ANAND, INDIA // A court in India yesterday sentenced 18 men to life imprisonment over the killing of 23 Muslims during religious riots in Gujarat in 2002 that left more than 2,000 dead.
Five other men were handed seven-year jail terms for crimes committed when the Hindu rioters entered the village of Ode, bolted the doors of a house where Muslim families had taken refuge and then set it on fire.
Of the 23 who died in what became known as the "Ode massacre", nine were women and nine children.
"The court found 18 men guilty of murder and criminal conspiracy, and five men stand guilty for attempt to murder," Judge Poonam Singh said.
The violence in Gujarat in 2002 was triggered by the killing of nearly 60 Hindu pilgrims travelling in a train that was torched by a mob.
Some 31 Muslims were found guilty last year on murder and conspiracy charges for the train attack, which sparked an anti-Muslim backlash.
Hindu mobs hungry for revenge rampaged through Muslim neighbourhoods across Gujarat during three days of bloodshed that witnessed some of India's worst religious violence since independence from Britain in 1947.
More than 2,000 people, most of them Muslims, were hacked, beaten or burnt to death.
Gujarat's Chief Minister Narendra Modi - a prominent member of the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party - was blamed for failing to stop the riots, with some critics arguing that he actively encouraged the violence.
Earlier this week an investigation team appointed by India's Supreme Court cleared Narendra Modi of such allegations as they found no evidence against him.
The Ode massacre was one of several cases probed by a Supreme Court-appointed special investigation team.
Moonfall
Director: Rolan Emmerich
Stars: Patrick Wilson, Halle Berry
Rating: 3/5
How green is the expo nursery?
Some 400,000 shrubs and 13,000 trees in the on-site nursery
An additional 450,000 shrubs and 4,000 trees to be delivered in the months leading up to the expo
Ghaf, date palm, acacia arabica, acacia tortilis, vitex or sage, techoma and the salvadora are just some heat tolerant native plants in the nursery
Approximately 340 species of shrubs and trees selected for diverse landscape
The nursery team works exclusively with organic fertilisers and pesticides
All shrubs and trees supplied by Dubai Municipality
Most sourced from farms, nurseries across the country
Plants and trees are re-potted when they arrive at nursery to give them room to grow
Some mature trees are in open areas or planted within the expo site
Green waste is recycled as compost
Treated sewage effluent supplied by Dubai Municipality is used to meet the majority of the nursery’s irrigation needs
Construction workforce peaked at 40,000 workers
About 65,000 people have signed up to volunteer
Main themes of expo is ‘Connecting Minds, Creating the Future’ and three subthemes of opportunity, mobility and sustainability.
Expo 2020 Dubai to open in October 2020 and run for six months
TRAP
Starring: Josh Hartnett, Saleka Shyamalan, Ariel Donaghue
Director: M Night Shyamalan
Rating: 3/5
F1 The Movie
Starring: Brad Pitt, Damson Idris, Kerry Condon, Javier Bardem
Director: Joseph Kosinski
Rating: 4/5
Milestones on the road to union
1970
October 26: Bahrain withdraws from a proposal to create a federation of nine with the seven Trucial States and Qatar.
December: Ahmed Al Suwaidi visits New York to discuss potential UN membership.
1971
March 1: Alex Douglas Hume, Conservative foreign secretary confirms that Britain will leave the Gulf and “strongly supports” the creation of a Union of Arab Emirates.
July 12: Historic meeting at which Sheikh Zayed and Sheikh Rashid make a binding agreement to create what will become the UAE.
July 18: It is announced that the UAE will be formed from six emirates, with a proposed constitution signed. RAK is not yet part of the agreement.
August 6: The fifth anniversary of Sheikh Zayed becoming Ruler of Abu Dhabi, with official celebrations deferred until later in the year.
August 15: Bahrain becomes independent.
September 3: Qatar becomes independent.
November 23-25: Meeting with Sheikh Zayed and Sheikh Rashid and senior British officials to fix December 2 as date of creation of the UAE.
November 29: At 5.30pm Iranian forces seize the Greater and Lesser Tunbs by force.
November 30: Despite a power sharing agreement, Tehran takes full control of Abu Musa.
November 31: UK officials visit all six participating Emirates to formally end the Trucial States treaties
December 2: 11am, Dubai. New Supreme Council formally elects Sheikh Zayed as President. Treaty of Friendship signed with the UK. 11.30am. Flag raising ceremony at Union House and Al Manhal Palace in Abu Dhabi witnessed by Sheikh Khalifa, then Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi.
December 6: Arab League formally admits the UAE. The first British Ambassador presents his credentials to Sheikh Zayed.
December 9: UAE joins the United Nations.
