The Times of India,16 Feb 2009
2002 riots toll to rise from 952 to 1,180
by Leena Misra , TNN
AHMEDABAD: The post-Godhra riots’ official death toll will rise to four figures on February 28 — from 952 to 1,180 — when the stipulated seven years since the disappearance of 228 people end, after which the missing persons will be declared dead.
The communal conflagration in the state had led to the disappearance of a total of 413 people. Of these, 185 people were found, leaving 228 still missing. Administrative procedures are now on to correct the official toll by listing those 228 missing persons as dead.
The missing include Azhar Mody, son of Rupa and Dara Mody, whose story inspired the 2007 Bollywood flick, ‘Parzania’.
“The question of government presuming a missing person dead arises when rights are attached to the dead. Relatives of the missing people will have to inform a competent government authority like the revenue department about their status. But the real issue, because these people went missing in rioting, is that they are presumed murdered. The bigger question is not of compensation but investigation of these murders,’’ said Gujarat High Court lawyer Mukul Sinha.
Rupa and Dara Mody continue to wait for Azhar, although a witness has claimed before the SC-appointed special investigation team (SIT) that he had seen Azhar’s body after the Gulbarg Society massacre. “We are not buying that version because the witness’s description of the boy’s clothes do not match with his mother’s who would certainly have a more vivid memory of her lost son,’’ said a senior SIT officer.
Of the 413 people reported missing in Gujarat, around 200 were from Ahmedabad alone. Among the 185 found was Muzaffar Sheikh, raised by a Hindu mother, Veena Patni. SIT helped him reunite with his parents in 2008.
Additional commissioner of police Ashish Bhatia confirmed that the toll of riot victims is set to rise. “In the Naroda Patia case, we confirmed 95 persons dead, against the earlier official toll of 83. In Naroda Gaam, we have confirmed three more dead, which takes the toll in that area to 11,’’ he said.
Citizens for Justice and Peace (CJP) had submitted a list of missing persons to the Supreme Court to support their claim that 71 of them had died in Gulbarg Society, and not 39 as officially stated. Congress ex-MP Ahsan Jafri, whose body was never found, is listed as dead. “Banks will now be able to release money from the accounts to their (missing people’s) legal heirs,’’ said Teesta Setalvad of CJP.
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