Fairness on Trial in India

It was bad enough that India’s Gujarat state government did nothing to stop last year’s riots in which Hindus killed more than 1,000 Muslims. It was worse that state rulers refused to let federal police investigate or to move the trials of those accused in the killings to a state where justice might be done. The result of the first trial stemming from the riots was as predictable as it was despicable: Twenty-one people accused of arson in a bakery fire that burned alive 11 Muslims and three Hindus were acquitted after prosecution witnesses changed their testimony.

Religious confrontations have plagued India for centuries, although the nation prides itself on being a secular state. More than 80% of India’s billion people are Hindu; about 12% are Muslim. In February 2002, Muslims in Gujarat set fire to a train carrying Hindus back from Ayodhya, a disputed religious site. Hindus retaliated by massacring Muslims. Police were late to show up and when they finally arrived did little to protect Muslims.

Nor was Narendra Modi, the state’s chief minister, any help. He later campaigned for reelection as a promoter of “Hindu-ness” and protector of Hindus against neighboring Pakistan, where Muslims predominate.

The main characteristic of the bakery arson trial was changed testimony. The organization Human Rights Watch said Hindus warned Muslim witnesses that they would be allowed to return to their homes only if they recanted. The judge who delivered the acquittals last week said the police work had been shoddy. Also, prosecutors made little effort to get witnesses to stick to their original identifications and narratives, and they failed to emphasize why witnesses backed down. India’s coalition government should move the remaining trials and protect witnesses. The coalition’s biggest faction is the Bharatiya Janata Party, which counts Modi as a member and benefits from support from Hindu fundamentalists. Eleven years ago, Hindus tore down a mosque in Ayodhya, which they say is the birthplace of the god Ram. That touched off riots across the country. Activists are still trying to win permission to build a Hindu temple on the site.

Deputy Prime Minister Lal Krishna Advani said last month in an interview at The Times that the Gujarat riots were an “aberration” and “indefensible.” He is a mainstay of the BJP and a favorite of Hindu fundamentalists. Advani should take the lead in pushing for fair trials for those accused of causing last year’s riots. He also should keep the Ayodhya controversy from inflaming India again, by telling BJP members to forget building a temple or by insisting that if a temple is built, Muslims be given a new mosque nearby. The BJP also must not use the riots and Ayodhya as lures for Hindu votes when elections are held.