Outside SC lens,a massacre trial wrecked by hostile witnesses

The former MLA has a reason to breathe easy. The case against him has come a full circle 10 years later. After the Godhra sessions court acquitted Maliwad and eight others in 2002,the state government filed an appeal in the High Court. The state police also extended the investigation on the basis of the statements of the witnesses and submitted three more chargesheets against 23 new accused in the massacre case which is not being probed by the Supreme Court-appointed SIT.

In the re-trial which started January last year,26 of the 37 witnesses examined turned hostile. They denied that the police ever recorded their statements and absolved the accused. In the earlier trial,the prosecution was roundly criticised for ignoring the trend of witnesses turning hostile.

Public prosecutor in the case,Dushyant Pathak,pleads helplessness. “At present,we cannot do anything about this (witnesses turning hostile) except for declaring them hostile and contradict their statements (given before court and police),” he says.

“If,the court acquits the accused on the basis of the retracted statement of a witness,we may write to the legal department to initiate perjury proceedings against such witnesses,” he says.

Salim Sindhi,one of the witnesses in the case,says nearly 100-120 Muslims of Kidiyad had left their village in two tempo trucks to move to a safer place in Modasa after communal tension gripped the state following the Godhra train carnage.

“However,the road towards Modasa was blocked. So,we moved towards Lunawada. But when we reached Limbadiya chowk (crossroads),a huge mob of Hindus armed with sharp-edged weapons attacked the two tempo-trucks and killed around 75 people,” says Sindhi,who is in one of the ill-fated tempo trucks. Later,the rioters ransacked and looted Muslim properties in the surrounding villages.

Today,the Muslim locality of Kidiyad still wears a deserted look,its half-collapsed houses still standing witnesses to the mayhem. Muslims here now plan to repair the local mosque destroyed back then.

Of the total 100-120 Muslim families that lived here then,only 10 have returned. The rest settled in Modasa.

Salim Sindhi,who was then the sarpanch of Kidiyad,say of the 200 homes in the village then,50 were of Muslims. Today,the Thakor community rules here with around 100 houses.

Ismail Sindhi’s was the first family to come back to Kidiyad three years ago,after first spending months at a relief camp in Modasa and then living at a house provided by Islamic Relief Committee in Modasa. “We have got land in the village. There is no point staying in Modasa if we are to cultivate crops in the land for survival. We are not happy with what happened but,one needs to move on,” says Nanumiyan Sindhi,who has rebuilt his mud home. Kidiyad is a fertile and well-irrigated village.

“If we do not stay here,you never know what would happen to our land in our absence. So,we have returned to our village to look after our fields,” says Shabbir Sindhi.

The villagers have slowly started getting basic amenities like electricity and drinking water.

Master alive,‘Lucky’ back “Lucky”,a Marwari horse owned by Ismail Sindhi’s family,was tethered outside their house when the rioters stormed the village.

“We had taken shelter in a nearby farm. One of the rioters stole the horse and gave it to one of his relatives,” says Ismail Sindhi. “But,one of my two sons (who is no more now) had identified the person and told us after reaching a relief camp in Modasa,” he says.

Ismail’s other son,Gulam Sindhi,says they finally got “Lucky” back with the help of a social worker and police intervention. The person who had stolen it confessed and returned Lucky,says Gulam,adding they did not want to lodge a police complaint in the communally charged atmosphere.

The Sindhis now earn around Rs 1 lakh per year renting

Lucky at various marriage and other functions. And,yes,Lucky is a master “dancer”.