Activists detained in Gujarat before starting solidarity march for Bilkis Bano

The Gujarat police on Monday detained social activist Sandeep Pandey and three others ahead of a foot march planned to express solidarity with Bilkis Bano.

Three of those detained – Hanif Kalandar, Noorjahan and Tanushree have been released.

Speaking to The Wire, Hanif Kalandar said, “A total of eight people were detained. The others are still at Kakanpur police station. We were not given any reason as to why we were detained. We want to go ahead with our foot march now that three of us have been released.”

Ramon Magsaysay award recipient Pandey and other activists were scheduled to participate in the foot march, titled ‘Apologising to Bilkis Bano’, planned to be taken out from her native village Randhikpur in neighbouring Dahod district on Monday under the banner of ‘Hindu-Muslim Ekta Samit’, according to NDTV. The march was to conclude in Ahmedabad on October 4.

Pandey said, as reported by The Wire, “We have been brought to a police station 15 km from Godhra. Our yatra was to apologise to Bilkis Bano, not to oppose the government. I am an anti-caste atheist, but as a person born into a Hindu family, I feel these people are a blot, and I am deeply ashamed.”

Bilkis Bano was gang-raped and her three-year-old kid was snatched from her arms and was thrown hard on rock to death during the heat of anti-Muslim riots in Gujarat 2002. Seven of her family members were also murdered.

Bilkis and her husband struggled hard to seek justice and finally succeeded in pushing the culprits to jail in 2008. A special CBI court in Mumbai had on January 21, 2008 sentenced to life imprisonment 11 accused in the case of murder and gang-rape. Their conviction was later upheld by the Bombay High Court. However, all the 11 convicts were let free on the Independence Day this year under the Gujarat government’s contentious remission policy, triggering widespread condemnation in Indian as well as international media.

 “Sandeep Pandey and three others were detained from Godhra (in Panchmahal district) on Sunday. They are still in detention,” a B-division police station officer said.

The Hindu-Muslim Ekta Samiti in a statement condemned the police action.

It said the foot march was organised to apologise to Bilkis Bano, after the Gujarat government on August 15 this year released 11 convicts in her case under its remission policy.

“We only wish to apologise to Bilkis for whatever has happened to her and wish such heinous acts do not happen in an otherwise peaceful state of Gujarat,” the organisation said in the statement.

-INDIA NEWS STREAM