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Gujarat 2002 riot survivors unimpressed by fast

AHMEDABAD — Narendra Modi may have expressed his sadness at the death of innocent people in the 2002 communal clashes in Gujarat in his speech on the first day of his three-day fast on Saturday but the chief minister’s emotional outpouring has failed to impress the survivors of the bloody riots.

About 500 men, women and children who lost their homes and businesses in the mindless massacre gathered on Sunday and staged a demonstration in the Naroda Patia locality here where 95 Muslims were done to death.

According to an official of the Jan Sangharsh Manch, an NGO offering free legal aid to the riot-hit, which had organised the protest, the hapless survivors have reiterated their demand for justice and an open letter signed by hundreds of victims is being dashed off to Modi telling him that there could not be goodwill without justice.

“On our part, we declare that we have no ill-feeling towards our Hindu brothers and sisters despite our terrible loss and sufferings. We alone can create real ‘Sadbhavana’ (goodwill) by uniting and defeating the forces of fraud and deception”, reads the letter.

But while many riot-affected Muslims have come to terms with all that they lost in the riots, several others are finding it hard to forget the past. Tanvir Jafri, son of former Congress MP Ehsan Jafri who was killed in the riots in the Gulberg Society, said that what Modi was trying to project before the people was not a reality of Muslims

“There is no justice done yet to the riot-affected in Gujarat,” he told this newspaper.

Najma Bibi, who house was badly damaged by rioters said that she had suffered a lot in the past years, adding that such fast meant nothing to her.

mahesh@khaleejtimes.com