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Journalism of Courage
Last week when The Indian Express highlighted the mass grave in Dahod, where many of the relatives of riot victim Bilkis Yakub Rasool were allegedly dumped after being raped and murdered during the riots, it was the latest in the newspaper’s ongoing coverage which began two years ago with the horrific massacre at Godhra on board the Sabarmati Express.
Reporters and editors working in Gujarat and New Delhi, with inputs from our nationwide network, have systematically uncovered the atrocities, the lies and the cover-up. One reason the stories had an effect was the manner in which the judiciary and the National Human Rights Commission read some of them and pushed for justice for the victims and punishment for those behind one of the most brutal massacres in recent history. A sample of some of our exclusive reports:
GOVT APATHY: On Day One of riots, two Gujarat ministers parked themselves in police control rooms while the banned played on. Other ministers sat at homes and watched the action live on TV
MASS SUPPORT: Guess who was going after the TV sets, the jewellery? Middle-class housewives and their middle-level executives or trader husbands, driving up in cars to run away with the loot from ransacked shops
A CITY DIVIDED: In Vadodara’s Panwad, 200 Muslims who fled the riots are warned, in writings on wall, never to return. In Kadwal, Muslims are asked to ‘‘apologise’’ in writing for a right to return. In Ahmedabad, a brick and mortar wall stands between a Muslim and Hindu colony. The Govt looked the other way
JUSTICE NOT SO BLIND: The anti-terror law POTA is used for all Godhra train attack suspects but not to one of the 800 held for 650 Muslim deaths
WITH FEAR AND FAVOUR: The Govt announces that families of those killed in the Godhra attack will receive Rs 2 lakh while relatives of those killed in the riots will get Rs 1 lakh
BIASED COUNSEL: Many public prosecutors working for justice for victims have links with the VHP and the accused in the riots. After report, SC calls for clean-up
SECOND SHOT AT JUSTICE: Barely one week after the court sets free all 21 accused in the Best Bakery massacre, Sehrunissa Sheikh, one of the main witnesses and wife of the bakery owner, breaks her silence to tell Express she lied in court, trembling with fear. NHRC steps in, case is now in the Supreme Court
RE-OPENING SECOND CASE: Express highlights the case of Bilkis Yakub Rasool, gangraped when she was five-months pregnant and witness to the rape and murder of 14 of her relatives. Gujarat police had shut her case. The Supreme Court ordered the CBI to reopen it
