Zakia Jafri, 2002 Gujarat riot survivor and wife of MP Ehsan Jafri, passes away
Zakia Jafri, 2002 Gujarat riot survivor and wife of MP Ehsan Jafri, passes away
M.U.H
01/02/202516
Zakia Jafri, the 2002 Gujarat riot survivor and wife of slain MP Ehsan Jafri passed away on Saturday, February 1.
“Zakia Appa, a compassionate leader of the human rights community, passed away just 30 minutes ago!,” human rights activist Teesta Setalvad posted on X.
Zakia was the wife of Ehsan Jafri a Congress MP, a freedom fighter, unionist and literary figure. In February 2002, Ehsan canvassed against Narendra Modi who was contesting a by-election in Rajkot. In one of his speeches, he “had urged people not to vote for him because he was an RSS man”. He died a few weeks later.
The assault on Gulbarg Society offers the most telling and damning illustration of the police’s attitude. The report of the Concerned Citizens Tribunal points out that what happened there was “probably the first carnage to have been unleashed after the Godhra tragedy”. Indeed, it set a pattern. It was surely the first target because of the personality of Ehsan Jafri.
In the locality, his compound was considered to be a safe haven. After all, he was a former MP and during the 1985 riots, high-profile officials had protected him. As a result, when tensions mounted, people from the neighbourhood came to take refuge behind the high walls of the Gulbarg Society.
