Law prevailed, justice denied

It was a midnight knock from plainclothed policemen that shattered the family peace. Before Kherunissa, who was six months pregnant at that time, could realise what had happened, her husband Samir Khan and two brothers-in-law Nasir and Shamshad had been whisked away. For a moment the family thought the three brothers would come back shortly. But that didn’t happen. The wait was nine years long. Samir, Nasir and Shamshad, the only bread earners in the Khan family were arrested for their role in the attack on the Sabarmati train.

The family had pleaded that the three, who used to take up assignments of wall paintings, were at work when the incident happened but nobody listened to them. Last week, a special court ruled that the three brothers and 60 other accused were not guilty and let them off. But the family has lost nine precious years.

“My daughter was born when he was in jail. We have faced so many hardships. They were the ones who used to earn and after they were jailed I and my mother-in-law had to do menial jobs to ensure that our families survive,’’ says Kherunissa as she breaks down. Her daughter Sajida is now nine-year-old but her memories of her father are limited to a few visits to the Sabarmati jail where he was kept.

There are tales of several other families whose loved ones were arrested and put behind bars for nine years. For them the homecoming was anything but celebratory. At Rehmatnagar and Singal Falia localities in Godhra, home to most of the accused who have been freed, there were no celebrations. Some returned home to find that their loved ones passed away, some could not trace their siblings who had to leave home due to poverty and for some there was a ray of hope when they met their children for the first time.

But these residents live on hope.  Nafisa, 60, hopes life will come back to normal. Her two sons, Sabir and Allaudin were among the arrested. Nafisa lost her eyesight when they were away, her husband lost his mental balance. She had to do menial jobs for survival. “At times I felt like ending my life. But just survived with the hope that my kids will be back,’’ she says. At some distance in Singal Falia, Inayat Jhujhars family is still to come to terms with the freedom. Inayat was a government servant who had just six months left for retirement. When he was returning home from office he was picked up by the police. “Our father wanted us to study but everything went haywire,’’ says his son Shoaib.

Ghosts of Godhra linger

Issues arising from verdict

Haunted forever by images of death