Supreme Court Reopens Cases from 2002 Gujurat Riots

August 17, 2004

Source: Yahoo! News

Wire Service: AFP

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=1534&ncid=1534&e=4&u=/afp/20040817/wl_sthasia_afp/india_gujarat_justice_040817115444

On August 17, 2004 Agence France-Presse reported, "India's Supreme Court reopened about 2,000 cases from Hindu-Muslim riots which ravaged Gujarat two years ago amid allegations of bias by the state's Hindu nationalist government. The court on Tuesday told the western state's government to set up a high-level police committee to have a fresh look at cases which were closed when investigators said they could not trace the culprits. The sweeping judgement will affect nearly half of the estimated 4,200 riot cases recorded during the 2002 bloodshed, in which about 2,000 people, mostly Muslims, were killed. The violence broke out after an allegedly Muslim mob torched a train, killing 59 Hindus. Human rights groups claimed police often looked the other way during the riots and that state authorities have been lax in prosecuting the perpetrators."