, which wanted to cover up the alleged involvement of its leaders. However, Antony was forced to order a judicial probe.

Subsequently, a Judicial Commission, with Thomas P Joseph as the inquiry officer, was formed. The commission, which submitted the report in early 2006, had found that “there had been a larger conspiracy involving Muslim fundamentalists/terrorists and other forces in the planning and execution of Marad massacre. There was no sufficient evidence before the Commission to show the direct involvement of any international agency in the massacre. The Commission had said the activists of CPI(M), RSS and Muslim League were involved in the incident. “It was quite unlikely that those activists indulged in the act without the blessings of their respective leaders, at least at the local level.”

The Commission had observed that the Crime Branch had not investigated into the larger conspiracy involving other forces, the sources of explosives, larger quantity of weapons and source of funding. The Crime Branch’s failure to probe these aspects was quite suspicious and disturbing, it said. The Commission’s observation assumes significance against the backdrop of the special court’s finding that the prosecution could not prove the conspiracy charges.

The present Left Government had asked the Centre to order a CBI probe into the conspiracy and the funding behind the massacre. However, the Centre had turned down the plea on the ground that a partial probe was impractical. However, with an eye on the next election, the state has again sought a CBI probe last month.