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GUJARAT, India: This week marks the 10th anniversary since ugly riots broke out in the western Indian state of Gujarat, killing more than 1,200 people.
The guilty have not yet been punished and wounds are still raw.
On 27 February 2002, a coach of the Sabarmati Express near the Godhra railway station in Gujarat was allegedly set on fire by a Muslim mob.
Fifty-nine Hindu karsevaks or volunteers who were returning from a temple in north India were burnt to death.
As a reaction to this incident, Hindu mobs ran riot on the streets of Gujarat.
Some 1,200 people, mainly Muslims, were killed in the mob violence.
There are neighbourhoods in the state capital Ahmedabad, which bear mute testimony to that week of mayhem in Gujarat.
Inamun Iraiqi, a businessman, said: "From Gulbarg Society two vehicles, filled with 70 to 80 injured persons were sent here. Then we called a medical team to provide medical aid to them. Those people who came to me at that point, a few of them were crying they (mob) took his sister, some said that his father is dead, and some said they (mob) took away his mother."
Ten years since that bloody week in Gujarat, wounds have not healed and justice has not been delivered.
The victims and their families have not had closure. They hold candlelight marches, prayer meetings and fight legal battles.
Firdaus Bhai, a social activist in Godhra, said: "The first thing we did was to build cordial relations with VHP (Vishwa Hindu Parishad) and mutually discussed why, as Indians, should we fight with each other and we decided that we should cohabit cordially. So we did not let any mishap take place because we stay in collaboration with VHP people. They also give full support to us. So the atmosphere in Godhra is peaceful and Godhra is on a path to development."
Narendra Modi, who was then chief minister of the state, has been accused of not protecting the Muslim community in Gujarat when the riots broke out. He denies the charge.
In the 10 years that have gone by, the people of Gujarat have re-elected him to office. Modi has modelled himself as the harbinger of development in the state.
Though he denies it, his party colleagues admit that Modi is a prime ministerial candidate in general elections for 2014.
The right wing BJP has been out of power for two terms at the centre, and it sees in Modi a strong candidate to lead it to office next time around.
Modi, meanwhile, has state level elections coming up this year.
Elections in Gujarat are still a few month away, but the people say that it is going to be a smooth walk for Chief Minister Narendra Modi. It remains to be seen whether Narendra Modi is content being just the third term Chief Minister of the state or whether he has prime ministerial ambitions.
- CNA/de
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