Court acquits 67 Hindu extremists accused of murdering 11 Muslims in Gujarat
In a shocking and disturbing move, a Gujarat court acquitted 67 Hindu extremists who were accused of the murder of 11 Muslims during the 2002 anti-Muslim pogrom in Gujarat state.
The convicts include a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader, Maya Kodnani, and Hindu militant leader Babu Bajrangi, who was caught on video boasting about how he had slit a pregnant Muslim woman open and that he enjoyed slaughtering Muslims.
Eleven Muslims were killed in communal violence in the Naroda Gam area of Ahmedabad city on February 28, 2002, during brutal anti-Muslim violence by armed Hindu extremists.
Earlier this month, a Gujarat court acquitted 26 Hindu extremist men accused of the gang-rape and murder of more than a dozen Muslims in separate incidents during the 2002 anti-Muslim pogrom.
The acquittal of these convicted rapists and murderers indicates the complete disregard for human rights, justice, and law and order in Hindu supremacist BJP-ruled India.
The move is part of a larger pattern of releasing Hindu supremacists convicted of gruesome crimes. Last year, the Supreme Court facilitated freedom for 11 Hindu extremists who had been sentenced to life imprisonment for gang-raping a Muslim woman and murdering several of her family members during the 2002 pogrom.
Federal probe agency files case against Oxfam India after Modi govt recommendation
India’s federal probe agency conducted searches at the Delhi office of the global non-profit organization, Oxfam India, following a case against the organization under the draconian Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA).
The FCRA allows the Hindu supremacist government to block organizations and charities that support minorities from receiving overseas funding. The law has led to the shutdown of several minority-run charities and human rights groups, including Amnesty International’s India offices.
The move comes days after Hindu supremacist Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government recommended an inquiry into alleged FCRA violations by the non-profit.
Last month, the Modi government suspended the foreign funding license of one of India’s leading policy research institutions, the Centre for Policy Research (CPR), as part of a larger pattern of using the FCRA to target groups that support minorities.
The FCRA was repeatedly criticized by a number of democratic nations at the United Nations’ Universal Periodic Review of India. The United States, Australia, Germany, Ireland, South Korea, and Slovakia all called for either the repeal or the amendment of the FCRA.
Hindu extremists object to Eid-themed celebration at Uttar Pradesh school
A mob of Hindu extremists gathered outside the gate of a school in BJP-ruled Uttar Pradesh’s Hathras city and raised Hindu religious slogans as part of a hate campaign against teachers and students who took part in Eid-themed celebrations inside the school.
The school management has suspended the principal and two Muslim teachers.
The school vice-principal said that they commemorated World Heritage Day and Eid ul Fitr, by performing a popular Urdu poem. The Hindu extremists falsely alleged that the students were asked to offer Muslim prayers inside the school.
IGN will be on break tomorrow due to the Muslim holiday Eid.
