The renowned US daily, New York Times, has strongly criticised the Modi-led fascist Indian government for particularly snatching and violating rights of Muslim community including women across the country.

In an article, the Daily said that the case of Bilkis Bano, a Muslim woman, who was raped and her 3-year-old daughter was killed by a fanatic Hindu mob in 2002 Gujarat riots, is a tragic reflection of India’s halting progress in addressing violence against women and of the deepening divides engendered by swelling Hindu nationalism.

Earlier, eleven men serving life imprisonment for gang rape and murders during the 2002 Gujarat riots in the famous Bilkis Bano case, were freed from jail in Gujarat’s Godhra Town after the state government approved their application for remission of sentence.

Analysts say that freeing of the men at the time when the Modi government has faced criticism for jailing activists and voices of dissent for long stretches, shows as to how easily political machinations can undermine the efforts at justice.

Narendra Modi was the top official in Gujarat at the time of the 2002 sectarian violence and since then critics accuse him of fanning and exploiting the country’s religious polarization to consolidate the Hindutva base of his Bharatiya Janata Party.

Source: Radio Pakistan