'I can breathe again': Bilkis Bano's first reaction after Supreme Court verdict

This is what justice feels like, Bilkis Bano said after the Supreme Court on Monday quashed the remission granted to 11 men convicted of raping her and murdering seven members of her family during the 2002 riots in Gujarat.

While quashing the Gujarat government's decision to grant remission, the apex court also said the state government's order was "stereotyped" and passed without application of mind.

In a statement issued through her lawyer Shobha Gupta, Bano thanked the top court for the verdict and said "today is truly the New Year for me".

"I have wept tears of relief. I have smiled for the first time in over a year and half. I have hugged my children. It feels like a stone the size of a mountain has been lifted from my chest, and I can breathe again," Bano said.

"This is what justice feels like. I thank the honourable Supreme Court of India for giving me, my children and women everywhere this vindication and hope in the promise of equal justice for all," Bano said. Accusing the Gujarat government of abusing its power, the Supreme Court also ordered that the 11 men be sent back to jail within two weeks.

In the statement, Bano also said that journeys like that of hers can never be made alone.

"I have had my husband and my children by my side. I have had my friends who have given me so much love at a time of such hate, and held my hand at each difficult turn. I have had an extraordinary lawyer, Advocate Shobha Gupta, who has walked with me unwaveringly for over 20 long years, and who never allowed me to lose hope in the idea of justice," she said.

She said that "a year and half ago, on August 15, 2022, when those who had destroyed my family and terrorised my very existence, were given an early release, I simply collapsed".

Bano said she felt she had exhausted her "reservoir of courage", until a "million solidarities" came her way.

"Thousands of ordinary people and women of India came forward. They stood with me, spoke for me, and filed PIL petitions in the Supreme Court. 6,000 people from all over, and 8,500 people from Mumbai wrote appeals, 10,000 people wrote an Open Letter, as did 40,000 people from 29 districts of Karnataka," she said.

"To each of these people, my gratitude for your precious solidarity and strength. You gave me the will to struggle, to rescue the idea of justice not just for me, but for every woman in India. I thank you," Bano said.

She said even as she absorbs the full meaning of this verdict "for my own life, and for my children's lives, the 'dua' that emerges from my heart today is simple --“ the rule of law, above all else and equality before law, for all".