By Md. Ali, TwoCircles.net,
New Delhi: Jamiat Ulema-I-Hind, one of the leading religious organizations of Muslims, will help the convicts of the Godhra train carnage appeal in the High Court against their sentence by the special trial court. Talking to TwoCircles.net, Mahmood Madani, general secretary of JUH said that “the JUH will provide legal help to the convicts to make sure tat they are able to appeal in the higher courts against their sentence which appears questionable and which has ignored several loopholes in the prosecution version of the incidents.”
“We are not at all satisfied with this judgment which has ignored several loopholes in the prosecution’s case and that’s why the convicts will have our complete support,” the Rajya Sabha MP added.
Maulana Mahmood Madani [TCN Photo]
It should be noted that JUH has been fighting the case for the accused including allegedly the main conspirator, Maulvi Hussain Umar Ji who was acquitted of all charges in the case. On 1st March, eleven persons were sentenced to death and 20 were awarded life imprisonment for the Godhra train carnage by a trial court.
Reacting to the sentence of the convicts, Mr. Madani said that “after the acquittal of Maulvi Umar Ji, the alleged main conspiracy, the whole basis of the prosecution’s case had fallen flat and thereby we don’t accept the ‘conspiracy theory’ on the basis of which this judgment has been delivered.”
Quoting the former CJI, BN Khare’s objection to the ‘conspiracy theory’ Mr. Madani said that “we strongly believe that these 31 men who have been sentenced are nothing but scapegoats to shield the actual culprits of the horrendous crime.”
59 kar sevaks were burnt alive in the S6 coach of the Sabarmati Express train near Godhra railway station in Gujarat, sparking the worst communal riots in the state that left more than 1,200 people dead, most of them were Muslims.