Re: 31 convicted in Godhra train burning case
Because your to much of a tool to actually do the research yourself. Here is what Human Rights Watch has to say to say on the situation. Granted this is from 2004, but how much has really changed in India? This atleast gives some insight on why the rioters were not prosecuted, while those involved in the train fire have.
“Two years after the Gujarat riots, witnesses are being threatened and sometimes even attacked,” said Brad Adams, executive director of Human Rights Watch’s Asia Division. “Not only has the Gujarat government failed to pursue those responsible for the riots, it is obstructing justice by its failure to protect witnesses.”
The violence in 2002 started with an attack in Godhra on a train carrying Hindus. Fifty-nine people died when a train carriage caught fire. In a retaliatory spree by Hindu mobs, hundreds of Muslims were slaughtered, tens of thousands were displaced, and their property was destroyed. Two years later, Muslims still live in fear because their attackers remain free and continue to make threats, particularly against those involved in prosecutions.
While investigations in the Godhra case proceeded rapidly, with several indicted Muslims charged under the recently repealed Prevention of Terrorism Act (POTA), investigations into cases related to the anti-Muslim riots that followed were deliberately slow. The lower courts dismissed many cases for lack of evidence after public prosecutors effectively acted as defense counsel or witnesses turned hostile after receiving threats"
To their credit however, the “Indian Supreme Court to move some trials out of Gujarat to allow for a more impartial atmosphere and greater protection for witnesses, victims and lawyers.”