Appeal against Godhra order in Supreme Court, says Pravin Togadia

New Delhi: Claiming “Hindus were not getting basic justice”, VHP’s Pravin Togadia on Monday said the Gujarat government should appeal against the state high court’s order commuting the death sentence of those convicted in the Godhra train burning case to life imprisonment.

Dr Togadiya sought capital punishment for convicts in the 2002 carnage and said that the state government should appeal in the Supreme Court before Diwali for the sake of justice to devotees of Lord Ram.

“Why not death by hanging to those jihadis who burnt Hindus in Godhra with planned conspiracy? This is an insult to their sacrifice,” said Dr Togadia in a statement while adding that “Hindus were not getting basic justice.”

A division bench of the Gujarat high court upheld the conviction of the 11 persons sentenced to death but commuted their punishment to “rigorous life imprisonment”.

The high court also upheld the life sentence awarded by the special SIT court to 20 others in the case. Fifty-nine “karsevaks” were killed in the Godhra train burning incident February 27, 2002, which led to communal riots across Gujarat.