Zakia Jafri, survivor and advocate for justice in 2002 Gujarat riots, passes away
Zakia Jafri was the wife of former Congress lawmaker Ehsan Jafri who was killed in the 2002 Gujarat riots
Ahmedabad: Zakia Jafri, a survivor of the 2002 Gujarat riots and the wife of former Congress lawmaker Ehsan Jafri who was killed in the violence, died on Saturday at her daughter’s home in Ahmedabad. She was 86.
“My mother was staying with my sister, who had arrived from the US in January, at her home in Ahmedabad. After completing her morning routine and having breakfast, my mother began feeling unwell. She was resting in her bed, and when my sister called the doctor, he examined her and declared that she had passed away,” said Tanvir Jafri, Zakia Jafri’s son, over the phone.
Ehsan Jafri was among 69 people who were killed inside Gulbarg Society, a Muslim neighbourhood in Ahmedabad, on February 28, 2002, a day after coaches of the Sabarmati Express train were burnt in Godhra, resulting in the deaths of 59 karsevaks returning from Ayodhya. The incident triggered violence across the state.
Zakia Jafri survived the massacre but hit national headlines as she waged a legal battle all the way to the Supreme Court in a bid to hold top political leaders accountable for the large conspiracy for the riots post the Godhra train burning episode.
“Zakia Appa a compassionate leader of d human rights community passed away just 30 minutes ago! Her visionary presence will be missed by d nation family friends & world!” social activist Teest Setalvad said in post on X on Saturday.
Lok Sabha member Asaduddin Owaisi shared a post of Zakia Jafri sitting beside a picture of her late husband. “Zakia Jafri watched her husband being murdered by a mob in 2002. For nearly two decades, she fought a lonely legal battle against some of India’s most powerful men, never showing fear. She passed away today. May Allah grant her peace and strength to her loved ones,” Owaisi wrote in the post on X.
In the aftermath of the 2002 riots, she emerged as a symbol of the fight for justice, relentlessly pursuing legal action to hold those responsible accountable. She filed a petition against then Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi and other officials, alleging a larger conspiracy behind the riots. The special investigation team (SIT), appointed by the Supreme Court, gave Modi and others a clean chit in 2012, citing a lack of prosecutable evidence.
Zakia Jafri challenged this decision, but in June 2022, the Supreme Court upheld the SIT decision, dismissing her plea.
The Supreme Court judgment that dismissed Zakia Jaffri’s petition, which alleged that there was a larger political conspiracy behind the deaths of her husband and others during the riots, stated that there was a need to proceed against those “disgruntled officers” and others whose “effort was to create a sensation by making false revelations”.
Despite facing legal setbacks, Zakia Jafri continued her pursuit of justice, ensuring that the events of 2002 were not forgotten. She spoke out about it on several occasions, raising questions about the state’s response to the violence and seeking answers for the victims.
