Justice was manifestly
done in Mumbai with a special court sentencing 11 of the 12 found
guilty to life imprisonment in the Bilkis Bano gang-rape and massacre
case. This landmark judgment, which is bound to reinforce public faith
in the judicial system, was preceded by a series of Machiavellian
attempts to subvert justice by lending a friendly hand to the accused.
One of the most heinous of the post-Godhra cases, a pregnant Bilkis
Bano was gang-raped while 14 members of her family were killed when
they were trying to flee their riot-affected village during the Gujarat
pogrom in 2002. The case might have been easily derailed if it wasn’t
for the Supreme Court, which entrusted it to the Central Bureau of
Investigation. In response to a petition from Ms Bano — who maintained
that the Gujarat police were hand in glove with the accused, that
evidence was being tampered with, and that witnesses were being
threatened — the apex court also transferred the case from Gujarat to
Maharashtra. But it was not such judicial intervention alone that saved
the case from collapse. A heap of praise is due to Ms Bano, who pursued
the case doggedly and with great determination, refusing to be cowed
down by threats or tempted by inducements. The remarkable courage of
this young woman sends a powerful message to the victims of other riot
cases — namely, that justice is possible even when one is up against a
State government that is hell-bent on circumventing it.
Like the Best Bakery massacre, which was also transferred by the
Supreme Court out of Gujarat, the Bilkis Bano case became a symbol of
the communal carnage in the State. While there is reason to celebrate
the intervention of the apex court and to applaud Ms Bano’s resolve, it
is important to remember that this is but one of the several hundreds
of pending cases relating to the Gujarat riots. Six years have passed
since the dreadful incident that shattered Ms Bano’s life and it is a
matter of conjecture how many more will elapse before the other Gujarat
riot victims receive justice. The question assumes a worrying character
given the country’s extremely poor record in providing justice to the
riot-affected — consider the fate of the victims of the 1984 anti-Sikh
riots or those who suffered in the Mumbai riots in 1993. The question
must also be seen against the backdrop of the attitude of the Gujarat
government, which had closed more than 1,600 riot cases — these were
reopened in 2004 after the Supreme Court directed that they be
reviewed. In a way, the real challenge for the criminal justice system
lies in how it deals with the remaining Gujarat riot cases.
http://www.hindu.com/2008/01/23/stories/2008012355711000.htm
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© 2008, The Hindu.
