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The fifth anniversary of the tragedy of Gujarat is upon us. In these days of TRP-driven news coverage where any issue is relevant till the next breaking news, five years seem an eternity. IM Blog is solemnly commemorating those sad turn of events with the hope that it will help initiate a dialog among fellow Indians and give us strength to face the truth. At the very least it will give us a chance to remember those Indians who were brutally killed by a combination of official apathy and murderous designs of hate-mongers, and those for whom the riots never ended.
This open thread will be used as a starting point for discussions and the links of all the articles/news items covering this event will be posted. If you find a link that you think should be included in this thread, please drop us a line in the comments.
25th February 2007
Prayer meets, commemorative seminars, memorial programmes and a film festival will mark the fifth anniversary of the apocalyptic Godhra train fire of Feb 27, 2002, as well as the ensuing sectarian strife that changed social equations in the state.
A number of citizens’ groups, including the Ahmedabad Women’s Action Group -, have jointly organised an all-religion prayer meet at the historic Sabaramti Ashram of Mahatma Gandhi in the city Feb 27 in memory of the 1,169 people who were killed at the Godhra railways station as well as during weeks of violence in its aftermath across the state. [RXPG New]
27th February 2007
On the eve of the fifth anniversary of the post-Godhra communal riots in Gujarat, a group of voluntary organisations demanded the Narendra Modi Government to publicly apologise for what happened in 2002 and take immediate steps to rehabilitate those still living in make-shift camps. [The Hindu]
Tomorrow — February 28 — will mark the fifth anniversary of the Gujarat genocide. Godhra happened today, five years ago; the ‘reactions’ followed from the day after. We started by calling them the ‘riots’. But now, to express our outrage at the role of the police and the state government in what we suspect were the results of careful planning, we prefer to use ‘genocide’ or ‘pogrom’. For most of us, these words are hiccups in a history of comfortable forgetting and ignorance. The nicest thing about the unthinkable or the unspeakable is that it absolves one of the responsibility of having to think or speak about it. [The Telegraph]
G’ is the letter for the land of ‘G’andhi, ‘G’odhra, ‘G’ujarat and the ‘G’rief. Every year we observe all the ‘G’ anniversaries so ardently that we have actually forgotten their real significance. We remember that a great man called MK Gandhi was assassinated on a particular day but forget the reason for his sacrifice. We remember Godhra carnage and Gujarat riots’ tragedies but fail to learn the lessons of religious tolerance. Amidst ceremonial celebrations and observance, we don’t realize that every year ‘past’ meets the ‘present’ just for the sake of a better ‘future’. Instead we get this ephemeral sense of triumph- Thank God the anniversary of the riots went peacefully without any disturbance this time! [Zee News]
Fault lines created by the sectarian violence in Gujarat remain intact five years later, with rights activists alleging that minorities continue to be at the receiving end. “There’s still a feeling of fear. People are afraid to speak out against the government,? said Father Cedric Prakash, the director of the city-based human rights group Prashant, on the fifth anniversary of the Godhra train fire of February 2002 that ignited a terrible gore. [Gulf Times]
In the town of Baroda which witnessed days of violence after the train attack, Muslim intellectual JS Bandookwala says: “The situation is so bad for Muslims that our only hope is that we must emphasise education and have a say in the state’s economy.” His concern is justified when you consider the economic fallout of the riots. The Muslim economy has been completely shattered in the past five years as the two communities have become polarised. [BBC News]
28th February 2007
Prayer meetings and other programmes were organised across Gujarat on Tuesday to mark the fifth anniversary of the Sabarmati Express train carnage at Godhra railway station in 2002. The Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) held special prayers at Godhra and also at the CTM cross roads here in the presence of kin of victims. “Prayers are being held in memory of the train carnage victims. Kin of victims are also present on the occassion and we hope they gather strength to live life without their loved ones who died,” a senior VHP leader said. [The Hindu]
Colourful paintings and wall hangings depicting the vivid, abstract pictorial images of 2002 Gujarat riots, were put up here on display yesterday to mark the fifth anniversary of one of the country’s worst religious riots. [Gulf News]
Widowed during the post-Godhra riots, Juhapura-resident Yasmeen Sheikh is having trouble coming to terms with bringing up four children alone and battling brain tumor. But where she has most trouble is understanding the terms of the compensation package given to her by the State Government in June 2002, she says.[Indian Express]
The Supreme Court of India compared Modi to Roman Emperor Nero, remembered in popular legend as playing his lyre while Rome burned. Modi’s Hindu-nationalist government looked elsewhere while innocent people were burning and was probably deliberating how to protect the killers, it said in a 2004 judgement.[Reuters]
Muslim survivors marked on Wednesday the fifth anniversary of one of India’s worst communal riots by praying for justice and visiting homes that remain charred and empty after they were attacked by Hindu mobs. Many families are still searching for remains of their loved ones — and justice for their killers — after riots that erupted when 59 Hindu pilgrims were burnt alive in a train carriage in an incident on February 27, 2002, blamed on a Muslim mob. [Scotsman.com]
Twenty three-year-old Firoza Sheikh has recently been elected to the local municipality in Saonli, a small town in the Godhra district of Gujarat. Though it is not uncommon for women to fight elections at every level in India, what is unusual is Ms Sheikh’s background – she spent the first 18 years of her life in the confines of a conservative Muslim household. [BBC News]
1st March 2007
The riot-affected gathered at the Gujarat Vidyapith here on Thursday under the aegis of the “Sach ki Yadein, Yadon ka Sach,” an umbrella organisation formed by over 25 voluntary organisations to commemorate the fifth anniversary of the post-Godhra riots. Their number surpassed the estimates of the organisers. More than 6,000 people from different riot-affected parts of the State turned up to narrate their experience.[The Hindu]Thousands of men, women and children, both Hindus and Muslims, marched shoulder to shoulder through the once worst riot-infested areas in the heart of Ahmedabad on Wednesday to “herald a new era of communal harmony” in Gujarat. The rally was timed to commemorate the fifth anniversary of the “Gujarat Bandh” day on February 28 in 2002 when hundreds of Muslims were burnt alive in several parts of the State in retaliation for the Godhra train carnage the previous day.[The Hindu]
3rd March 2007
At Sardar baug in the heart of the city hundreds of victims of Godhra carnage 2002 held a dharna. During the three hour demonstration they held street plays and sang songs of religious unity in the society. This marked the conclusion of the week long Sach ki Yadein, Yadon ka Sach a programme organized by a number of NGOs to mark the Fifth Anniversary of the Gujarat Carnage 2002.[Gujarat Global News]
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28th February
Money tied up, widows read RTI Act
Seek status of bonds given by Govt, reason for ‘irregular, delayed’ disbursal of interest…
The Indian Express: http://www.indianexpress.com/story/24402.html
My thoughts on this whole affair (and the larger hind-muslim tensions at the present point) are complex so for now i can only say this.
The day I saw the picture of that man begging for his life, there were tears in my eyes. I did not like that my fellow citizens were responsible for this. I dont know if he was muslim or hindu; i suspect the former, since most of the killed in the riots were muslim.
For now, I just want to apologize to all that were effected in a direct or indirect way. To all the Muslims, I say sorry. I dont think 99.9% of you had anything to do with the train, so this tribal form of justice is unfair. And even if you did, its still not the way I would want India to deal with it. We must strengthen our institutions, our public bodies, our public selves and our moral selves to deal with crimes in a manner befitting 21st century humans.
mahi,
Please don’t apologize for sins of people with whom you have no connections. The riots were a blot of the secular ethics of country and let everyone vehemently condemn it. I really appreciate your gesture but please don’t blame your religion or yourself for the crime that was committed surpassing every religious dictat.
I think the reason people (of any community) take law in their hand is that they have no more faith in our justice system to solve the dispute or punish the guilty.
@ Hindu — Its funny you should bring this up. I have my reservations against this, but I will admit that this line of thought needs to be acknowledged because it has many takers. I was surprised when members of my family voiced this opinion.
It seems that for the average Hindu living in the Indian environment, there is no faith that intransigent and violent behavior, which they easily associate with Muslims, (unfortunately reinforced/in-some-cases-created by Pakistan’s stupid insurgency in Kashmir and the more recent Islam-West confrontations) is punished in an open, constitutional manner. So in cases of intense frustration or great prejudice (both kinds exist, as well as a mix), they will happily settle for extra-constitutional methods, however unfair they may be. For example, if a politician we hate is assassinated tomorrow, how many of us wont write it off as okay, or even celebrate it?
My argument against this goes two ways:
1. This is a line of action that will weaken Institutions by compromising them (ex, police had to be comprosimed, and now the judiciary, if the Gujarat killings were to be made feasible for the mobs). This is never desirable for a democracy. Ex: Consider Pakistan using its military-intelligence apparatus to wage ‘low-intesity’ conflict in Kashmir by creating jihadi outfits. One could say there was no other option for them to get ‘justice’ on Kashmir, because they cannot take India on directly or win a binding case in International courts. Where did this foolish experiment land them? – a military with a strong fundamentalist faction that cannot see the harm these jihadi outfits do to Pakistan’s society itself.
Corollary to this: the more extra-constitutional methods are employed to exact ‘justice’, the more the need for improving our bureaucracy and our institutions gets pushed back. Ex: Instead of devoting our resources to improving the Railways, in terms of security, look at the energy that has to be expended in the post-Godhra fallout.
2. This way of taking law into hands is not really fair. Many unconnected people pay the price. And it has the potential for a cycle of vengeful violence. Do we really need that as a just developing country?
I think as a people, we should take every crisis (ex, Godhra train burning) to somehow channel the public outrage into constructive retooling of our pathetic public life and institutions. Be it govt bureaucracy, judiciary, law-enforcement, political-space or the bloated govt PSUs. This is the real long-term solution. We just can’t escape maturing as a democracy as well as a educating all our people.
Bismillah Hir Rahmaan Nir Raheem
As Salaam Alaikum wa rahmatullah
“Allah Never Helps those who don’t help themselves”
I would like to say to all muslims that there is no use complaining about the killing of our brothers and sisters. We have been reduced to this sorry state only because of our actions and inactions. I agree that injustice has happened in Gujarat, but if we need justice we should forget asking others. We should help ourselves, empower ourselves on our own.
I would say to muslims that make your selves indispensable in the eyes of other people. For example, if you happen to be working in some organization, then work harder and show your skills to your employer. Now your employer who may be non-muslim, would be dependent on your services. For students i would say don’t just read your books at school or college, try to interpolate and find practical applications for your field of study. And last but not the least, all muslims should stay united as a single body to face any hardship and fight back if required in the name of allah.
Well said Yaseen Ahmed, I would wish that every muslim who thinks himself to be disadvantaged should fight with double energy. Command the respect and deserve the rewards of true hard work. Do not equate yourself with Muslims of other countries; find your true self in your motherland and fight not on the basis of religious identity but as an Indian. Just look at sportsmen such as Sania Mirza, Irfan Pathan, Zaheer Khan – who have made India proud; a Azim Premji who is the the role model for generations and a Abdul Kalam who has made India a scientific powerhouse and added stature to the highest post in the country. If you find the system a problem, be the change you want to see.
“and fight back if required in the name of Allah”…..these are the disturbing statements that alarm. Does it imply, as per you, that a muslim fights back only as his religious identity and not as a Bengali, Tamil, Malayali or an Indian? Do you mean to say that
I believe that a majority of Indian “muslims” base their identity as Indians and treat religion as a matter of personal choice. In the modern times, people are judged by their actions and not by their “religious identity” on display. Today, its much more difficult to twist facts, and rallying people on the basis of religion alone is foolish but dangerous thing for all involved. Understand the true essence of your religion when it stresses on humanity and values. Does it not matter to you when people of other religions/communities are killed? Can you take decisions based on common sense and fundamental human values and not seek self serving answers only in religion?
I know my religion of Islam. And my religion commands me not to create trouble on earth, but if some body comes and chases me away from
home, killing my family members. And if myself and my family are persecuted only because we believe in Islam, then in such cases My Religion
commands me to fight in the name of Allah against those who fight against me. So that being said, i would not like rally people to fight
non-muslims, but if people try to kill muslims, then yes i would like to rally them in the name of Allah.
Referring to Sudies quotes line by line:
“Does it imply, as per you, that a muslim fights back only as his religious identity and not as a Bengali, Tamil, Malayali or an Indian? Do you mean
to say that I believe that a majority of Indian “muslims” base their identity as Indians and treat religion as a matter of personal choice.”
Let me clarify i don’t claim to be a leader of Indian muslims speaking on their behalf and i simply don’t know whether muslims from india base
their identity as Indians first or not. I only speak on my behalf. And about myself, for me my religion of Islam and the safety, security of my family is
important for me. Let me also tell you that being a muslim, I should only pray to Allah and seek guidance for my decisions only based on Holy
Quran. Quraan has infact helped me control my temper when i saw my family being burnt alive in Gujrat, if alone i did not have the Holy Quraan
with me, you would have sure hated me much more.
And to muslims i would say one of the reason why we still face insecurity in this country is that we always seek help from others but not rom Allah,
for example Gujrati Muslims faced their worse nightmare’s at the hands of a BJP led government and now most of them are looking for help from
Congress. I would say that BJP and Congress are the two sides of the same coin, BJP wants votes by initiating genocide pogroms and
Congress wants votes by acting as a messiah for the victims of BJP.
Instead muslims should seek help from Allah for these trials and tribulations. Stuff such as Gujrat is not new to muslims. Muslims have lived with
worse stuff than Gujarat at the hands of Mongols, Tatars and crusaders in the past, now at the hands of US, Israeli, Modi’s gang and other Muslim
dictators.
And for Sudies another quote:
” In the modern times, people are judged by their actions and not by their “religious identity” on display.”
I believe that if i am a true muslim my actions would be good causing no harm or discomfort to non-muslims, so i am sure if all Indian Muslims are
True Muslims then we would be called good. But on the contrary i can cite examples where muslims had been good and non-muslims have
attacked and caused harm to peace loving muslims. Like for example, Iraq had no WMD’s and so why are the ordinary Iraqi people killed today?
Palestanians were living in Palestine for centuries now why have Israelis occupied Palestine lands and made them refugees? What wrong a did
a 8 month pregnant muslim lady do in Gujrat, Why was she killed, her womb torn and her foetus thrown in fire? Why were gujrati women raped
and burnt? Sudie if you want proof, let me know i will give you all the proof for this.
And Sudie said:
“Today, its much more difficult to twist facts, and rallying people on the basis of religion alone is foolish but dangerous thing for all involved.”
Well i disagree with this statement, if alone it was not easy to rally people on the basis of religion, why did the Gujrat genocide happen? why was
Babri mosque torn down?
And answering your another quote: “Understand the true essence of your religion when it stresses on humanity and values.”
As i wrote before, if i had not read Quraan my temper and actions would not have been controllable. And you would have for sure hated me more.
And for sudie’s quote: “Does it not matter to you when people of other religions/communities are killed? ”
Yes, it does matter to me if innocent people are killed, for that matter i was also aghast at the fact of Godhra Train burning where “kar sevaks”
and other people were killed. I am upset at the gruesome murder of “Kar Sevaks and others” because these kar sevaks don’t seem to have killed
or caused physical harm to others. So killing these people according to me was killing innocent people. And again my prophet muhammad (may
peace be upon him) has commanded muslims “if you kill a innocent person, then it is as if you have killed a whole humanity”. If alone there was a
true islamic rule here, then these perpetrators of Godhra Train carnage would have been executed.
And for your last quote: “Can you take decisions based on common sense and fundamental human values and not seek self serving answers only
in religion?”
Let me clarify the answers that i find from Quraan and the life of Prophet Muhammad (may peace be upon him) are not self serving only to
muslims. As indicated above, by the Shariah laws of Quraan, we could effectively find justice for the killing of kar sevaks. So still do you think? My
answers are self serving???
Before Signing off let me tell you, when i was in my teens (till i was 20) i loved this country as no one would have, (for proving this check my aticle i
wrote when i was 16 yrs old, http://manaskriti.com/InteractInn/21119901.html) But thanks to great so called “progressive”leaders like Modi,
Vajpayee, Advani and no doubt even the so called secular political parties, they opened my eyes. They and also the people who elected them
have proved to me that being a patriot does not save my family from being killed. I have understood well that only collective unity amongst
muslims and strong faith in Allah can alone save them and their families.
Let me tell you an another eye opener incident, I wanted to be a Army officer so i joined NCC. I was well motivated and never missed out a single
parade or a class. But until an Army NCO Lance Naik Nair from Signals at the CATC NCC Camp told me: “You muslims have no brains” and
carried out his tirade forward. He was not the only Army guy, there was also another Havildar Thampi from Infantary who also personally told
similar stuff to me. Now having met similar fate in other walks of life, i have realized that being patriot and trying to sacrifice your life for the country
does not make me a equal citizen. Whatever i am today, i am because firstly i followed the guidance of Allah throught his quraan and because i
worked hard for it.
Now all my opinions here are only my personal, and i don’t want to or will not advocate violence against innocent people…
And also i am well aware that i cannot change the opinions of people and neither do i want to. So Sudie, what ever you believe in, i don’t have a
problem doing so, and i would expect the same from you.
Thanks
Yasin, in Pakistan people are getting killed by their co-religionists. Similarly, the Iran and Iraq war was between two Islamic countries. What can you say for two countries killing each other in the name of the same religion?
I can understand the tragedy that you have been through and while I cannot apologize for the actions for others, believe me such freaks would find me also “wanting” in some other category. I work in the US and at times I feel I have felt prejudice because I was coming from a poor country. But well, thats life. We carry on. I believe that I can only work against the prejudices if I can make my country stronger. If it were for me, I would have had fast track courts where each and every riot victims gets his justice. Even Modi claims that justice delayed is justice denied. After facing a bad deal at NCC did you try to sit for competitive exams like NDA or the IMA. I wonder which Lance Naik could call a muslim a fool when the president of a country is a muslim.
Babri Masjid was torn down by Hindu fanatics..a grim tragedy indeed for a secular nation, but remember their “slogan” was not too different from what you are using now. They also follow their version of religious pride and want to protect their mothers, daughters, sisters – from the Islamic invaders that they felt controlled India and repeated the activities of Gujrat for over 700 years. They feel that muslims have got their country in Pakistan so why do they stay in India? They were supported by many sections who felt that they displayed the “macho” hindu who would no longer accept to see a numerical minority rule over them. Post Babri Masjid, many temples were razed to the ground in Pakistan and Bangladesh. What do you say about refugees from there reaching India?
If you find solace in religion – so be it. But in addition to that, have you tried to have faith in your motherland and prove yourself a worthy son inspite of all the prejudices? How about rallying people in the name of justice instead of God? I call my God by a different name but justice is the same for everyone.
To just add to what I have said, whatever you have mentioned about written in Quran. Just change the language to Sanskrit and you would read the same in the Bhagvad Gita. The effect of the riots on you are obvious and I can only feel sad about other riot victims. But believe me, that’s how riots are. The sikh riots were much worse and so for the case of other riots in the country. Read about the riots during partition. Did the victims of 9/11 at WTC have a right to justice? Did not Osama site religious reasons for his acts? Was not the Godhra episode unprovoked with a small incident that set of an entire train on fire? Was not Saddam one of the worst killers humanity has seen of his own co-religionists. Did he himself not maintain the image of having WMDs? Do not create the impression that muslims have been under the threat of global hate crimes – the land of India has faced numerous attacks for the past 1000 years from “Islamic Invaders”. 99% of muslims in India have Hindu ancestors. Even Jinnah’s forefathers were muslims.
The grief of all victims are the same. The tragedy in our country is the wheels of justice run slow but you just need to peek across the border to see what is happening to a country next door – a country that professes Islamic way. Democracy is about stressing on individual liberty and learning from ones mistakes. It does not assume a document that is infallible to run civic life. Spirituality is different. Thats why in India state and religion is seperate. By distancing yourself from mainstream India you are further harming your future and doing exactly what these criminals wanted to do – to further distance you from rest of the Indians and set you apart. And just one thing more – how can an NCO or a Havaldar dissuade you from following your true destiny?
How can we expect justice with 2 laws under one judicial system – One for muslims and another for non-muslims. May be we should see what is good for India and accept the reality. If we want a secular India, let’s start talking one law for all the Indians.
Aziz, I agree with you in general to have one law for all people. However, I think that is outside the blog’s topic. What I think is being discussed here is subversion of judicial system by an elected govt. to deny justice to an entire community and more importantly, not offerring enough security.
Having one law for all people, even if implemented, does not guarentee security from oppression/violence. That comes only when that law is ‘enforced’ impartially.
What India/Indians need is a method/implementation to ‘enforce’ laws effectively, efficiently and impartially. How can they do it?
Yaseen, I am indeed sad for you. But the best thing to relieve the anger inside you is to forgive the people who did this crime.
In one of the other threads for babu bajrangi on this web site I had said that the very perception that Gujaratis did the riots is wrong.
You are probably going to do the same mistake that the rioteers did after the Godhra incident. I believe the human ire should be against a non forgiving attitude. This is the very hallmark of Indian culture. (Rather eastern culture). The very seeds of anger inside a human being is because we can not forgive an event, a person or a situation.
If your eyes got opened and you stopped thinking you are an Indian because of the riots then its your wish and it should be welcomed as well.
I hear the same eyes opening from many people who always remind me about the mad jubilation of Muslims that happened after the Godhra train burning . News of Pakistani flags or of sweets being distributed or people being taunted about that incident is also fresh in those peoples mind. But they are also wrong because they do not realise that there is a whole section of Gujarati Muslims who were neither part of that incident and neither parcel of the jubilations that took place thereafter.The people who were burning the train or distributing sweets later were not educated and were under the wrong impression of their deeds with sanction in religion.
The people who became mad in revenge were not gujaratis middle class or educated elite but hired goondas and uneducated or unemployed youths again.
But I am sad that politics is being played time and again over that incident. Neither people who perperated Godhra or Gujarat riots will be punished. While one incident is being underplayed or being hushed up to stoke anger of one community the other incidence is being used as some sort of nationalism to stoke anger for the other community. Least to say our media who will never realise that their work is not of pronouncing judgement but that of bringing complete facts.
Gujarat should have stood the gandhian way. After 6 years of that incidence people should realise that bravery is not in a culture of revenge but in a culture of forgiveness. And I ask you to think in those terms as well. Neither the people who were burned in the train were any evil and neither who became victim later. They were all innocents.
Religion is a completely personal matter but basic common sense for a healthy life is to be happy. With so much anger inside you yaseen (and the anger is not only for Gujarat but over the mongols and against tartars who are long gone and for Iraq and palestine) you will always hate anyone who is happy as well. Do not carry this heavy baggage because sometimes we do not know what we should know.
As to the author of this article or to the blog owners I will like to tell is that Gujurati Muslims are living amicably in Gujurat and probably the very notion that Gujurat was completely upside down in 2002 is also wrong. Gujurati Muslims were the ultimate sufferers in many areas like naroda patia but these incidents do not find support in Gujurati society as well. As for the guilty law will take its course but even if it fails I believe there is a bigger court where no guilty ever escapes.
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