Journalism of Courage
Zakia Jafri, one of the victims of violence at Gulbarg society during the 2002 Gujarat riots, revisited the area on the anniversary day for a prayer meeting on Tuesday. (Express Photo by Nirmal Harindran)
Zakia is the widow of Congress MP Ehsan Jafri who along with 68 others was killed inside the gated society, a lower-middle-class Muslim neighbourhood in Chamanpura, Ahmedabad, a day after the Godhra riots. (Express Photo by Nirmal Harindran)
Last year, the Supreme Court dismissed a plea filed by Zakia Jafri challenging a clean chit given by the Special Investigation Team (SIT) to then Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi and several others in the riots. (Express Photo by Nirmal Harindran)
The top court held that Zakia’s appeal was “devoid of merits and deserves to be dismissed”. (Express Photo by Nirmal Harindran)
The bench said the “allegations regarding larger conspiracy at the highest level…is founded on the alleged utterances made by the then CM in an official meeting while addressing the DGP, the then Chief Secretary and etc."(Express Photo by Nirmal Harindran)
In her plea, the petitioner had relied on the statements of police officers Sanjiv Bhatt, who claimed to have attended the meeting, and R B Sreekumar, and former Minister Haren Pandya, the court noted. (Express Photo by Nirmal Harindran)
But the SIT had concluded “that the claim of concerned persons is false and figment of imagination”, it added. (Express Photo by Nirmal Harindran)
Zakia Jafri has been fighting for justice since 2006, when she submitted a complaint stating the police had not registered FIRs against Modi and other top politicians in connection with the violence. (Express Photo by Nirmal Harindran)
Zakia’s call for justice gained momentum in 2008 when the Supreme Court ordered the government to re-investigate nine cases including the Gulberg Society incident.(Express Photo by Nirmal Harindran)
It then set up a special investigation team (SIT) to look into Jafri’s complaint, which filed a closure report in 2012 stating that it found no evidence against the accused. (Express Photo by Nirmal Harindran)
At the time Zakia had said, “Now, the real fight will begin. The court will have to listen to us before coming to any conclusion.” (Express Photo by Nirmal Harindran)
A view of Gulberg society abandoned following post-riots litigations. Several victims and their relatives visited the society today. (Express Photo by Nirmal Harindran)
