Srikrishna report takes centrestage at minorities panel meet

The bitterness at the Congress-NCP Government’s inaction on ensuring justice for the riot victims was obvious: When Kurla MLA Arif Naseem Khan, a petitioner in a SC case on the riots, came up to depose, he was shouted down by dozens of activists and riot victims raising slogans against the Government.

Mumbai resident Salim Khan Qazi set the tone at the start: “Three and a half years have passed since this Government came to power. With only a year and a half to go for elections, is this an effort to appease the Muslims again?”

Farid Batatawala, an activist with the Jogeshwari Muslim Front and the Bombay Aman Committee, continued: “The Government is saying it will take action, but there are just two cases progressing in the courts–the Hari Masjid police firing case and that of the incident at Suleiman Usman Bakery. The minorities commission should demand action from the Government on taking action against the policemen indicted by the Srikrishna Commission Report.”