Islamophobic Remarks :
Maya Kodnani, also known as Maya Surendrakumar Kodnani, is a prominent member of the Bharatiya Janata Party and a former state minister for women’s and children’s development in the Gujarati government. Her father immigrated to India during the Indian Partition as a worker for the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS).
Kodnani had her early schooling in a school with a Gujarati medium before joining Rashtra Sevika Samiti, the RSS’s female counterpart.
Kodnani was found guilty in August 2012 of planning the Naroda Gam and Naroda Patiya massacres during the Gujarat riots of February 28, 2002. 97 Muslims, including 36 women and 35 children, were killed by stabbing, mutilation, and burning alive both singly and in groups during these atrocities. For their roles in the riots in Gujarat’s Naroda Patiya, a neighborhood of Ahmedabad, thirty more people were given life sentences.
According to witness statements seen by Reuters, Kodnani gave Hindu rioters swords, urged them to kill Muslims, and once shot a pistol.
According to witness statements seen by Reuters, Kodnani gave Hindu rioters swords, urged them to kill Muslims, and once shot a pistol.
In the 2002 Gujarat pogrom, which is regarded as one of the worst religious riots in the nation, over 2,500 people—the majority of whom were Muslims—were tracked down and killed by beatings, stabbings, or burning. The BJP, led by the current Indian Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, thereafter took control of the state.
Due to inconsistent witness testimony and testimony from Indian Home Minister Amit Shah in support of Kodnani, a court in 2018 reversed her conviction.
Rana Ayyub, who has written a book on the Gujarat genocide, Gujarat Files, called the overturning of conviction a natural outcome of the poor investigation into the Naroda Patiya riot case.
Sources :
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-india-riots-sentencing-idUSBRE87U0EX20120831
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-43834715
https://www.reuters.com/article/india-riots-sentencing-idINKBN1HR1I2
https://caravanmagazine.in/vantage/release-naroda-patiya-convict
https://www.telegraphindia.com/india/maya-kodnani-on-bjp-stage-with-smriti-irani/cid/1679689