Gulbarg Society massacre

Gulbarg Society massacre
Part of 2002 Gujarat riots
Burnt house of Gulbarg Society after the massacre
Location	Ahmedabad, Gujarat, India
Date	28 February 2002
Target	Muslims
Attack type	Genocide and ethnic cleansing
Deaths	69 deaths

The Gulbarg Society massacre took place on 28 February 2002, during the 2002 Gujarat riots, when a crowd started stone pelting the Gulbarg Society, a Muslim neighbourhood in the eastern part of Chamanpura, Ahmedabad in the Indian state of Gujarat. Most of the houses were burnt, and at least 35 victims, including a former Congress Member of Parliament (Lok Sabha), Ehsan Jafri, were burnt alive, while 31 others went missing after the incident, later presumed dead, bringing the total deaths to 69.^{[1][2][3][4][5]}

The Supreme Court of India had stayed the trial in major Gujarat cases on petitions filed by the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) and the Citizens for Justice and Peace, who sought a probe by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and transfer of the cases outside Gujarat. The SC bench on 26 March 2008, directed^[6] the Gujarat government to constitute a Special Investigation Team (SIT), headed by R. K. Raghavan, a former head of the CBI in the case. It reopened nine crucial riot cases. Seven years after the incident, in February 2009, Erda, the Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) with the Gujarat Police at the time was arrested on charges of dereliction of duty and for tampering with evidence, as some survivors alleged that he not only allowed the killings to happen but also helped rioters to burn the dead bodies.^[7] The SIT finally submitted its report on 14 May 2010 to the apex court registry of the Supreme Court, after which the Supreme Court asked the SIT to look into the doubts raised by amicus curiae Raju Ramchandran.^[2][8][9] SIT submitted its entire report including case papers, witnesses' testimonies and other details on 15 March 2012.^[10][11][12] On 17 June 2016, eleven people convicted of murder in the Gulbarg Society massacre were sentenced to life in jail by a special SIT court.^[13]

The Society, with most of the houses damaged or burnt, were later abandoned. Of the eighteen houses which were burnt, only one has been repaired. Although none of the families returned, some of them congregate each year on the anniversary of the event and offer prayers.^[14][15]