Gujarat anti-Muslim riot killings retrial opens

By: Nizam Hussain

MUMBAI, India: The retrial of 16 Hindus charged with killing 12 Muslims, in 2002 anti-Muslims riots, began in Mumbai (Bombay), India.

The victims were burned to death in a bakery known as the Best Bakery in the western Indian state of Gujarat in violence that claimed more than 2,000 lives, mostly Muslims. The violence erupted after an allegedly Muslim mob torched a train burning 59 Hindus alive.

In April, India's Supreme Court ordered a retrial - the first step towards ensuring justice for the victims of the Gujarat riots - after a Gujarat court acquitted the Hindu defendants and key witness Zaheera Sheikh said she had been forced to retract her testimony during the original trial due to threats by Hindu hardliners. Zaheera's father was among the 12 who died in the attack.

The court ordered the retrial be held in neighboring Maharashtra state, of which Bombay is the capital. The retrial began just 10 days before a crucial round of elections in the state.

Twenty-one defendants were acquitted in the original trial in Gujarat. Five have since absconded.

Muslim and civil rights groups say witnesses were intimidated by police and some right-wing Hindu groups.

Security has been beefed up around the special court in Mumbai. Press reports Monday said the main witnesses were being housed at a secret location to prevent intimidation.

Human rights groups have accused the Gujarat state government, led by the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party, of turning a blind eye to the riots and even abetting the attacks on Muslims.

In February, the Supreme Court ordered federal protection for witnesses of the killings of Muslims in Gujarat after many said they feared for their lives.

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