Down, but not out

Despite recent legal setbacks, people who survived the 2002 Gulbarg Society massacre are still hopeful of getting justice

- NANDINI OZA

THERE IS AN eerie silence in Gulbarg Society, part of the otherwise bustling neighbourhood of Chamanpura in eastern Ahmedabad. Kasam Mansuri and his daughter-in-law are the only permanent residents of the gated housing society that was once full of activity. The buildings, now decrepit with their burnt walls and broken doors and windows, and the uneven pathways overgrown with vegetation, tell a tale of something ghastly that happened two decades ago. The stillness is so uneasy and normal that even dogs that frequent the premises are scared to see visitors.

Tragedy had struck Gulbarg on February 28, 2002—the day after 59 persons on board the Sabarmati Express, mostly karsevaks returning from Ayodhya, were burnt alive at Godhra. The incident sparked communal riots across Gujarat, but Gulbarg residents thought they would remain unharmed as they had been during similar flare-ups earlier.

That was not to be. Gulbarg Society was attacked, and 69 Muslims, including former Congress MP Ehsan Jafri, were killed.

The relatives of the victims have since moved to other Muslim neighbourhoods in Ahmedabad, but they have not moved on from the dark memories of the massacre. On June 24, their long struggle for justice suffered yet another blow when the Supreme Court rejected a special leave petition filed by Jafri’s widow, Zakia.