Security protection was given to 131 people based on recommendation from the Supreme Court-appointed investigators.
Team Clarion
NEW DELHI – The Gujarat government has withdrawn the security protection extended to witnesses, lawyers and a former judge in some of the most significant legal cases in the 2002 anti-Muslim pogrom.
A total of 130 witnesses, lawyers and judges have been under police protection for over 15 years on the recommendation of an investigative committee set up by the Supreme Court.
These people were involved in some of the most significant cases arising out of the riots, including the Naroda Patiya massacre in which close to 100 Muslims were killed by a mob of approximately 5,000 people.
In another massacre at Gulbarg Society, a Muslim neighbourhood near Ahmedabad, many houses were razed to the ground and at least 35 people, including former Congress MP Ehsan Jafri, were burnt alive. At least 31 others went missing after the incident and were later presumed dead, bringing the total deaths to 69.
“We have removed the security from witnesses after reviewing that there was no threat perception. None of them faced intimidation or assault,” A.K. Malhotra from the Supreme Court-appointed Special Investigation Team (SIT) was quoted by Deccan Herald as saying.
The only exception has been made for Zakia Jafri, the widow of parliamentarian Jafri, belonging to the opposing Congress party, who will continue to receive witness protection.
Among those losing their police protection was sessions judge Jyotsna Yagnik, who had convicted 32 people in the Naroda Patiya massacre. She received two layers of security cover after receiving threats on 18 separate occasions, a report in The Times of India said.
Expressing her distress over losing police protection, Farida Shaikh, 54, a witness in the Naroda Patiya riot case, says that she was informed about the withdrawal of her security cover on 26 December. “No reason was given to me,” Ms Shaikh told the Press Trust of India.
“It has happened with many other witnesses. We are living in fear because many accused are still out and they can still harm us.”
