Zakia Jafri, the woman who took on Narendra Modi, passed away on Saturday afternoon.

"Till I have breath left in me, I am going to keep fighting,” Zakia, whose husband, former Congress MP Ehsaan Jafri, was among the 69 people burnt to death inside the gated Gulbarg Society in Ahmedabad during the Gujarat riots of 2002, had said two years ago in an interview.

“Zakia Appa a compassionate leader of d human rights community passed away just 30 minutes ago! Her visionary presence will be missed by d nation family friends & worrld! Tanveernhai, Nishrin, Duraiyaappa, grandkids we are with you! Rest in Power and Peace Zakia appa,” wrote rights activist Teesta Setalvad, one of Zakia’s co-petitioners in the Supreme Court, wrote on her ‘X’ (earlier known as Twitter) handle.

Zakia Jafri and Setalvad’s plea challenging the Supreme Court-appointed special investigation team’s (SIT) absolving Modi of responsibility for the riots was turned down by a three-member bench of the apex court on June 4, 2022.

In her plea, Zakia Jafri had alleged the SIT had ignored crucial evidence in the case, made an incomplete and biased investigation into the complaints of a larger conspiracy.

On March 1, 2023, the octogenarian Zakia Jafri along with some other survivors from the 2002 riots had visited their former home on the 21st anniversary of the pogrom.

She had been pursuing the case, filing complaint after complaint against the then chief minister of Gujarat and other BJP leaders since 2006.

In 2008, the Supreme Court had set up an SIT to re-investigate nine cases including that of the attack on Gulbarg Society.

During the run-up to the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, in a television interview, Zakia Jafri had asked, “Are you going to make Narendra Modi PM again?”