On Monday, opposition parties and leaders welcomed the Supreme Court's decision to overturn the Gujarat government's decision to grant remission to 11 convicts in the Bilkis Bano case.
Bano was five months pregnant when a mob gang-raped her during the 2002 Gujarat riots. Nearly 2,000 people were killed in the violence, one of the worst religious riots in India's history. Seven of the 14 victims murdered in one attack were Bano's relatives, including her three-year-old daughter, whose head the perpetrators smashed on the ground in Gujarat's Dahod district.
PM Modi was Gujarat's chief minister at the time. The opposition said the judgment was a victory for justice against the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party.
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Here are some statements from the opposition leaders.
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi
“Bilkis Bano's tireless struggle is a symbol of the victory of justice against the arrogant BJP government.”
Congress MP Shashi Tharoor
“It will remain a bloodstained blot on the Gujarat government that it illegally released these convicts and that a BJP leader justified it because they were Brahmins!”
CPI(M) leader Sitaram Yechury
“It appears that Justice is being delivered to Bilkis Bano finally after two long decades. The brutality of gang rapes and mass murders cannot be brushed aside & the perpetrators remain unpunished.”
The Trinamool Congress (TMC)
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"It is a slap on the face of BJP who facilitated the release of these criminals and glorified the convicts!"
Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Priyanka Chaturvedi
“Never forget. Before the remission came from Gujarat court it was the Home Ministry of India that gave an NoC to the decision”.
