Media Release
Date January 25, 2008
STATEMENT ON BILKIS BANO JUDGMENT BY CONCERNED CITIZENS
The judgment in case of Bilkis Bano comes as a
great relief in the times when justice is being
denied to large section of society, more so to
the victims of communal violence. A pregnant
women who was gang raped, who witnessed the
brutal killing of her family members, stood firm
with grit and determination to seek justice with
the help of civil right group of Gujarat. Bilkis
herself deserves lot of praise for her courage.
The civil rights group based in Gujarat, which
took up the battle, needs to be appreciated for
the yeomen service it has done in the cause of
justice in Gujarat.
We welcome this judgment whole heartedly and hope
that similar justice is also given to innumerable
victims of the Gujarat carnage. While the Bilkis
case shows justice is possible it also shows how
difficult it is to get. While it shows that
elements of democracy are still alive, it also
shows how much compromised they are becoming with
the ascendance of communal mind set of section of
people and with the communalization of our state
apparatus, police, bureaucracy, judiciary and
polity. In a way the whole episode is a mirror to
what is happening in Gujarat. The state sponsored
pogrom in Gujarat has left the civic society
fractured along religious lines. The person and
party who led the carnage have got approval from
a section of society, as the victory of Modi in
2007 elections has shown. This erosion of
democratic norms and justice delivery system is a
matter of grave concern to all of us.
While Modi-BJP have already pushed their divisive
politics deep down in the society, it is
imperative that we restore back the values the
values of democracy, pluralism, and diversity,
the one's which are the base of our freedom
movement. It is necessary that the norms of
Indian Constitution, which seem to have been
damaged severely in different parts of the
country, more so in Gujarat, are restored back.
We urge upon all the concerned authorities to
take up the cases of innumerable other victims of
Gujarat carnage, reinvestigate if necessary, and
set up special court to try the culprits,
including Narendra Modi, whose role in the
carnage was the most dangerous of all. The
victims of Gujarat carnage are feeling helpless
and are crying out for help for getting them
justice, for getting them rehabilitated, for
getting them the equal citizenship rights, which
are due to all of us.
Prof. K.N.Pannikar, Ex Vice Chancelleor, Kaladi Uni, Kerala
Dr. Asghar Ali Engineer, Chairman CSSS
Prof. Ghanshyam Shah, Social scientist
Dr. Ram Puniyani, Sec. All India Secular Forum
Digant Oza, Journalist
Rohit Prajapati and Trupti Shah, PUCL Vadodara
Irfan Engineer, Director Institute of Peace Studies and Conflict
Resolution
Uttam Parmar, Social activist
Harsh Mander, writer, social activist
Ajit Muricken, Director, Vikas Adhyan Kendra, Mumbai
Shabnam Hashmi, Social activist, member, National Integration Council
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Sign the Petition : Release the Arrested University Teachers Immediately : An Appeal to the Caretaker Government of Bangladesh
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Mukto-Mona Celebrates 5th Anniversary
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Kansat Uprising : A Special Page from Mukto-Mona
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MM Project : Grand assembly of local freedom fighters at Raumari
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