Recently the special court in Maharashtra gave the first significant verdict related with the Gujarat violence of 2002. 12 persons were given life sentence for the gang rape of Bilkis Bano by Judge U.D. Salvi. It was highly reassuring to see the institution of judiciary finally standing up and delivering its duty in a very significant way.
But no less important was the courage, grit and determination shown by the victim Bilkis Bano. This woman who was just 20 years old when the carnage happened went through a trauma that we shudder to even listen. On March 3, 2002 her family was trying to flee the village of Randhikpur, around 250 kms from Ahmedabad amidst the post-Godhra carnage. A mob attacked them and 14 members of her family were brutally killed. Her three year old daughter was snatched from her and the head of the child was smashed on a stone on the ground. They stripped the already six-month old pregnant Bilkis as well as her mother and her cousin and gang raped them till she fell unconscious. The culprits were her neighbours from the same village and easily recognizable.
From this absolutely pathetic situation Bilkis started showing what exactly courage means. She walked down and borrowed some clothes from a tribal woman and than later went to file the FIR. The sub-inspector Somabhai Gori, who has been convicted, refused to register the case. The policemen harassed her to keep quiet and filed a completely different complaint. A doctor couple, who has been released on bail, then fudged the post-mortem reports of the mutilated bodies of her killed relatives and produced a report full of discrepancies.
But finally on her perseverance the case started in Ahmedabad in 2002. The Sessions Court acquitted many of the policemen and the doctor couple. She was then helped by Jayanti Rani who helped Bilkis Bano insist that she did not expect a fair trial in Gujarat. In an extraordinary move the Supreme Court moved the case to Maharashtra in August 2004. In a prior relocation of the Best Bakery case the apex court had remarked “The public prosecutor appears to have acted more as a defence counsel than one whose duty was to present the truth before the court…The court in turn appeared to be a silent spectator, mute to the manipulations and preferred to be indifferent to the sacrilege being committed to justice”. The CBI was handed over the investigation and they arrested the 20 accused on Nov 22 of 2004. The trial finally began in Mazgaon in a special court on Feb 21, 2005.
During this whole time Bilkis lived in a constant danger to her life as she was the prime witness. She kept on moving locations for six long years and even today she lives at an undisclosed location. From any standards it is quite clear that she has shown a very high level of mental toughness where we all saw the case of Zaheera Shaikh (from Best Bakery Case) who kept on flip-flopping under coercion and greed. The same would have been tried on Bilkis too and she surely has shown the highest levels of her character. Getting into her shoes to imagine the trauma that she went through six years back and then a precarious life that she has lived since then to get justice, shows her determination and courage to fight back.
She continues to show the same character and equanimity in her thoughts. After the verdict she said “Yes I am satisfied with the quantum of sentence to those convicted. But I will fight till those doctors and others discharged are also convicted…My plan is to educate my children and live hereinafter in peace.” It is people like Bilkis and an institution like the Supreme Court which keeps the faith of the common man intact.
Many today say to forget about the crimes and tell that it is time now to move on. But just focussing on the layers of this case will show that the environment is still not there to move on. Just before the day the final verdict was going to be pronounced by the Special Court reportedly Bilkis Bano’s father and 60 other Muslim families shifted from their village fearing repercussions. Bilkis Bano still lives in an undisclosed location and says that she will never return to her village. Even after the verdict she is asking the Gujarat government to reassure her and her family of security. What more disturbing can it be from the fact that the culprits who relished in their inhuman acts in the Tehelka expose are still enjoying their life with no accountability!
I cannot see how the time has still come to move on. If Bilkis still lives in fear it just shows that the observations of the Supreme Court given around four years back are still valid. Narendra Modi has won again and continues unabashed in his lies and half-truths. His acceptance which started with Arun Jaitley just after the 2002 carnage has now moved on to Arun Shourie and Jayalalitha. The change in attitude can happen only from within the BJP if it can have the honesty to search its heart and if its Chintan Baithaks can become an exercise in peeping in its heart rather only an exercise of the mind. But then who touches its ‘poster boy’?
The message for now is that if you can win an election then damn the constitutional duties, damn the official prerogative and damn the human rights. If Election Commission makes sound against any of these then damn the election commission. The Supreme Court is still too sacred to be touched…for now.
Sudie,
If you were in France and would have given about French “resistance” the
same remarks regarding Kashmir’s resistance, they would have lynched you !
I am disappointed that you did not quite appreciate my suggestion about sending your definition of terrorism to the U.N.O. However thanks for the reply.
One important question that remains is that whether you equate violence against Muslims in India by various terrorist organisations like Bajrang Dal or the V.H.P. as crime/rebellion against the state. Just a short, one line reply will suffice. I am not asking you for too much of your time.
Refernce to Arya`s post I would like to share a bit of knowledge which is very pertinent to what Arya has written.
About 10 years back a Pakistani colleague told me about the activities of certain people in Pakistan, connected to seminaries and the like. He sounded quite apprehensive about what would happen in the future. That was the time I had not heard names like Laskar-e-Tayyaba or Laskar-e-Jhangvi. Now we
know how true his fears were. These organisations have highjacked the whole country and the government seems absolutely powerless.
Same is likely to happen in India. The Hindu organisations of India which are in many ways mirror images of their Pakistani Muslim counterparts would first finish off with the Muslims, which looking at the efficiency of Mr. Modi, will not take much time. Then they will turn to Hindus who do not follow their line. Can’t see beyond this.
If VHP/Bajrang Dal/Shiv Sena seek to make the country a non-secular state and fight/kill for that, then it’s a fight against the state. For criminals that are killing citizens of India in a manner as they did in Gujrat – personally I support the capital punishment. It’s not a crime against the state; it’s a crime of “psychopathic perverts”. It makes no sense for a country like India if 15% of its population is alienated from the state. A 10% growth cannot be sustained with 15% inefficiency to start with. Even the VHP/Bajrang Dal cannot deny that some of the finest of Indians who have made us proud have been Muslims. Considering that all are equal stakeholders in India’s future, it is a pity that someone may think otherwise.
Till sometime back it was Pakistan govt’s Kashmir agenda to trigger a collapse in rest of India by making it into a Hindu Muslim issue. Kashmir is a symptom of a deeper malaise. Even Ayaz Amir states this in this piece http://www.dawn.com/weekly/ayaz/20000728.htm. Events in Gujarat end up furthering that cause.
Indian and Pakistan suffer from a severe case of sibling rivalry and we all know how bitter that can be. Indian Muslims become easy targets in this rivalry. Are we debating about solutions here or are we keen on calling each other names? I cannot imagine it can be anybody’s case that VHP/Bajrang Dal actions can be defended in any way.
PS: Anyone logging into this forum residing in New York City? It would be great to catch up in person.
correction…..correct link is
http://www.dawn.com/weekly/ayaz/20000728.htm
Sudie you say :If VHP/Bajrang Dal/Shiv Sena seek to make the country a non-secular state and fight/kill for that, then it’s a fight against the state.
Making india a Hindu Rashtra is the most clearly defined objective of VHP. Any violence against Muslims is considered a step in this regard.
Shiv Sena in addition even want to ethnically cleanse the country. If am sure you will recall a statement made by Shiv Sena chief that: ” Muslims can go to Pakistan or alternatively jump into the Arabian Sea”
Is this not enough?
Sameen
They do not state what they mean by “Hindu Rashtra” and as a political concept it is too vague to be defined.
If life was so simple India would have not remained as a 3rd World Country. Politics has many aspects that need to be looked into by any ruling party. Inspite of a Congress govt. how is it that no action is taken against the Sena? Each country needs to go through its phase of maturity. There are hardliners on both sides and for many the inspiration is there just across the borders. A majority of non-muslims in the country do believe that if India had a higher than 50% muslim population, India would be made a theocratic Islamic state. And for validation they site every Islamic state in the world(apart from Turkey). I know and agree that Indian Muslims are different – atleast the educated urban sections. Yes, we are not the perfect country, but well, we are trying to make it better. We are doing a far better job than many countries.
Bal Thackeray uses Marathi working class well in his concept of jingoism but remember it started as a movement against noth Indians and south Indians in Bombay. He is not just anti-muslim. More so I have heard him and his party people state that they are against muslims who support Pakistan and not Indian muslims. I’m sure that is a way to get around the law.
Refer to their statement -
In a statement, senior Delhi Shiv Sena leader Abhimanyu Gulati welcomed the choice of Professor Kalam for the top post saying that “we have always supported and encouraged nationalist Muslims. The government’s choice is a slap on the face of the pseudo-secularists who allege that we discriminate on communal lines.”
http://www.tribuneindia.com/2002/20020611/main3.htm
I completely agree that Shiv Sena makes statements that can put them in anti-national category and personally I’m against this political rhetoric . Why don’t you take him to court and establish the case? We have a Zakir Naik also in our midst who short of making anti-national speeches has made many statements against other religions that I have found offensive. And what about Shahi Imam Bukhari? Believe me , few people in Educated Hindu urban segments in India can support VHP/Shiv Sena but I have found numerous statements that literally diefy Zakir Naik on this very website.
Why don’t you provide a solution?
Anyways Shiv Sena is a regional party and their website cannot even be read by people who do not understand Marathi. The way politics works in India is far more complicated that plain “communal”. Congress of today, IMHO, is far more communal than BJP – its apologies not withstanding. It has neither an ideology nor policy beyond the Gandhi family. Why did they oppose Kalam’s re-election when clearly the entire nation wanted him back. Just because he was a “BJP Candidate” and was too honest and upright to be manipulated or were they upset to have a president who commanded more support among the masses and the classes than the entire parliament put together?
Sudie ;
From the very beginning you had said that if an organisation seeks to change the very nature of the nation and by violent means can be characterised as a terrorist organisation. Now that you do not have any doubt about the violent nature of the Shiv Sena you take umbrage under the excuse that their concept of Hindu Rashtra is too vague to be defined. Now since their website is in Marathi- a language that you either may know or get translated, please refer to it to know exactly what they mean. Also refer back to my post and you will see that I did not mention Shiv sena alone. The websites of V.H.P./Bajrang Dal can easily be understood by you.
Regarding Ex President A.P.J. abdul Kalam- I am disheartened that in spite of his many achievements he is still regarded as a Muslim and not simply as an Indian. Has anbody ever called Mr. Jawahar Lal Nehru a Hindu in Indian context?
You say that: “A majority of non-muslims in the country do believe that if India had a higher than 50% muslim population, India would be made a theocratic Islamic state.”
While I do not know from where you have got this percentage, but the figure may be true given the amount of anti Muslim propoganda of these terrorist organisations. You are requested not to voluntarily become a victim of this propoganda and see thing in truer light.
Gulati, as per you, says that he encourages nationalist Muslim. What does he say about non-nationalist Hindus. Does he differentiate between non- nationalist Muslims and non-nationalist Hindus.
APJ Kalam is an Indian Muslim. Him and others were mentioned to help you see people who think outside the “victim” complex. No point going round and round. You are free to call whosoever a terrorist if it makes the day any better for you, its a free country. But carrying an excess baggage of paranoia, sense of superiority because of being the “chosen religion” and victim complex will only hold you down. I consider that Shiv Sena, VHP, Bajrang Dal attracts people who have no need/desire to work for a living. I need to do so, so would like to stay away from them as well as their idiocies. I don’t want to be rude, but I’m bailing out of this discussion.
Sudie:
You had your last say ie. Shiv Sena/Bajrang Dal/V.H.P. attract people who have no desire to work, that is it. Otherwise their activities are fairly normal. I wish you would ask somebody who does not believe himself to be a member of of a “chosen religion” like a North Indian Hindu today what he feels about these people. Your denial in favour of your chosen organisations do not change ground realities.
Thanks for giving me the freedom to call a terrorist a ‘terrorist’. In fact you have had this freedom since long and have been associating any movement connected to Muslims as terrorism. Good bye.