Ahmedabad (Gujarat): Two days after, a special Investigation Team (SIT) ruled out a larger conspiracy in the 2002 Gujarat riots before the Supreme Court, an eyewitness told ETV Bharat "69 people, including former Congress MP Ehsan Jafri, were burnt to death".
On November 25, the SIT formed to investigate the case, told the Supreme Court that the allegation of a larger conspiracy in the 2002 Gujarat riots has been “blown out of proportion” by claiming that several persons in the then state government, right from the highest to the lowest, were “complicit”.
Speaking to ETV Bharat, Imtiaz Khan Pathan, who lived in bungalow No.18 of Gulbarg Society in Ahmedabad where the incident happened, said, "Unfortunately, the SIT has given a clean chit to 64 people, including the then chief minister Narendra Modi.
However, Zakia Jafri, wife of slain Congress leader, challenged the SIT's clean chit to the suspects and the top court has been hearing the case for the last one week.
On February 8, 2012, the SIT had filed a closure report giving a clean chit to PM Modi and others, including senior government officials, saying there was "no prosecutable evidence" against them.
The SIT told a bench headed by Justice A. M. Khanwilkar that they have examined everybody, right from then CM Modi to others, and devoted a huge amount of time on all the issues raised in the complaint filed by Zakia Jafri who has alleged larger conspiracy during the riots.
Even after 20 years, Zakia is fighting for the people who were killed in a mob attack on Gulbarg Society on February 28, 2002. The attack on Gulberg Society came a day after 59 people, mainly Hindu pilgrims, died after the Sabarmati Express was set afire at Godhra in Gujarat.
Pathan also cited Zakia Jafri's lawyer Kapil Sibal who told the Supreme Court that 69 people were killed and treated like animals during the 2002 riots under a conspiracy. He added that the riots were planned and a conspiracy was hatched to eliminate Muslims. Sibal also told the court that the SIT had not properly investigated and the then chief minister was given a clean chit.
"However, we believe that Narendra Modi is responsible for the communal riots and he should be punished. In addition, legal action should be taken against those who are accused," Pathan said, adding that they expect justice from the Supreme Court.
The massacre at Gulbarg Society was one of the worst incidents during the post-Godhra riots.
