Yakub hanging: Implement Srikrishna panel report on 1992-93 riots too, says Azmi

Mumbai, Aug 3: In the wake of the execution of 1993 Mumbai bomb blasts convict Yakub Memon last week, Samajwadi Party leader Abu Azmi has written a letter to Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis demanding "swift action" on the findings of the Srikrishna Commission.

"The decision to hang Yakub for his involvement in the Mumbai bomb blasts was taken by the Supreme Court and we respect its decision," Azmi, Maharashtra unit chief of SP, said in the letter.

"Just as the Maharashtra government was swift in implementing the SC's decision, it should act fast in giving justice to the victims of the Mumbai communal riots (between December 1992 and January 1993) as well. We expect the government to take swift action on the findings of Justice B N Srikrishna in his report," he added.

Quoting the Srikrishna panel report, Azmi said that around 900 people had lost their lives in the communal clashes and most of them were from the minority community. "Page number 47 of the report of Justice Srikrishna commission clearly states that a senior IPS officer had then admitted that the communal riots of 1992-93 were a result of the demolition of the Babri masjid in Ayodhya.

"Thus, if the perpetrator of the 1993 bomb blasts is given a death sentence, and those responsible for the communal riots are not punished, people whose families have lost their lives in the communal riots and whose properties were destroyed, feel that the government is doing injustice to them," the letter stated.

He further stated that the "publicity" and the "marketing gimmicks" of the Centre and the state government in the hanging of Memon has reopened old wounds of those affected by communal riots, as thousands were killed and property worth crores (of rupees) was destroyed.

"The Samajwadi Party believes that the previous Congress-NCP government is responsible for not implementing the findings of the Srikrishna report. But even your government has not taken any steps towards the implementation of the findings," Azmi stated.

The Srikrishna Commission was set up by the state government to probe incidents of widespread rioting between December 1992 and January 1993 and damage and loss to the city during that period. One of the terms of reference for the Commission was to see if the riots and the blasts were linked.

PTI