July 12, 2003	Saturday	Jumadi-ul-Awwal 11, 1424

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NEW DELHI, July 11: A 19-year old victim of the infamous Best Bakery Case, has ultimately found courage to speak the truth.

She has admitted that death threats by BJP officials forced her not to identify the killers of her family in the court, reports the ‘Hindu’.

Zahira Habib Ullah Sheikh, who survived the massacre of her family on the night of March 1, 2002, during the worst ever communal violence in the BJP administered state of Gujarat said, “what I said in the court was not true. I said it after pressure was put on me. In fact I recognize all those who attacked us that night”. A Hindu mob attacked and killed 14 persons in Best Bakery Vadodara in Gujarat. Her testimony to the contrary before the fast track court had led to the acquittal of all the 21 accused on June 27, in a case which was considered watertight on all accounts by the legal experts.

She said she was being threatened by BJP MLA Madhu Shrivastava, Vadodara councillor Chandrakant Shrivastava alias Bhattu and another witness, Lal Mohammed who said that they would “kill her family”.

Zahira said Lal Mohammed, the witness who told the court that the accused had saved Muslim families from the mob on the day of the massacre, was a close associate of the Shrivastavas and had been constantly threatening her. “I was so scared that when I stood up in court, I could not tell the truth. I also saw many Bajrang Dal people in court on that day and that scared me even more.”

She said she did not have faith in the police, lawyers, government or the courts of Gujarat and wanted the trial to be reopened in Mumbai where she now has the support of some independent groups.

Over 3,000 Muslims were killed in the communal violence in Gujarat last year.—APP