Survivors and kin of victims have hailed the life imprisonment awarded to those convicted for their involvement in the 2002 post-Godhra Naroda Patiya riots and said that justice has finally been served.<\/p>\n
Dilwar Saiyed, 60, the primary witness whose testimony nailed BJP MLA and former minister Maya Kodnani, said he will get some peace now that she has been convicted. Saiyed, a scrap dealer in the area, had a fractured leg owing to the injuries caused to him while he tried to escape the riot.<\/p>\n
\u201cI have spent 10 years thinking about the horrific attack. There has not been a day when I have not cried remembering the terror I saw at the patiya. Now that the special court has given the verdict, I am at peace, albeit not entirely,\u201d Saiyed told IANS.<\/p>\n
\u201cAt least 100 families have been destroyed due to the riots. I will just pray that nobody, be it from any community, sees such a dance of death,\u201d he told in a choked voice.<\/p>\n
A special Gujarat court Friday sentenced Kodnani to 28 years in jail for her involvement in the 2002 post-Godhra Naroda Patiya riots.<\/p>\n
On February 28, 2002, 97 persons were killed in rioting in Naroda. Of the 94 bodies found, 84 were identified. Three people are still missing.<\/p>\n
Former Bajrang Dal leader Babu Bajrangi, who was also convicted in the case, has been awarded life imprisonment till death. The remaining 30 convicts were also awarded life terms.<\/p>\n
Auto-rickshaw driver Haroon Sheikh said that the conspirators of the crime have finally got the punishment they deserved.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy wife and my son, who was only over a year old, were killed in front of my eyes by a mob along with 10 others of my family. I could not do anything to save them except watch helplessly,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI will not be able to come to terms with the incident knowing that those rich people are finally behind bars,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n
Raza Sheikh, who was only 12 when he lost his mother and sister to this communal disharmony, said that their souls will now rest in peace.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was with my mother and sister when the riot broke out. My mother helped me jump a fence so that I could run to safety. I escaped, but my mother and sister could not. It tore me and my father apart when we had to go and identify their charred bodies three days later,\u201d he told IANS.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy father will finally find some solace in the fact that the killers of his wife are suitably punished. His patience and dedication to my mother\u2019s memory has finally paid off,\u201d said Raza, now 22 years old.<\/p>\n
Social activist Teesta Setalvad, who has been fighting for justice for the victims, hailed the verdict and sentencing and said it is a \u201chuge moment\u201d for the country.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe victims and their kin are completely satisfied with the manner in which the court has given an exemplary punishment,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is the first time that a politician\u2019s involvement in communal violence has been recognised,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n
Taking potshots at the Narendra Modi-led BJP government in Gujarat, Setalvad said: \u201cThe BJP can say what it likes, but the rest of the country knows better.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Survivors and kin of victims have hailed the life imprisonment awarded to those convicted for their involvement in the 2002 post-Godhra Naroda Patiya riots and said that justice has finally been served. Dilwar Saiyed, 60, the primary witness whose testimony nailed BJP MLA and former minister Maya Kodnani, said he will get some peace now […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[1],"tags":[13651,13654,13648,13645,13650,13649,13647,13652,13653,10127,13646],"class_list":["post-22972","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-top-law-news","tag-bajrang-dal-leader-babu-bajrangi","tag-communal-disharmony","tag-godhra-naroda-patiya-riots","tag-gujarat-riot-victims-hail-life-terms-for-accused","tag-killed-in-rioting-in-naroda","tag-kodnani-to-28-years-in-jail","tag-minister-maya-kodnani","tag-narendra-modi-led-bjp","tag-politicians-involvement-in-communal-violence","tag-social-activist-teesta-setalvad","tag-survivors-and-kin-of-victims"],"yoast_head":"\n