HAIL JUSTICE, HAIL INDIA
29 AUG
2012
A moment providing a sense
of partial closure arises in the historic verdict handed down by a special
court here in Ahmedabad today in the infamous Naroda Patia case It is a moment
of victory for justice, for Indian state, for its constitution, for its Supreme
Court [that oversaw this case, got SIT to investigate it, but for which Gujarat
judiciary would have all but wound it up], for all those tireless heroes like
@teesta setalvad who ceaselessly – and often thanklessly - worked for justice,
for SIT which salvaged some pride for itself after having absolved Modi of all
guilt.
It is a moment of pride for
all conscience keepers, for human rights champions, for all good Hindus. It is a
moment that may provide some, even if partial, sense of closure to the victims
of the carnage. Of particular satisfaction to me personally is the conviction of
the so-called Dr Maya Kodnani – MLA thrice, and a sitting minister in Modi’s
cabinet – and of Babu Bajrangi who claimed on Tehelka tape to have sunk scores
of Muslim bodies down the well personally and received the pat and protection
of Modi later for months.
One hopes that when the courageous
Additional Principal Judge Jyotsna Yagnik announces the punishment on August 31
it will be “hang till death” at least for these two “leaders”.
I happen to have two
painful memorabilia from this ghostly place when it lay all darkened black,
deserted and smelling the eerie silence of death: one a woman’s bangle who was
reportedly gang-raped and killed at the very spot where I picked it from; and
the other, a page from Quran, lying on the street floor, bearing marks of
shoe-soles. These two unconnected items framed and hoisted, one each, at my
office and home, served to remind me when I got tired and frustrated, exhausted
and tempted to wind up the social work, that the agenda is unfinished, that
there is work to be done.
In the end I wish Pakistani
judiciary is watching. Many a Rinkal Kumaris is awaiting its pro-active intervention,
with the same zeal that its Supreme Court is showing in chasing its Prime
Minister.
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