Crime and punishment

The destruction of records in 2007 will badly affect court hearing continuing in Gujrat riot cases and its verdict.

There is shocking news from India. We have been told that State Intelligence Bureau records pertaining to the 2002 Gujarat riots that led to the death of at least 790 Muslims and 257 Hindus were destroyed in 2007. Speaking in New Dehli, Manish Tewari, the Congress Party spokesperson, has described this as a conspiracy by BJP Chief Minister Narendra Modi, the man thought by many to be the architect of the pogram which left the world in shock. At the time, 523 places of worship were damaged, while tens of thousands of Muslims fled the province.

It is believed that the process of the destruction of the records took place in 2007 with state officials in Gujarat describing this as a part of the routine manner in which things are done. Most documents related to police actions, or rather inactions, which allowed the massacres to take place. Their absence may badly affect the court hearing continuing in the case and the final outcome that is reached in the matter. This also does not say much for the state of democracy in India given that it has happened in so critical a case. The repercussions of this could impact the country’s secularism claims and the status of minority populations in many of its provinces. The description of the eradication of the records as routine only adds insult to injury. There is clearly a role played in this by Modi and the thugs who work with him.

It is now too late to restore the files. But the matter needs to be investigated fully and in great detail. This is the only way in which some justice can be done to the victims of the 2002 riots. Many continue to suffer because of the destruction of businesses and shops that took place at the time. It is uncertain how the court hearing the case will respond in the matter. But the Indian government must take action to restore its badly damaged credentials as a country able to protect all its citizens and offer them an equal role in society.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 2^nd, 2011.