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Ahmedabad: The real life story of Jebunissa Shaikh, who was separated from her son Muzaffar during the 2002 riots and has located him after a six-year search, has rekindled hopes for Parsi couple Rupa and Dara Mody that their missing son would some day be found.
The couple's 14-year-old son Azhar went missing on February 28, 2002, a day after the Godhra train burning sparked violent riots in Gujarat that claimed over 1,000 lives.
"Jebunissa's story has strengthened our hopes of finding our son. I know he is alive," Rupa Mody said at her home in the Satellite City neighbourhood of Ahmedabad where the family shifted after the riots. Azhar went missing after a mob attacked the Mody's home in the Gulberg Society. He is one of the many who have remained untraced so far.
His parents have been searching for him since then. More than anything else, what binds the Mody family together is this search - as also of his memory captured in a fading photo album, including his last image in his school uniform and holding the national flag.
Azhar's sister Binaifer, who is readying for an examination for a place in an engineering college, still remembers him as a loving brother and hopes he will return.
The trauma faced of the middle class Parsi family, years after the carnage, inspired filmmaker Rahul Dholakia to make the much-acclaimed film Parzania.
"Many people from across the country telephoned us after seeing the film. They said they recalled seeing our son somewhere. This gives us strength to continue our search," Rupa Mody said.
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