What is behind Narenda Modi govt move to seek death penalty of accused in Naroda Patiya Case ? - selected news reports

Times of India, April 18, 2013

Kodnani's Death move to warn Advani,deflect Zakia?

The Gujarat government's clearance on Monday of the file put forth by the special investigations team that recommended death penalty for former minister Maya Kodnani, instead of a life term, in the Naroda Patia massacre of 2002 has brought about turmoil in the entire Sangh Parivar in Gujarat. The file had been submitted to the legal department in September 2012 and the timing is most discussed.

In an interview to BBC on January 28 this year, BJP president Rajnath Singh had said that Maya Kodnani is innocent and the party will fully support her in the legal battle. But the moveon Monday against Kodnani is now being seen with suspicion by even Parivar insiders because Kodnani's loyalties lie with L K Advani. Kodnani's parents, who have a strong Parivar background, had met RSS supremo Mohan Bhagwat in Ahmedabad last fortnight and requested him to use his good offices to help Kodnani. Many local RSS stalwarts had supported the impassioned plea from the family.

The timing of the clearance of the file is important as it comes seven months after the SIT submitted the report and deflects attention from Zakia Jafri protest petition against chief minister Narendra Modi with thousands of pages of wireless messages and call data record as evidence that Modi government knew about the violence in advance. Also, it comes on the heels of a section of the BJP and NDA favouring Advani as PM. The change in government's stance is stark. In 2009, when Kodnani was granted bail and SIT wanted bail cancellation, the Modi government replied to SIT that Maya is innocent and denied permission. Even during trial, Kodnani was not arrested.

Kodnani was sentenced to 28 years in jail August 2012 with 30 others for their role in the Naroda Patiya massacre. Kodnani, a three-time Naroda MLA, was identified in the court by 11survivors as a mob leader. Kodnani, a gynaecologist inducted as minister of state for women and child development by Modi in 2007, is the first former minister to be found guilty in any case relating to the riots.

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The Hindu

Ahmedabad, April 21, 2013

“We have been made scapegoats”

SIT’s decision to seek enhanced punishment in Naroda Patiya case, says State goverment

Senior Bajrang Dal leader Babu Bajrangi, who along with the former Gujarat Minister Maya Kodnani and others is likely to be recommended for death penalty by the Gujarat government, on Saturday said they had been made “scapegoats.”

Mr. Bajrangi, serving sentence for the Naroda Patiya massacre in Ahmedabad during the 2002 riots that left over 90 persons dead, told reporters that, “There is no role of the State government, but [to seek death penalty for them] it was all decided by the Special Investigation Team [probing the massacres].”

“But we know that we have been made scapegoats,” Mr. Bajrangi, who has been granted bail for two days since his wife had to undergo an operation here, said.

He did not name either Chief Minister Narendra Modi, the Bharatiya Janata Party or other Sangh Pariwar set-ups like the Vishwa Hindu Parishad and the Bajrang Dal.

Asked if it was an individual or organisation that has made them scapegoats, he said he did not want to go into all that, “But I only want to say that no political party in this country bothers for the Hindus.”

He went on, “If this trend continues, each one of us would be wearing [Muslim] caps after 20 years.”

Asked whether he felt that he was a victim of some political conspiracy, Mr. Bajrangi reiterated, “I won’t say any of it, but that we have been made scapegoats though we are innocent.”

Sangh Pariwar outfits like the VHP and the Bajrang Dal that had turned against Modi in recent years are shell-shocked that the very government that they considered to be their own was on the verge of seeking death penalty for their leaders.

The State government, however, has been maintaining that it was the SIT’s decision and that it had no locus in it.

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Indian Express, April 18, 2013

‘Modi govt’s decision a political stunt’
Express news service Posted online: Thu Apr 18 2013, 02:34 hrs
Ahmedabad : The state unit of All India Milli Council (AIMC) Wednesday opposed the Gujarat government’s decision to appeal in the Naroda Patiya massacre case to demand capital punishment for 10 convicts including Maya Kodnani, former minister in the Narendra Modi government, and Bajrangi Dal leader Babu Patel alias Bajrangi.

While, the Supreme Court-appointed Special Investigation Team (SIT) is all set to file a petition seeking death penalty for the convicts, AIMC said the state government’s nod to grant permission to SIT to file a petition in the Gujarat High Court for capital punishment to Kodnani was a “political stunt” aiming to polarising the voters in view of 2014 Lok Sabha elections which was just a few months ahead.

In a statement, AIMC representative Munir Khairuwala said if the state government was really in favour of death sentence to Kodnani and Bajrangi, it should not have waited for seven months after the special court verdict in August 2012.

He said, “Modi is neither interested in protecting or hanging her (Kodnani). He is only interested in using her to promote his political ambitions.” . But the people, he said, were not able to understand the real game behind it.

Meanwhile, Jesuit human rights activist Father Cedric Prakash criticised the government saying “the involvement of Kodnani, Bajrangi and several others in the 2002 massacre was well-known. Despite that Kodnani was made a minister in the government. All these years, the Narendra Modi government did all that it could do to defend the accused.

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The Times of India

Naroday Patiya massacre: Govt decision on death penalty sheer gimmick.
Stanley Pinto, TNN Apr 17, 2013, 06.03PM IST

MANGALORE: The Gujarat government's decision to seek the death penalty for former BJP minister Maya Kodnani and nine other convicts for their role in the Naroda Patiya massacre, during the Gujarat Carnage of 2002, is a sheer gimmick and smacks of a very clever ploy to defocus from more important issues.
Fr Cedric Prakash, director, Prashant - Centre for Human Rights, Justice and Peace, Ahmedabad, stated that t he involvement ofKodnani,Bajrangiand several others in the terrible killings was well-known in 2002 itself. Yet she was promoted and made a Minister in the Government. All these years, the Government did all it could to defend the accused - includingKodnani,Bajrangiand their ilk, he noted.
The ruse now is to deflect from the Protest Petition filed by ZakhiaEshanJafriwhich definitely names people and the events during the carnage, he charged. Besides, the investigative expose on the SIT Report bya leadingnews channel a couple of days ago, clearly shows how the SIT Report has left out important records and documents, which conclude that the carnage was neither sudden nor spontaneous.

He said the Gujarat Government should now focus to help expedite the process and bring to justice all theaccused of the carnage.