Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi’s remarks on the 2002 riots, in which around 1,200 people were killed, drew sharp reactions from human rights activists and riot victims alike on Saturday.
“This only shows that he is at heart an anti-minority person,” said human rights activist Shabnam Hashmi.
“Why can’t he say sorry for those brutal killings if he is so compassionate?” asked Irshad (name changed) whose brother was killed in the post Godhara riots.
Human rights lawyer Mukul Sinha, who represented a section of Muslims before the Nanavati commission that is probing the 2002 riots, questioned the timing of the interview.
“When his name has started cropping up in a fake encounter case, Modi has opened up on the 2002 riots claiming that the SIT has given him a clean chit,” he said.
“The SIT only stated in the report that there is no prosecutable evidence against Modi, which is far from getting a clean chit,” he added.