Click to play videoAhmedabad: It has been exactly seven years since the tragic train burning incident at Godhra. But now those arrested under charges of POTA have something to cheer about as the Supreme Court and Gujarat High Court have ordered that Godhra was not an act of terror.
Rehana Sheikh's husband Anwar Sheikh was jailed for his alleged hand in the burning of the Sabarmati Express in Godhra in 2002,
Rehana has been waiting for him since then as for seven years Anwar did not get bail as he was booked under the stringent anti-terror law POTA.
But with the Supreme Court ordering the POTA charges be dropped, he finally has a chance to get bail.
"We have been struggling to make ends meet for the past seven years. Now the Supreme Court order has raised our hopes and we are waiting for him to be free soon," Rehana says.
The sense of relief is shared by several other families. Saeed Umarji, son of Godha accused Maulvi Umarji, is a prime accused in the case.
"POTA was wrongly applied on these people and now even the Supreme Court has said it. A case should be filed against the state government now," says Saeed Umarji.
Human Rights activists allege the state government portrayed Godhra as a terrorist conspiracy simply to justify the post-Godhra riots.
"This time, there is a pronouncement by the highest court that it was not a terror attack. I feel the government and the Chief Minister must explain why a false picture was presented before the country," says Mukul Sinha, Chairman, Jansangharsh Manch.
The state police had arrested 116 people under POTA after the Godhra incident and 80 still continue to languish in jail.
While the state government appointed Nanavati-Mehta Commission termed the incident a planned conspiracy, its finding has been repeatedly questioned.
Doubts are being raised about the credibility of the Nanavati-Mehta Commission finding even as it is presently analyzing the crucial post Godhra violence data.
With the POTA charges scrapped, the case will now be shifted from the special POTA court to a sessions court.
(With inputs from Ashok Nathani)
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