The DNA
March 1, 2010
8yrs later, Gulbarg still haunts
Victims, survivors and others visit riot spots to pay tributes to
those killed in 2002
Roshan Kumar
The gory incidents of 2002 communal riots still haunt the survivors at
the Gulbarg Society in Meghaninagar. On Sunday, the victims, survivors
and the people who are rendering legal support to them, congregated
there to pay tributes to those who lost their lives in the post-Godhra
riots.
Scars of the riots are visible everywhere in the Society, a cluster of
bungalows amid middle class habitations in the eastern part of the
city, which was once famous for its textile mills. If one happens to
visit the place, one would be surprised that it was ever inhabited by
humans.
The Society looks more like a jungle with thick vegetation and long
grass that have grown all over the place in eight years since the
February-March 2002 violence.
Sayeed Khan Pathan, who has lost many family members in the riots and
is currently living with his son and daughter-in law in Juhapura,
said, “The survivors of the 2002 riots left the place after the
incident and do not want to return to the Society as the place still
haunts them.”
The Society, with 18 bungalows and eight flats, draws its name from
the famous Gulbarg gardens in Kashmir, said Khan.
Imitiaz Khan Pathan, another survivor, said that the survivors are
living with the hope that they will get justice someday. Pathan said
he had stated in an open court that while his house was being attacked
by rioters, Congress leader Ahesan Jafri had made a phone call to
chief minister Narendra Modi for help, only to be abused by the
latter.
Retired IPS officer RB Sreekumar, who is fighting for the cause of the
victims since long, said to curb such types of incidents, there should
be maximum convictions in such cases and people who are directly or
indirectly involved should be punished.
The Gulbarg Society massacre, in which 68 lives were lost, is being
investigated by the Supreme Court-appointed Special Investigation Team
(SIT). Police have arrested 65 accused in the case.
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