Court acquits 22 persons involved in killing of 17 Muslims in Gujarat violence
New Delhi, January 27 (KMS): A local court in Indian state Gujarat has acquitted 22 people involved in killing of 17 Muslims during the 2002 violence.
On February 28, 2002, Gujarat state was engulfed in anti-Muslim violence, killing at least 2000 people, most of whom were Muslims, as per independent reports.
The violence had also reached the Halol district, where 17 people, including children, were killed and their bodies charred beyond recognition to avoid police scrutiny.
The state-wide riots were triggered by an incident of train burning in Godhra on February 27, 2002, in which Hindu pilgrims, returning from Ayodhya, were burnt to death.
The fire was started by an unidentified person of the Hindu passenger who stood “in the passage of the compartment” and used a large quantity of highly-inflammable liquid to start the deadly fire.
The court’s ruling comes at a time when the Modi government has barred all social media content linked to the first episode of the BBC series – India: The Modi Question – after proclaiming an emergency under the new Information Technology Act last week.
The documentary pertains to Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s leadership as chief minister of western Gujarat state during the 2002 riots that killed over 1,000 people, mostly Muslims.
