Special courts to try 2002 Gujarat riots

The "fast-track" courts will hold daily hearings in the trials which have slowed amid complaints of witness intimidation in lower courts in Gujarat, where some 2,500 people, mostly Muslims, were killed in the 2002 riots.

Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi, from India's main opposition Hindu-nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), is accused of turning a blind eye to the religious violence.

The court order, which comes in the middle of India's general election, has embarrassed the BJP and could affect its electoral chances, analysts say."Considering the fact that seven years have passed it is necessary to hold day-to-day trial," the court said, adding the "fast-track" courts would be set up in five districts of Gujarat.

The court asked police to protect witnesses and ordered a special team probing the riots to file a quarterly progress report on the trials.The Gujarat riots are seen as testing of whether minority Muslims can get justice in officially secular but Hindu-majority India. The violence also became a rallying point for radical Muslims and an effective recruitment tool for Islamist militants.