Eleven people were sentenced to death yesterday, and another 20 given life sentences. This was for their roles in the great crime of February 27, 2002: the torching by a mob of a coach on a train in Godhra that killed 59 people.
The judge called this crime the "rarest of the rare", that formulation that is used to decide on the appropriateness of the death sentence.
The next day -- February 28, 2002 -- yes, the very next day, a mob attacked Gulberg society in Ahmedabad. They set the building on fire, pulled some of its residents out and hacked them to death. They killed 69 people.
Was this also a crime that could be described as the "rarest of the rare"? I don't know and I don't much care, really. But ask yourself this: has anyone been punished for that great crime, as 31 people have been sentenced for the great crime from the day before?
There's more. But hey, You Fill in the Rest -- that's my guest post on Kafila.
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7 comments:
I'm actually looking for a site that tracks the progress or lack of it on these cases. If anybody knows and Dilip is okay with it could they please post some links here.
thanks,
Jai
Dilip,
Did you study in the land that killed 1000s and let many more suffer by the drop of an atom bomb, were they punished? If not was it because it helped end a war?
I'm happy for I live in a peaceful Country.
Surya, and your point is?
Good Kafila posting. In the land of your study the punishments for the minorities is harsher too. The way of the world. Thanks for taking a stand against the blankety-blank unequal justice.
Not really there but closest I could get so far, a page set up for 8 critical cases:
http://www.cjponline.org/gujaratTrials/trialindex.htm
thx,
Jai
other possibles:
http://gujarathc-casestatus.nic.in/gujarathc/litigant.jsp
http://www.dancewithshadows.com/gujarat_godhra_riots.asp
(not updated)
http://www.asianage.com/india/verdict-8-major-cases-will-take-time-017
Actually, Surya raises, somewhat indirectly, an entirely legitimate issue.
We often read about this country or that country being sanctioned in some way. Whether it is trade sanctions, diplomatic sanctions or more serious political sanctions, backed by some military force.
Isn't it curious that not a *single* one of these countries are Western?
When the British were committing human rights violations in India, who sanctioned them? When the Portuguese were slaughtering Angolans and Guineans, how many Western countries broke off diplomatic ties, imposed economic sanctions and imposed restrictions on travel? When the French were fighting that awful Algerian war of independence, where were the British, Americans, Swiss, Dutch and Italians with economic and political punishment on France. When the Belgians were doing their horrendous things in the Congo, how much did Belgium as a country have to suffer economically and politically from the rest of the world, particularly the Western world?
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