Godhra riots: An unhealed wound

Ahmedabad: Remember Godhra! the scene of anti-Muslim riots in Gujarat seven years ago. The burnt coach of the Sabarmati Express still stands today reminding the terrible massacre and unhealed wounds of thousands victims after post Godhra riots.

Seven long years have passed after the Godhra train carnage that triggered months of communal violence across Gujarat, in which 59 people were burnt to death, but the wounds are still fresh. The memories of worst ever communal riots in India is still haunting the Muslim families, who lost their dear ones in the genocide.

Gujarat is known for producing mass leaders like Mahatma Gandhi, Mohammad Ali Jinnah and Sardar Ballav Bhai Patel, who led-India to fight for freedom during British rule. The state is also known for its enteprenuerial spirit and for its high growth rate.
Nevertheless, exactly seven years ago in the year 2002, the name of the state has become synonymous with possibly the worst example of communal riots in independent India.

It was not the first time when the country had witnessed communal riot but the 2002 riots were different in many ways. They were executed with clinical precision and moreover, the state and its arms emerged as major actors in the post-Godhra violence. The riots, which have also been called genocide and a pogrom, were the result of not merely state inefficiency, but worse, state complicity.

More than two and a half months of continuing violence sent shock waves across the globe and established the fact that violence, loot, arson, killing and rape are common in the country.

The families of victims are still waiting for justice. The pain increases after every hearing in court and the guilty are still breathing free.

Unofficial figures put the death toll above 2,000, most of them from minority community.

Some say, it was a state-sponsored riot, others give it a religious
colour. But the fact remains that the justice is awaited and the culprits need to be punished.