Vadodara: Zahira Sheikh, the key witness in the Best Bakery burning case who was later jailed by the Supreme Court for perjury, has expressed her desire to contest the Assembly elections provided she is given a ticket by a political party.
In an informal chat with journalists in Vadodara on Tuesday, she said she wants to serve the poor and work for the upliftment of Dalits.
Zahira was in the city to file her income tax returns after she was served a notice by the department. She was sent to jail last year following her inconsistent statements before courts in the high-profile post-Godhra riot case.
She claimed that her family had disintegrated and she did not know where her mother Sherunisa, also a witness, had been staying. Zahira said she was not getting a house on rent in Mumbai following her flip-flop in the case.
She has been staying with her brother Nasibullah in one of the slum localities. Zahira said she has learnt embroidery, sewing and computer during her stay in Maharashtra's Nasik Central Jail and will use these skills to earn her livelihood.
The 21-year-old said she wants to marry a man who can stand by her in all circumstances. After her release from the jail, it was her first visit to the city.
She, however, did not visit her family-owned Best Bakery, which was destroyed in a March 2002 riot that had left 14 people dead. She later left for Mumbai.
Zahira was released from the Nasik Central Jail in Maharashtra a few months back after serving one-year sentence. Her bank account was frozen by the I-T Department following allegations that she changed her statements in the high-profile riot case in lieu of money.
In a brief chat with reporters, Zahira said she has deposited Rs 90,000 in a bank from the money earned by her family members through hard work.
Giving the breakup for the amount, she said Rs 40,000 was obtained through the sale of a house in the Ektanagar locality. The remaining Rs 50,000 was earned through the sale of scraps and machines of Best Bakery, owned by her family. Fourteen people had been killed when the bakery was burnt down in the 2002 post-Godhra riots.
The entire amount was deposited by her mother (Sharunisa) and it was to be spent on marriage, the 21-year-old said. She said an amount of Rs 1.20 lakh has been deposited in a Mumbai bank, which was transferred from Vadodara by her mother.
Zahira said a compensation of Rs 90,000 was received on account of death of her sister Saira in the bakery incident. The rest Rs 30,000 was received from an insurance company for the damage caused to a motorcycle in the bakery fire in March 2002.
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