Riot victims seek justice in India

"I had lost all hope of getting justice in Baroda," says Sahira, who is planning to move to Bombay. "Our family was intimidated and threatened, and under these circumstances it was not possible to get justice. I don't fear the police, and I don't fear the neighbors. I fear the politicians of the ruling party."

Intimidation of witnesses is a common problem in India, but it's especially bad in Gujarat, says Harish Salve, an attorney who applauds the Supreme Court's decision to take up the Best Bakery case. His statement comes as a shock to some. Just last year, Mr. Salve as India's solicitor general, representing the Modi government in several Godhra-related cases.

"I have personally experienced this in many cases of defending the government, the lack of witness protection is a chronic problem," says Salve, who now represents a Muslim family that lost 14 members in a separate incident in Ahmedabad last year.

Today, the charred ruins of the Best Bakery have become a kind of park for the residents of the mainly Hindu slum of Hanuman Tekri. In the center of the roofless charred brick building is a large brick oven, where two members of the Sheikh family were burned alive.

Sitting on the concrete stoop of the bakery, neighbor Jyotsira Bhatt says she doesn't understand why the Supreme Court had to get people stirred up again about the Best Bakery case.

"The court judgment in Baroda was fair, because the accused people were not involved," she says firmly. "The attackers were not from this area."

But across town, after months of relative peace, the riots have started again. A 10-day Hindu festival honoring the god Ganesh turned violent, as Hindu processions passed through mainly Muslim areas. Muslims and Hindus blame each other for starting the violence.

Baroda's commissioner of police, Sudha Sinha, admits that there have been a few riots in his city during the recent festival, but he maintains that the city has largely remained peaceful.

"You can see for yourself, that despite the press reports, the city is totally at peace," he says in a telephone interview. In addition to "wild press reports" Mr. Sinha also blames women in the riot-affected areas with concocting "false stories," both about their families, and about police brutality.

Sitting in the bare one-room six-by-eight foot home she shares with her husband, daughter, and son, Saida Yusufbhai Mansouri says she is preparing herself for when the rocks start flying again. Her greatest fear is the police.

"Now every time the violence starts, we send away our boys, our husbands," she says. "If the police catch them, they will beat them so badly and then slap charges of terrorism on them. I feel at risk when we don't have men to protect us, but what can we do? They are our breadwinners."

Mrs. Mansouri says she would never consider going to a police station to file a complaint. She sees the police as predators, not protectors.

"After Godhra, the police beat up women very badly, and local TV channels came and filmed the evidence," she says. "Later, the police came back and said 'you said we beat up women; the next time you make that charge we'll come back and show you real violence.'"

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