AHMEDABAD: Ramon Magsaysay award recipient Sandeep Pandey and three others were detained on Monday ahead of a foot march to express their solidarity with Bilkis Bano, who was gang-raped and seven of her family members were murdered during the 2002 Gujarat riots
Pandey and other activists were to participate in the foot-march, titled ‘Bilkis Bano Amne Maaf Karo’ (Bilkis Bano, please forgive us), which was planned to be taken out from her native village Randhikpur in neighbouring Dahod district on Monday under the banner of Hindu-Muslim Ekta Samiti. The march was to conclude in Ahmedabad on October 4.
The activists were detained from Godhra on Sunday. The Hindu-Muslim Ekta Samiti in a statement condemned the police action.
The organization said, “The march was organized to support Bilkis Bano.”