Mumbai (AsiaNews) India's central government will compensate the families of victims of the 2002 Gujarat massacre. Each will receive 700,000 rupees. A Home Ministry Work Group will travel to the state to plan the process
The decision has provoked a protest by Gujarat Chief Minister, Narendar Modi, who now says the government should compensate all victims of violence and attacks across the country.
Human rights activists welcome instead the government's decisions and accuse Mr Modi of exploiting people's suffering for political purposes ahead of the next elections.
For the past four years some 5,000 families have been forced to live in shelters after fleeing sectarian violence that left more than a thousand people, mostly Muslims.
Interethnic clashes were sparked by an attack against a train that left 60 Hindus dead in Godhra, allegedly by a Muslim group.
In March of last year, a federal inquiry found that the incident was not the responsibility of the Muslim community.
The decision by the Congress-party led government has given the Hindu nationalist Modi, from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), an opportunity to lambaste his political adversaries. However, Mr Modi has had to disregard his own ambiguous attitude towards the issue.
Gujarat's Chief Minister attacked New Delhi saying the compensation for Gujarat victims was discriminatory vis-à-vis other victims of violence. For this reason compensation should also go to the victims of the 1984 anti-sick violence.
For Jesuit Fr Cedrick Prakash, head Human Rights Centre Prashant, Modi's statements "are just propaganda ahead of next year's elections. They show how little he cares for the good of the people."
At the end of october, National Minorities Commission slammed the Gujarat government for failing to compensate the victims of the Godhra violence.
Initially state authorities had pledged to do whatever they could for the displaced families. But they later changed their mind claiming there was no need for rehabilitation.
