Thiruvananthapuram, Feb 1 (PTI) Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Saturday said that Zakia Jafri, the wife of former Congress MP Ehsan Jafri, who was killed in the 2002 Gujarat riots, will be remembered for dedicating her life to fighting against communalism.

Zakia died on Saturday in Ahmedabad at the age of 86.

Also Read | Budget 2025: 1 Crore More People To Pay Zero Income Tax Under Union Budget 2025-26, Says Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman.

Mourning her death, Vijayan, in a Facebook post, said that Zakia's two-decade-long legal battle against the leaders of the 2002 riots "was a shining chapter in the history of secular India".

The rioters who carried out the massacre in Ahmedabad's Gulbarg Society claimed 69 lives, including that of Ehsan Jafri, the CM said.

Also Read | Union Budget 2025-26: From Customised Credit Cards With INR 5 Lakh Limit for Micro-Enterprises to 2.5 Times Hiked Investment Limits, Check Key Measures That Will Bolster 1 Crore MSMEs.

He added that Zakia's legal battle to bring the perpetrators to justice turned into a fight to ensure justice for the victims of the riots.

"It is a sad fact that justice has not been ensured even today," he added.

Vijayan said that her memories inspire everyone to "stand together and fight against the aggressive ideology of the Sangh Parivar".

Zakia waged a legal battle with the Supreme Court in a bid to hold top political leaders accountable for the large conspiracy behind the horrific riots across Gujarat following the Godhra train burning episode, which resulted in the deaths of 59 'karsevaks' returning from Ayodhya.

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)