AIMIM Chief Asaduddin Owaisi on Friday said that the lesson Union Home Minister Amit Shah taught in 2002 was that Bilkis’ rapists will be freed and Ahsan Jafri will be killed. Addressing a rally in Gujarat’s Ahmedabad, he said, “I want to tell Union Home Minister, the lesson you taught in 2002 was that Bilkis’ rapists will be freed by you, you'll free the murderers of Bilkis’ 3-year-old daughter, Ahsan Jafri will be killed…which lessons of yours will we remember?”
He said that Shah must remember that the seat of power is snatched from all.
“Remember, the seat of power is snatched from all. Drunk with power, Home Minister is saying they taught a lesson…Amit Shah sahab, what lesson did you teach when Delhi communal riots occurred?”
Owaisi added that the lessons people were taught were of Bilkis Bano, Ahsan Jafri, and the Best Bakery Case.
Owaisi’s remarks came after Home Minister Amit Shah on Friday said that the perpetrators were taught a lesson in 2002. Shah further said that ‘BJP established permanent peace in Gujarat’.
Addressing a rally in Madhua town of Kheda district in the state, Shah said, “During the Congress rule in Gujarat (before 1995), communal riots were rampant. Congress used to incite people of different communities and castes to fight against each other. Through such riots, Congress had strengthened its vote bank and did injustice to a large section of the society.”
On February 27, 2002 a coach of the Sabarmati Express carrying passengers from the Ram Janmabhoomi site in Ayodhya was set ablaze near Godhra railway station. As many as 59 Hindu devotees, including children, were charred to death. The incident triggered communal riots across Gujarat, that left at least 1,000 people dead and thousands injured.
The Home Minister claimed that the 2002 riots were a result of miscreants becoming habitual of indulging in violence due to the "prolonged support" they received from Congress.