Ahmedabad, 23 August 2014

The prime witness to the Gulbarg Society massacre of post-Godhra riots Imtiyazkhan Pathan and four other witnesses have requested prime minister Narendra Modi to withdraw the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) cover from social activist Teesta Setalvad and a team of lawyers on the ground that Setalvad, her former aide Rais Khan, the lawyers and former Congress MP Ehsan Jafri’s widow Zakia and son Tanvir have never faced threat moreover, Zakia and Tanvir are not eye witnesses to the case, and there is no point in extending such heavy security cover to them.

In his application, a copy of which is also sent to the Union Home Ministry and the Supreme Court-appointed SIT and Gujarat chief minister, Pathan has alleged that the social activists throw around their weight with the CISF cover with them. He has asserted that the eye witnesses like him are required to be given CISF cover. When contacted, Pathan told TOI, “The witnesses are guarded by a constable and three constables work to protect them in three shifts. But in most of the cases, the policemen spend hardly a few hours with witnesses, and leave them exposed to danger.”

Another signatory in this application, Firozkhan Pathan cited example of Nadeem Saiyed, who was a witness in the Naroda Patia massacre case. “He was given security of one constable, but the guards usually stayed with him during day time. When he was assaulted and killed in the open, no guard was present to protect him. The reason behind assault on Nadeem could be different though,” he said.