The morning after the train fire, Bilkis Bano - then 19 and pregnant with her second child - was visiting her parents in a village called Randhikpur near Godhra with her three-year-old daughter. I met Bilkis Bano in May 2017 at a safe house in Delhi, just days after the Bombay High Court had confirmed the life sentences of the 11 convicted in her case.įighting back tears, she recounted the horrors of the attack.įor three days in 2002, Hindu mobs went on a rampage in Gujarat
This included Maya Kodnani, an ex-minister and aide to Mr Modi, whom a trial court had called " the kingpin of the riots".Īnd now the men who wronged Bilkis Bano have also been set free. Over the years, the courts have convicted dozens of people for involvement in the riots, but some high-profile accused got bail or were exonerated by higher courts. But critics have continued to blame him for the riots happening on his watch. In 2013, a Supreme Court panel also said that there was insufficient evidence to prosecute him. He has always denied wrongdoing and has not apologised for the riots. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who was then Gujarat chief minister, was criticised for not doing enough to prevent the carnage. Over three days, more than 1,000 people died, most of them Muslims. The attack on Bilkis Bano and her family was one of the most horrific crimes during the riots, which began after 60 Hindu pilgrims died in a fire on a passenger train in Godhra town.īlaming Muslims for starting the fire, Hindu mobs went on a rampage, attacking Muslim neighbourhoods. The riots began after a fire on a passenger train in Godhra town killed 60 Hindu pilgrims Attacks on the community have risen sharply since the BJP formed the federal government in 2014.
It's been criticised by opposition parties, activists and several journalists, who have said it discriminates against India's minority Muslims.
The decision to free the convicts has caused massive outrage in India. On Thursday, one of them said "the convicts were Brahmins and had good sanskaar ". The decision to free the convicts was announced by the Gujarat government on Monday, as India celebrated its 75th anniversary of independence.Ī senior official said a government panel had approved the application for remission as the men - first convicted by a trial court in 2008 - had spent more than 14 years in jail, and after considering other factors such as their age and behaviour in prison.Īn unsavoury row also broke out after reports that the panel included two legislators from Gujarat's governing Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) - the Hindu nationalist party which is also in power nationally. The article contains details that some readers may find disturbing The release of these convicts has taken from me my peace and shaken my faith in justice," she wrote, appealing to the Gujarat government to "undo this harm" and "give me back my right to live without fear and in peace". I trusted the system, and I was learning slowly to live with my trauma. "How can justice for any woman end like this? I trusted the highest courts in our land. One who strives to live these three words is truly a believer."When I heard that the convicts who had devastated my family and life had walked free, I was bereft of words.
Being a believer is shown by our ability to respond to reality as it presents itself to us (judgment), by knowing how to love others as they are, that is, in their fallen nature (mercy), and by the consistency of how we make choices that do not contradict what we think is true, good, and right (fidelity).
Judgment, mercy, and fidelity are the three words Jesus highlights in today’s Gospel to show us the Magna Carta of a believer’s morality.īeing in a relationship with God is not measured by how neurotically we defend rules and emphasize minor details. If instead of being fair in our judgment we become cunning, instead of being merciful we become rigid, and instead of being faithful we become opportunistic, then what is the point?