by Nirmala Carvalho

India's top judges demand 17 case files relating to the 2002 sectarian violence be handed over. They are still pending before the courts. Judges warn that justice won't be derailed.

Delhi (AsiaNews) – India's Supreme Court demanded the Gujarat state government hand over the case files relating to 17 violent incidents that occurred in the state in 2002. It chastised the Gujarat government for having "completely forgotten the criminal code." India's top court added that it "will not allow any criminal justice system to be derailed."

In 2002 at least two thousand people died in sectarian violence in the state, mostly Muslims.

The violence was sparked when some 60 Hindus were killed during a train attack in the city of Godhra by an alleged Islamic group.

In March 2005 a federal commission of inquiry found that the Muslim community bore no responsibility in the train incident.

The local state government, then as now under a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) administration, has been harshly criticised by human rights activists and the National Commission on Minorities for its partisan handling of the crisis and for failing to seek justice for its victims.

The 17 cases mentioned by the Supreme Court are in fact still pending.

• india
• gujarat
• godhra
• supreme
• court
• bharatiya
• janata
• party
• sectarian
• violence