NGOs organise public hearing for riot victims

Ahmedabad, Feb 21 (PTI) A public hearing was organisedhere today jointly by NGOs where social outfits and membersfrom the minority community shared their experiences inGujarat post the 2002 riots.

"This public hearing has been organised in response toMaulana Vastanvi''s statement where he meant that everythingwas hunky-dory for the Muslims in Gujarat. He never condonedthe 2002 Godhra riots while speaking at the function," FounderMember of Anhad, an NGO, Shabnam Hashmi said.

Over 50 riot victims, besides a few social outfits fromeight districts of Gujarat expressed their views on the livesof minority community in Gujarat after Godhra riots duringthe hearing, she said.

Member, National Commission for Minorities, SyedaBilgrami Imam, was present during the hearing as a specialobserver, besides a jury comprising President NationalFederation for Indian Woman Annie Raja, Gagan Sethi and GitaHariharan.

After the public hearing, the jury recommended thatthere should be a high-powered judicial commission headed by aformer Chief Justice of the Supreme Court to examine all casesof terror across the country, Hasmi said.

The Ministry of Minority Affairs should ensure thatminorities avail the benefits of various schemes formulatedfor them, she further said.

"Anhad, will come out with a full report of this publichearing in next ten days. The report would be sent to Memberof Parliament''s (MPs), National Human Rights Commission (NHRC)and international agencies," Hashmi said. .