HRW ACCUSES MODI GOVERNMENT OF SUBVERTING JUSTICE

New York-based Human Rights Watch (HRW) in its report alleged that the authorities in Gujarat are “subverting justice, protecting perpetrators and intimidating those promoting accountability 10 years after the anti-Muslim riots that killed nearly 2,000 people”. Titled as “India: A decade on, Gujarat Justice Incomplete, Victims of Anti-Muslim Violence Cite State Government Delays, Intimidation,” alleges that the Modi government has “resisted the Supreme Court orders to prosecute those responsible for the carnage and has failed to provide most survivors with compensation”.

“The 2002 violence against Muslims in Gujarat persists as a dark blot on India’s reputation for religious equality,” said Meenakshi Ganguly, South Asia director at Human Rights Watch, in her report.

“Instead of prosecuting senior state and police officials implicated in the atrocities, the Gujarat authorities have engaged in denial and obstruction of justice,” the report says. The report accuses Chief Minister Narendra Modi and his BJP government of “obstructing justice’’. It also accuses the government prosecutors “acting like defence counsels” in the riot cases. It says while the probe in Godhra train attack progressed very fast, probe into cases related to attacks on Muslims were slow or was not pursued at all.

“State police failed to investigate senior BJP leaders despite telephone records proving their presence at the scene of the riots in Naroda Patia and Naroda Gam, and witness testimony that these senior leaders provided the mob with lethal weapons and instigated attacks on Muslims,” the report alleges.