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Statement

Culture of Impunity Continues in BJP-Ruled India as Bilkis Bano Rapists Walk Free​

August 16th, 2022 
​

Canadian human rights defenders condemn India’s nationalist BJP government for deciding to release 11 convicted gang-rapists and mass murderers after serving just 5 years of their life sentences for the brutal gang rape of Bilkis Bano, including the massacre of her family members during the 2002 anti-Muslim riots in Gujarat. 

On March 3rd 2002, Bano was just 21 years old and 5 months pregnant when she was sexually assaulted. Her mother and 3 additional women in the family were gang-raped. In total, 14 members of her family were brutally killed, including Bano’s 3-year-old daughter, whose head was smashed by the killers.

The family was hiding in fields, hoping to escape the targeted violence at the time of the attack. 

In 2008, the 11 rapists were sentenced to life imprisonment by special courts in Mumbai. Their sentences were remitted, and they were each set free by the state’s BJP government, all because the victims were Muslim.

The gut-wrenching account of Bano’s experience that day provides just a glimpse of the horrific 2002 Gujarat genocide. The anti-Muslim violence of Gujarat was led by radical Hindutva mobs, including followers of nationalist groups Bajrang Gal, Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP), and the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS). 

India’s current Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, was widely criticized for his role in the riots, in which hundreds of Muslims were slaughtered, tens of thousands were displaced, and countless Muslim homes were destroyed. 

“The unforgettable violence against Muslims in 2002 reinforces the nationalist government’s reputation for religious inequality. Senior state and police officials involved in the atrocities have never been prosecuted. Worse yet, they continue denying and obstructing justice,” expressed Taha Ghayyur, Executive Director. 

The state’s complicity in Gujarat’s 2002 crimes against humanity led the US government to impose a visa ban on Modi at that time. There was also already a 10-year diplomatic boycott of Modi by the UK government. 

Justice For All Canada calls on Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Foreign Affairs Minister Melanie Joly to speak against this shocking display of leniency towards right-wing radicals committing unspeakable crimes against minority women in India. The Canadian government must also highlight the shocking impunity made possible by the Indian government toward Muslim victims of hate crimes. 

Canadians can support Justice For All Canada’s #SaveIndia campaign by taking action against impunity and Islamophobia in India. 


  1. Take Action Against Anti-Muslim Genocide Incitement in India https://www.justiceforallcanada.org/indiaactionpm.html
  2. Ask Canada’s government to protect Muslim women’s rights in India https://www.justiceforallcanada.org/action_alert_hijab_ban_southern_india.html ​​
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Our Campaigns: Burma Task Force | Save Uyghur | Kashmir Action | Save India from Fascism | Save Palestine
Sri Lanka Task Force | Prisoners of Conscience (Free Shabir Shah | Free Khurram Parvez | Free Huseyin Celil | Israel’s Child and Teenage Prisoners of Conscience) | Indigenous Solidarity Campaign

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