16 PAC cops convicted for "targeted killing" of Muslims in 1987: Demand for apology from Rahul Gandhi

By Our Representative
In what has been described as a "landmark verdict", 16 PAC cops have been convicted by Delhi High Court for Hashimpura of targeted killings of Muslims 31 years ago. The Delhi High Court has overturned the acquittal of the Trial Court. The High Court has convicted the 16 surviving PAC personnel under Section 302 IPC for life imprisonment holding that this was a case of targeted killings of the minority community.
Rebecca Mammen John represented the victims, while Vrinda Grover appeared for the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) in the highly-discussed case. The Delhi High Court judgment in Hashimpura PAC massacre case said, "We have proceeded to reverse the judgment of the trial court as the evidence is of a clinching nature. This is a case of targeted killing of members of the minority community by state forces. The GD entry and statement of accused recorded on April 16, 2018 prove their presence beyond reasonable doubt."
Grover, however, regretted, "The compensation paid and conviction after 31 years is still a miscarriage of justice for the victims."
UP's civil rights organization, Rihai Manch, has sought apology from Congress president Rahul Gandhi saying he "should take the responsibility for the massacre during his father and the then prime minister Rajiv Gandhi's tenure". It added, Samajwadi Party Supremo Akhilesh Yadav and BSP supremo Mayawati should also answer why evidence was erased during their tenure.
Rihai Manch leader Gufaran Siddique said in a statement, three days before the killing of innocent youths of Hashimpura, then Union home minister P Chidambaram, UP chief minister Veer Bahadur Singh, Congress MP Mohsina Kidwai and state home minister Gopinath Dixit reached Meerut and there was a secret meeting with officials.
He added, the incident happened during the communal tension in the country after the then Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi opened the lock of Babri Masjid. To this day, Congress leaders have not apologized for the incident.

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