BBC, New Delhi :
A court in India has found 24 people guilty of involvement in one of the most notorious massacres during the 2002 anti-Muslim riots in Gujarat.
The special court acquitted 36 others in the so-called Gulbarg Society killings in Ahmedabad city.
Celebrations erupted in the court room in Ahmedabad after the verdicts were read out, with victims and their families clapping and thanking the judge.
“I am happy 24 accused were convicted but sad that 36 others have been acquitted. This is incomplete justice and I will fight till the end,” Zakia Jafri, whose husband was killed in the massacre, told reporters.
The massacre was one of the single worst incidents of the days-long riots that swept across Gujarat and left more than 1,000 people dead in total.
More than 300 witnesses gave evidence during the years-long trial that was delayed for so long by petitions and appeals that several of the original accused died.
Prosecutors are seeking life in prison for all accused of storming the Gulbarg Society complex and burning and hacking to death Muslims who were hiding there.
The riots have long dogged Modi who as Gujarat chief minister was accused of turning a blind eye to the violence, claims that he denies.
The violence was triggered by the death of 59 Hindu pilgrims and nationalists in a train fire on Feb 27, 2002 that was initially blamed on Muslims.
Hindus angry for revenge rampaged through Muslim neighbourhoods in some of India’s worst religious riots since independence from Britain and partition in 1947. More than 1,000 people, most of them Muslims, were killed in three months of violence that hit the state after that. Riot-related cases often move slowly through India’s creaky legal system.
More than 100 people have already been convicted over the riots.
A mob attacked the complex, hacking and burning 69 people to death.
The riots were some of the worst since Indian independence. More than 1,000 people, mostly Muslims, died after a train fire killed 60 Hindu pilgrims.
Muslims were blamed for starting the train fire, and Hindu mobs eager for revenge went on the rampage through Muslim neighbourhoods in towns and villages across Gujarat during three days of violence that followed.
Critics of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who was the state chief minister at the time, say he did little to stop the riots.
The Gulbarg residential complex in Ahmedabad was one of the targets where many Muslims were burnt to death and their properties set on fire.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi was the state’s chief minister at that time of the riots, and Muslim leaders and human rights groups say Modi and his Hindu nationalist government did little to stop the violence, which he has denied.
India’s Supreme Court has said it has found no evidence to prosecute him for the violence.
On Thursday, 11 people were convicted of murder in connection with the attack, while the others were found guilty of lesser charges.
Among those convicted is a local leader of the hardline Hindu group Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP).
Sentencing is scheduled for Monday.
Judge PB Desai said there was no evidence that the attack was planned and dropped charges of criminal conspiracy against the accused.
A court in India has found 24 people guilty of involvement in one of the most notorious massacres during the 2002 anti-Muslim riots in Gujarat.
The special court acquitted 36 others in the so-called Gulbarg Society killings in Ahmedabad city.
Celebrations erupted in the court room in Ahmedabad after the verdicts were read out, with victims and their families clapping and thanking the judge.
“I am happy 24 accused were convicted but sad that 36 others have been acquitted. This is incomplete justice and I will fight till the end,” Zakia Jafri, whose husband was killed in the massacre, told reporters.
The massacre was one of the single worst incidents of the days-long riots that swept across Gujarat and left more than 1,000 people dead in total.
More than 300 witnesses gave evidence during the years-long trial that was delayed for so long by petitions and appeals that several of the original accused died.
Prosecutors are seeking life in prison for all accused of storming the Gulbarg Society complex and burning and hacking to death Muslims who were hiding there.
The riots have long dogged Modi who as Gujarat chief minister was accused of turning a blind eye to the violence, claims that he denies.
The violence was triggered by the death of 59 Hindu pilgrims and nationalists in a train fire on Feb 27, 2002 that was initially blamed on Muslims.
Hindus angry for revenge rampaged through Muslim neighbourhoods in some of India’s worst religious riots since independence from Britain and partition in 1947. More than 1,000 people, most of them Muslims, were killed in three months of violence that hit the state after that. Riot-related cases often move slowly through India’s creaky legal system.
More than 100 people have already been convicted over the riots.
A mob attacked the complex, hacking and burning 69 people to death.
The riots were some of the worst since Indian independence. More than 1,000 people, mostly Muslims, died after a train fire killed 60 Hindu pilgrims.
Muslims were blamed for starting the train fire, and Hindu mobs eager for revenge went on the rampage through Muslim neighbourhoods in towns and villages across Gujarat during three days of violence that followed.
Critics of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who was the state chief minister at the time, say he did little to stop the riots.
The Gulbarg residential complex in Ahmedabad was one of the targets where many Muslims were burnt to death and their properties set on fire.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi was the state’s chief minister at that time of the riots, and Muslim leaders and human rights groups say Modi and his Hindu nationalist government did little to stop the violence, which he has denied.
India’s Supreme Court has said it has found no evidence to prosecute him for the violence.
On Thursday, 11 people were convicted of murder in connection with the attack, while the others were found guilty of lesser charges.
Among those convicted is a local leader of the hardline Hindu group Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP).
Sentencing is scheduled for Monday.
Judge PB Desai said there was no evidence that the attack was planned and dropped charges of criminal conspiracy against the accused.
