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Gujarat riots: BJP's Maya Kodnani jailed for 28 years | |
(about 3 hours later) | |
An Indian court has sentenced a senior BJP party member to 28 years in jail for her part in murdering 97 people in the 2002 Gujarat religious riots. | An Indian court has sentenced a senior BJP party member to 28 years in jail for her part in murdering 97 people in the 2002 Gujarat religious riots. |
Maya Kodnani, an ex-minister and aide to Chief Minister Narendra Modi, is the most senior figure so far convicted. | |
Thirty others received life sentences for their part in the killings in Naroda Patiya, a suburb of Ahmedabad. | Thirty others received life sentences for their part in the killings in Naroda Patiya, a suburb of Ahmedabad. |
The riots left more than 1,000 people, mostly Muslims, dead, and were among India's worst outbreaks of unrest. | |
The rioting began after 60 Hindu pilgrims died in a train fire blamed on Muslims in the town of Godhra. | |
Ms Kodnani was not a minister at the time of the riots, but was appointed junior minister for women and child development by Mr Modi in 2007. | Ms Kodnani was not a minister at the time of the riots, but was appointed junior minister for women and child development by Mr Modi in 2007. |
She quit her post when she was arrested in 2009 in connection with the massacre but remained a member of the state assembly. | She quit her post when she was arrested in 2009 in connection with the massacre but remained a member of the state assembly. |
On Wednesday she was convicted of murder, attempted murder and conspiracy. Thirty-one others were also found guilty of involvement in the case. One of those convicted has never been brought to justice and was tried in absentia. | |
Babu Bajrangi, a former leader of the militant Hindu group Bajrang Dal, was found guilty on the same charges as Ms Kodnani. He has been sentenced to remain in jail until he dies. | |
'Kingpin of riots' | |
Announcing the sentences on Friday, Judge Jyotsna Yagnik named Ms Kodnani as "a kingpin of riots" in the Naroda Patiya area. | |
"Communal riots are like cancer on constitutional secularism and the incident in Naroda Patiya was a black chapter in the history of the Indian constitution," the Press Trust of India quoted him as saying. | |
"Acts of communal [religious] violence are brutal, inhuman and shameful. It was a clear incident of human rights violation as 97 people were killed brutally within a day which included helpless women, children, aged persons. | |
"The climax of this inhuman and brutal act of violence was reflected in [the] murder of an infant, who was 20 days old," the judge said. | |
Following Ms Kodnani's conviction on Wednesday, Gujarat's ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government quickly distanced itself from her saying that she had not been a state minister at the time of the riots. | |
Correspondents, however, say her conviction is an embarrassment for Mr Modi who elevated her to ministerial office in 2007 despite being aware that her in the riots was being investigated. | |
Gujarat assembly elections are due later in the year and the Congress party is bound to use the court ruling to criticise Mr Modi during the campaign. | |
Mr Modi, touted by some as a future prime minister, has been accused of not doing anything to stop the riots - a charge he has always denied. | |
Ninety-five bodies were found after the Naroda Patiya massacre - the worst of the Gujarat riots cases - on 28 February 2002. The bodies of two other people missing after the massacre and presumed dead were never found. | |
The trial began in August 2009 and charges were brought against 62 people. One of the accused died during the trial. | The trial began in August 2009 and charges were brought against 62 people. One of the accused died during the trial. |