A Hindu nationalist leader accused of failing to halt deadly anti-Muslim riots in India in 2002 said on Sunday that he had fully cooperated with a panel investigating the violence. Narendra Modi, chief minister of Gujarat state, completed nine hours of questioning into his alleged role in the riots during which about 2,000 Muslims died.
"I have fulfilled my words given to the people of the country. Nobody is above the Indian constitution and law," Modi told reporters afterwards. "We spoke in detail. I have been told by the investigators that my work is over."
It was the first time that Modi - often accused of turning a blind eye to India's worst outbreak of religious unrest in decades - had been quizzed about his handling of the violence. He declined to give details of his testimony but said he supported the panel, noting it was made up of independent Supreme Court-appointed investigators and contained no one from his own state of Gujarat.
Modi, who has always denied any role in the riots, is a prominent member of the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and is seen as a likely future prime ministerial candidate. Since he became chief minister of Gujarat in 2001, he has been credited with transforming the western state into one of India's most economically successful regions.
Last year the Supreme Court ordered investigators to probe a complaint filed by Zakia Jafri, widow of ex-Congress party member of parliament Ehsan Jafri, who was killed on February 28, 2002.
Reports said Jafri was hacked to death and burnt by Hindu extremists who stormed a residential complex housing Muslim families in Ahmedabad, Gujarat's largest city.