BJP top shots support 'strict action' against those found guilty of plotting against Modi in 2002 riots

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• Jul 5, 2022 | Poonam Nath

After Gujarat Police arrested activist Teesta Setalvad and former IPS officer R.B. Sreekumar for alleged criminal conspiracy, the BJP national executive passed a resolution.

Digital Desk: The Bharatiya Janata Party's top decision-making body - the national executive - has supported "strict legal action" against those "guilty" of conspiring against PM Narendra Modi, hailing the Supreme Court's verdict that gave then Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi a clean chit in the 2002 riots.

It comes just days after Gujarat Police arrested activist Teesta Setalvad and former IPS officer R.B. Sreekumar on suspicion of criminal conspiracy and other offences. In its decision, the Supreme Court chastised the two and another IPS officer, Sanjiv Bhatt.

A political resolution passed at the executive meeting in Hyderabad on Saturday "saluted" Prime Minister Narendra Modi for "demonstrating political tolerance, maturity, large-heartedness, and faith in democracy and the Constitution for years" while he was being "maliciously targeted" as Gujarat chief minister at the time.

The resolution praised the Supreme Court's "historic verdict," which gave Modi a clean chit in the riots. 

However, the "vendetta politics of the Congress-led opposition, some so-called NGOs and intellectuals, and even a section of the foreign-run media — forming a complete 'ecosystem' — were all part of the conspiracy," according to the report.

On June 24, a Supreme Court bench comprising Justices A.M. Khanwilkar, Dinesh Maheshwari, and C.T. Ravikumar accepted the closure report filed by the Supreme Court-appointed Special Investigation Team (SIT) in February 2012 in response to a complaint filed by Zakia Jafri, whose husband, Congress leader Ehsan Jafri, was killed in the Gulbarg Society massacre during the post-Godhra riots.

The Supreme Court was hearing a petition against the SIT's closure report filed by Zakia Jafri and activist Teesta Setalvad.

In its decision, the court slammed the petitioners for keeping "the pot boiling" in the case for an "ulterior design." It went on to say that "all those involved in such abuse of process must be brought to justice and (should be) dealt with by the law."

The Gujarat government then filed an FIR against Setalvad and the two former IPS officers. Setalvad and Sreekumar were taken into custody.

IPS officer Sanjiv Bhatt has been serving a life sentence for a custodial death case since 2019.

The resolution also mentioned the recent Maharashtra government formation by the BJP and rebel Shiv Sena leader Eknath Shinde. The resolution emphasised that the "BJP never desired power."

The Bharatiya Janata Party has supported Eknath Shinde as Chief Minister and Devendra Nath Fadnavis as Deputy Chief Minister for Maharashtra's development and its people's welfare.

After being denied the chief ministership in 2019, even for half a term, the BJP's three-decade-old partner Shiv Sena formed the MVA with the ideologically mismatched Congress and the Nationalist Congress Party.

The political resolution also praised Modi for his Covid-19 strategies, welfare policies, and leadership, which helped India emerge as a global player.

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