Living in fear in Gujarat: report
1 Aug 2012 7:26 AM IST
Voicing concern over the slow pace of proceedings in punishing perpetrators of the 2002 Gujarat riots, a US report on international religious freedom has said that Muslims in the state 'still fear' persecution.
The report claimed that despite the Congress-led national government's rejection of 'Hindutva', several BJP-ruled states continued to be influenced by the ideology.
The State Department, in the Congressional-mandated annual report on international religious freedom, said it 'continued to express concern' to government officials, NGOs and religious leaders over the 'slow pace' of bringing the perpetrators of the 2002 violence in Gujarat to justice.
Devoting a considerable portion in the India section of the report to the 2002 Gujarat riots, the State Department said civil society activists continued to express concern about the state government's failure to arrest those responsible for the violence.
'Media reports indicated some Muslims still feared repercussions from Hindu neighbours as they waited for the court cases to be resolved,' it said, pointing out that several thousands still lived in refugee camps.
It claimed that several victims have accused the Special Investigation Team (SIT), appointed by the Supreme Court in March 2008, of pressuring them to dilute their testimonies.
'In many of the cases tried in Gujarat's lower courts, the accused were acquitted due to a lack of evidence or changes in the testimony. Three of nine major cases stemming from the 2002 Gujarat riots made partial progress during the year. The Supreme Court asked the SIT to probe these nine cases in March 2008,' it pointed out.
'Hundreds of other court cases stemming from the 2002 violence (which were not in the purview of the SIT) remained unsettled,' the report said.
The State Department cited the Supreme Court's direction to a trial court in Gujarat to probe whether Chief Minister Narendra Modi and 60 others could be prosecuted for their role in the riots and referred Zakia Jafri's complaint to the Gujarat state courts in the Gulberg Society massacre case.
'The trial court had not pronounced its verdict at the end of the year,' said the report. The International Religious Freedom Report for 2011 also listed the ban on cow slaughter and anti-conversion bills by the BJP-ruled states like Gujarat and Karnataka as developments influenced by Hindutva.
After the State Department released the report, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said the Obama administration has 'elevated' religious freedom as a diplomatic priority.
'Together with governments, international organisations, and civil society, we have worked to shape and implement United Nations Human Rights Council Resolution 16/18, which seeks to protect people under attack or discriminated against because of their faith,' Clinton said.
The US raises these issues at the highest levels in international settings, she said, adding she had personally discussed religious freedom in every region of the world, sometimes over and over again.
'We've appointed our first envoy to the Organization of Islamic Cooperation,' Clinton noted in her address to the Carnegie Endowment.
The report claimed that despite the Congress-led national government's rejection of 'Hindutva', several BJP-ruled states continued to be influenced by the ideology.
The State Department, in the Congressional-mandated annual report on international religious freedom, said it 'continued to express concern' to government officials, NGOs and religious leaders over the 'slow pace' of bringing the perpetrators of the 2002 violence in Gujarat to justice.
Devoting a considerable portion in the India section of the report to the 2002 Gujarat riots, the State Department said civil society activists continued to express concern about the state government's failure to arrest those responsible for the violence.
'Media reports indicated some Muslims still feared repercussions from Hindu neighbours as they waited for the court cases to be resolved,' it said, pointing out that several thousands still lived in refugee camps.
It claimed that several victims have accused the Special Investigation Team (SIT), appointed by the Supreme Court in March 2008, of pressuring them to dilute their testimonies.
'In many of the cases tried in Gujarat's lower courts, the accused were acquitted due to a lack of evidence or changes in the testimony. Three of nine major cases stemming from the 2002 Gujarat riots made partial progress during the year. The Supreme Court asked the SIT to probe these nine cases in March 2008,' it pointed out.
'Hundreds of other court cases stemming from the 2002 violence (which were not in the purview of the SIT) remained unsettled,' the report said.
The State Department cited the Supreme Court's direction to a trial court in Gujarat to probe whether Chief Minister Narendra Modi and 60 others could be prosecuted for their role in the riots and referred Zakia Jafri's complaint to the Gujarat state courts in the Gulberg Society massacre case.
'The trial court had not pronounced its verdict at the end of the year,' said the report. The International Religious Freedom Report for 2011 also listed the ban on cow slaughter and anti-conversion bills by the BJP-ruled states like Gujarat and Karnataka as developments influenced by Hindutva.
After the State Department released the report, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said the Obama administration has 'elevated' religious freedom as a diplomatic priority.
'Together with governments, international organisations, and civil society, we have worked to shape and implement United Nations Human Rights Council Resolution 16/18, which seeks to protect people under attack or discriminated against because of their faith,' Clinton said.
The US raises these issues at the highest levels in international settings, she said, adding she had personally discussed religious freedom in every region of the world, sometimes over and over again.
'We've appointed our first envoy to the Organization of Islamic Cooperation,' Clinton noted in her address to the Carnegie Endowment.
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