Washington, August 30: Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi has refused to apologize for the 2002 riots in the state.
"One only has to ask for forgiveness if one is guilty of a crime. If you think it's such a big crime, why should the culprit be forgiven?
"Just because Modi is a chief minister, why should he be forgiven? I think Modi should get the biggest punishment possible if he is guilty. And the world should know that there isn't any tolerance for such political leaders," he told The Wall Street Journal.
He was asked whether he would apologize for the riots which his critics demand.
Modi parried a question whether he sees himself as a future prime minister, saying he was concentrating on Gujarat. "I can't think beyond that," he said.
Ex-BJP minister Kodnani among 32 convicted in Naroda riots
Maya Kodnani, BJP MLA and a former minister in Narendra Modi government, and a Bajrang Dal leader were among the 32 people convicted today by a special court on charges of conspiracy and murder in the Naroda Patiya case in which 97 Muslims were burnt alive during 2002 Gujarat riots.
Kodnani, a three-time MLA from Naroda area who was considered to be close to Chief Minister Narendra Modi, is the first woman to be convicted in a post-Godhra riots case.
She and Babu Bajrangi were held guilty under sections 120 (B) (criminal conspiracy), 302 (murder) and 307 (attempt to murder) of IPC and the prosecution sought the maximum punishment of death sentence for all the convicts.
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