The Supreme Court order for fresh probe into some Gujarat riot cases has come as a sign of relief in the dark times of the Gujarat riots history. Gujarat, which is famous for the flip flop case of Zahira Sheikh, the judiciary quietly watching and ignoring all the witnesses turning hostile, but preferring to accept the version of the state despite all the holes in its argument. It was the transfer of the case to Maharashtra that brought forward the truth. The same was repeated in case of Bilkis Bano. The transfer of cases away from the state gave some justice to her. Now with the intervention of National Human Rights Commission and Teesta Setalvad many other cases with serious portents on the fate of justice for the victims will be reinvestigated properly. By now it is crystal clear that communal carnage is the total violation of the democratic norms and laws. Gujarat of course is the worst case as far as justice delivery is concerned. The question is: Will the chief perpetrator of the crime, Narendra Modi, who is hiding his blood-stained hands, will be brought to book?
Md Salimullah Khan
Nagpur