NEW DELHI: A special court in Gujarat on Thursday convicted 24 persons and acquitted 36 accused of the spate of murders in the 2002 anti-Muslim pogroms, including the gory lynching of former MP Ehsan Jafri. While 11 of the accused were found guilty of murder, 13 were convicted of rioting.

The slain Congress politician’s widow Zakia Jafri said she would appeal the verdict in which a number of main accused, including a politician of India’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), were let off on the grounds that there was no conspiracy to cause the bloodshed. Mrs Jafri saw her poet husband being chopped with swords before his remains were set aflame.

Observers close to the case noted that the closure of the case, hanging fire since it was grudgingly committed for trial years after the 2002 massacres, coincided with two important events.

The verdict, which rights activists are set to oppose, came after severe pressure from the Capitol Hill in Washington where US Senators slammed India’s rights record last week. They also questioned the unabated verbal and physical attacks against Christians, Muslims, tribes-people and Dalits.

The judgement also came barely days ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s meeting with President Barack Obama at the White House. Mr Modi will also address a joint session of the Congress.

Anticipating Mr Modi’s visit, top US Senators have expressed serious concern over religious freedoms in India and increasing attacks on civil society and human rights workers. The Obama administration says it is having a dialogue with the country on these issues.

“The situation does raise concern about religious freedom in India,” Colorado Senator Cory Gardner said during a Congressional hearing on India convened by the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

Virginia Senator Tim Kaine, while expressing his concern on recent incidents of religious intolerance when artists returned their awards, said he hoped to raise the issue with Mr Modi.

The Gujarat court posted sentencing in the case for June 6, a day before Mr Modi begins his Washington visit. The court ruled that the massacre of helpless men, women and children “was not a pre-planned conspiracy”.

BJP councillor Bipin Patel and former police inspector K.G. Erda, who were added to the list of accused by a Special Investigation Team (SIT) formed by the apex court to reinvestigate the nine most crucial cases, were among those acquitted.

The court acquitted 36 persons for “lack of evidence” against them. Reacting to the verdict, Mrs Jafri said she would continue to fight for justice.

“I am happy to see 24 have been found guilty, but at the same time, 36 have been let off so it’s incomplete justice,” she said.

As soon as judge P.B. Desai started reading his verdict in the overcrowded courtroom, relatives of the victims and the accused erupted in celebrations, reports said.

During the course of the trial that began in 2009 after the SIT was constituted, the prosecution agency had submitted that the massacre was a pre-planned conspiracy as rioters had targeted the minority-dominated housing colony in the area.

However, the lawyers appearing for the accused had refuted the conspiracy charge and stressed that the mob had gathered spontaneously and the group started violence only after Mr Jafri fired from his weapon at the crowd.

Published in Dawn, June 3rd, 2016