Concerned About Communal Violence In India: U.S.

“The Gujarat Government appointed the Nanavati-Mehta Commission to investigate the 2002 violence. In December the Gujarat Government granted an extension for the 21st time, extending the commission to June 30, 2014,” it said.

The State Department said the Gujarat Government withdrew its consent to seek the death penalty for former minister Maya Kodnani and others convicted in the 2002 Naroda Patiya violence that killed 97 Muslims.

The investigating agency questioned the Gujarat Government’s move in a petition in the Supreme Court in June.

Kodnani, the first senior politician to be convicted for 2002 violence, was sentenced to a 28-year jail term for her involvement in the post-Godhra riots case.

The report also talked about last year’s communal violence in the Muzaffarnagar area of Uttar Pradesh that led to 65 reported deaths, 42,000 persons displaced, and hundreds of injuries during the months of August and September.

“The violence started with a sexual harassment incident between a Muslim man and a Hindu Jat woman and escalated following a political meeting of officials and others from more than 300 local villages during the weekend of September 7-8,” it said.

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