Gujarat court acquits 35 Hindu men accused in 2002 riots, citing lengthy trial

The court also criticizes ‘Pseudo-Secular’ media and politicians

In Halol town, Gujarat, a sessions court has acquitted 35 Hindu men who had been accused of murder and rioting during the state’s 2002 riots.

Judge Harsh B. Trivedi, on Monday, June 12, announced that there was insufficient evidence to prove the accused’s involvement in the crimes they were charged with.

Moreover, the judge criticized “pseudo-secular persons” for unnecessarily prolonging the trial in this case.

“Due to uproar of pseudo-secular media and organisation, the accused persons have unnecessarily to face prolonged trial [sic]. In the result, I hold that the prosecution can not succeed as it has not substantially proved the very story it alleged,” Judge Trivedi said in his order.

In addition, he mentioned that the accused individuals included prominent members of the Hindu community.

He quoted freedom fighter Kanhaiyalal Munshi, who had said “every time there is inter-communal conflict, the majority is blamed regardless of merits of the question”.

The 35 persons were accused of murder and rioting after violence erupted near Kalol bus stand, Delol village and Derol station area on February 28, 2002, a day after the Sabarmati Express train burning incident at Godhra, according to PTI.

The violence in question took place following the burning of coaches in the Sabarmati Express train at Godhra railway station. This incident resulted in the tragic deaths of 59 individuals.

It is important to note that the subsequent violence and riots that unfolded in Gujarat in 2002 were significant and distressing outcomes of this initial incident.

After the coaches of the Ahmedabad-bound Sabarmati Express were set on fire at Godhra railway station, resulting in the tragic deaths of 59 people, a series of extensive communal riots unfolded throughout Gujarat.

These riots caused a substantial number of fatalities, reaching into the hundreds, and left thousands of people injured. The consequences of the riots had a profound impact on the affected communities, causing significant damage to the social fabric of Gujarat.

Judge Harsh B. Trivedi maintained that the riots that occurred in Gujarat were spontaneous in nature.

“Report says that sixteen of Gujarat’s 24 Districts were engulfed in communal rioting post-Godhra riots. Nowhere mobs were less than 2-3000, more. Often they were more than 5-10,000 strong. There were spontaneous set of riots in Gujarat. They were not planned one, as described by pseudo-secular persons [sic],” he said.