The Gulberg society massacre was one of the worst massacres that took place during the Gujarat 2002 anti-Muslim genocide. Gulberg society was set on fire in broad daylight, killing 69 people. Ehsan Jafri, a former MP, was singled out, stripped, and paraded with his limbs chopped off before being burnt alive. Hundreds of Jafri’s neighbours took shelter with him, and for hours from 9.30 am to 1 pm, Jafri made desperate calls to the police, to political leaders, to the then Chief Minister of Gujarat Narendra Modi and the Home Minister of the country. These calls went unheeded and the senior police officers who visited Gulberg Society, did nothing to disperse the murderous mob that was baying for blood. The Gujarat genocide of Muslims began on February 27, 2002. Narendra Modi, as Chief Minister enabled the genocide to take place and protected its perpetrators. The rest of his tenures as Chief Minister saw him vilify the relief camps of the survivors, and run election campaigns capitalising on the custodial killings of Muslims. This journey took his deputy Amit Shah to the top of the Bhartiya Janata Party, and Modi himself to the Prime Minister’s seat.

Photo: Women look at photographs of riot victims on a wall inside a damaged home at the Gulbarg Society during a ceremony in Ahmedabad, India, on February 27, 2012.  Ajit Solanki