New Gujarat riot trial urged


The riots left between 1,000 and 2,000 dead - mostly Muslims
Two key witnesses in the trial of 21 Hindus acquitted of burning 12 Muslims to death during riots in Gujarat say politicians pressured them into retracting their statements.
Sehrunissa Sheikh and her daughter Zahira, 19, on Monday called for a new trial.

Zahira Sheikh said she had lied in court following threats from the western Indian state's ruling Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party.

The call for a new trial came as fact-finders from the National Human Rights Commission arrived in Gujarat to investigate what it has called a "miscarriage of justice".

I gave the names of the criminals who did it but the police did not catch them. I now want justice

Zahira Sheikh

Ms Sheikh said: "I want to reopen the case and want justice for myself and my family members who were burnt to death during the riots on 1 March, 2002".

The 12 Muslims were burned alive when they took refuge in a bakery near the city of Baroda.

The attack happened during riots sparked by the torching of a train carrying Hindu activists a month earlier.

Ms Sheikh said she wanted a fresh trial in Bombay (Mumbai) because she did not trust the Gujarat legal system.

The Hindus were acquitted last month at a court in Vadodara, 100 kilometres (60 miles) south of Ahmedabad, Gujarat's capital.

Secret location

Ms Sheikh said she had retracted her statement because she feared for her life.


The death of 58 Hindus in a train arson attack sparked the riots

"I had no choice but to lie. But now I have realised that I should get justice because my integrity is being questioned."

During the trial, Ms Sheikh changed her story to say she was hiding in a room above the bakery and did not see the attackers' faces.

She now says she knew the men.

"I gave the names of the criminals who did it but the police did not catch them. I now want justice," she said.

A social group, the Citizens Forum for Peace and Justice, is backing Ms Sheikh's call for a Bombay trial.

Forum secretary Teesta Setalvad said it would soon file a petition for retrial outside of Gujarat.

She said the two witnesses would be kept in a secret location.

Tough task

A total of 35 of the 73 witnesses in the Gujarat trial retracted in court the statements they had given to police identifying the attackers.

Several of those now say they were also forced into the retractions.

Members of the National Human Rights Commission arrived in Ahmedabad on Monday to check legal documents on the case.

One commission member, social worker Gagan Sethi said the team would also interview people in Baroda related to the case.

The commission will not have an easy task. Advocates in Baroda have already filed a contempt of court petition against it for using the words "miscarriage of justice".

Legal analysts say also that the state government would have to file an appeal against the verdict, an action it has shown no sign of taking.

Many rights activists feel that the best that can be achieved now is to stop other cases related to the riots falling apart.

Between 1,000 and 2,000 people, most of them Muslims, were killed in three months of religious violence across the state that followed the torching of 58 Hindus on a train in Godhra

BBC News service