I have compiled a series of article on my blog. This is the third part of it. Part I, Part II and Part IVÂ
As far as I can remember the news about the Godhra incident starting flashing in the morning of February 27th. It was a period when the news channels were slowly coming up. Aaj Tak was growing great guns and so were Star News and Zee News. Doordarshan, government run channel, was pushed to the background by the private channels so that meant there were no censors in the news items. It was left to the discretion of the dudes from US/UK to decide what’s best for us. Aaj Tak got all the publicity because it was marketed as India’s own channel. So our own Aaj Tak started flashing images from the train carnage uncensored. The blame was put on Muslims as they fell to the taunts of the returning Kar Sewaks and eventually burnt the train. My first reaction to the news was my utter shock at this inhuman punishment meted out after slightest of provocations. Even though independent fact finding teams have refuted this earlier claim and label it is a part of larger conspiracy of the state government, I am not getting into conspiracy theories.
We still had the same BPL TV but had shifted to Hazaribagh. I was 19 and was busy preparing for IIT-JEE. My brother had his final exams starting in few days so we couldn’t have taken the risk for an excursion. Most surprisingly my paranoid mom was totally not concerned about the gravity of the situation; she just rubbished the news as yet another case of religious fundamentalism by the Muslims. Situation had changed by 2002 as Muslim terrorism was on rise, it had moved out of Kashmir and such incidents were on the rise. I think this could have been the reason for her not reacting as she did during Barbri Masjid demolition. No one anticipated the kind of barbarism that was to follow.
We all had our eyes fixed to the TV set as that was the only source of news. As news of mob rioting started to come in, my parents started showing signs of concern. The nearest Muslim dominated area was a couple of miles away and this was decided to be our abode if riots break out in our locality. We lived in a central government maintained colony as my father occupied a high position in the central electricity department. We were so intermingled with our neighbours that any such reaction could never have been imagined in the wildest our dreams. We used to visit each other’s place on Holi and Eids. We had so many invitations on Holi/Diwali that my father used to have a tough time managing his commitments. Everyone from our driver to housemaid, who were all hindus, were already a part of our lives. Our old driver ‘Muni Singh’ was much more than a driver to us. He was the driver who drove my mom to the nearest hospital, which was 100 kms away!, when this ’sensitive boy’ came to this earth. Could he come now to burn us alive?
We were overwhelmed by the response we got from our neighbours (there were just 3 muslim families in the colony). We were assured of our security in case 
rioters take to the streets. Hooligans were already preparing for a treat but the elders calmed them down. Its usually the junk of the society who takes to rioting; people who are jobless as this offers them a perfect opportunity to vent out their anger. Ever wonder why women suffer the most? Its because those perverts get an opportunity to convert their sexual fantasies to reality. Who is going to stop them and particularly when the state police is with them.
And then the inevitable happened. An ex-MP of congress, Ehsan Jaferry, was burnt alive with his family. His wife and other members survived because they managed to hide. This came as a big shock to us and definitely a cause of worry as we were also in a similar position as they were in. I really can’t think of the reason because of which we decided to stay back. May be because of assurances and the fact that riots didn’t start in our town. Thankfully there were no major incidents of riots elsewhere in the country. This image to the left was the most highlighted at that time. He is a tailor who ran away from Ahmedabad to Calcutta. This image was shot in Calcutta but notice the fear in his eyes and expectedly so! There were men being burned live in front of women and children. Women being raped in front of their children. I cannot even imagine the kind of mental trauma it would have generated in my mind.
The riots lasted nearly a month. TV images of ground realities melted our hearts. My hatred for the Sangh Parivar grew beyond bounds. I never spoke out a word against them to my friends but still the tension during the talks was apparent. A fanatic even called once to express his pleasure at Muslims being butchered, he termed that as revenge. All these incidents left me with no hope of surviving in this country. The child within me was dead long back and I was about to kill the youth in me. If Muslims in India are destined to this then there is no point in whining to the government. Can’t we have our own army? Why are those morons at the OIC quiet? The repeated riots have shown that the Indian government can’t protect us. India was slowly becoming alien to me. All these cynicism at just being a spectator to the riots on TV, imagine how prejudiced someone actually effected would be!
Sharique:
I read all four of your posts. I found them to be moving personal accounts. I felt saddened at how you feel alienated from India altogether. I would only request you to see that India is a continent-sized country and that all shades of opinion and all types of people will exist in a country of such proportions. That is natural. What is not natural is that in our country, there is a total collapse of the rule of law. People take the law into their hands because
a. they do not think that the system will do them any justice for their real or perceived grievances
b. they think that whatever they do, the chances of their being punished are low.
We need to fix this. And a starting point is to completely reform our police and criminal justice system such that the rule of law is upheld at all times.
But at the same time, I personally do not see the reason for the despair I see in your posts. I perhaps cannot directly relate to it at a personal level and hence am nobody to tell you how you should feel. I only hope that with time we come to a situation where bright young people like you might be angry with a situation, but will not give up on India altogether. We all have too much to lose if large sections of our population start sharing this despair.
Girish,
I know it has been tough but I do realise that taking the wrong way serves no good. Its just that our defence mechanism needs a revamp and also definitely the politicians. I sometimes wonder of modern education can give us better politicians or we will continue to live with the present ones.
I appreciate your comment. I am not as embittered as you have mentioned
But this alienated feeling exists among a huge majority of Muslims in India. Social service organizations like the RSS and VHP just keep adding to this alienation. I know you will argue that the majority of Hindus don’t support them but let me cite you few examples-
If orkut is somehow taken as the representator of Indian youth then you will be surprised to know that any pro-Muslim thread is immediately deleted and the member banned. They keep bashing Muslims for the sins that were committed by our ancestors. They blame our religion and also consider us traitors. That India community is just one such, which has more than 1 lac members. Just go to any RSS or Bajrang Dal community and you will see the hatred. If educated youth of India (well who have access to internet) who would generally be considered rational, hate Muslims so much then can you imagine the hatred among others? I got this reply for the same blog post-
I really don’t know whether to be optimistic or not!
I am with Sharique on this one. Sometimes I am awestruck at the kind of raw hatred I have experienced against Muslims at online forums and blogs. And these individuals are supposedly educated Indians with a middle/upper-middle class background.
Girish, your thoughts on this would be most valuable.
Sharique/Mohib:
People on online forums and blogs are not representative of the Indian population or even of the educated classes. People who participate there are often the most vocal. The most vocal speakers/writers on any issue tend to be those who care about it most passionately – people on the extremes. This is not to say that the people in the middle do not participate – only that the share of voice of people at the extreme ends tends to be disproportionately high. Furthermore, many of these folks use multiple identities, using the anonymity that the internet provides, so that only adds to their perceived numbers.
Having said that, I do also think that education is not a guarantee for moderation of thought. It might often work in the opposite direction. The history of race relations in South Africa, or indeed in the US would prove that. The Ku Klux Klan often had the most educated and supposedly erudite people amongst them. The key factor, in my view, is whether there is rule of law or not. People can be prejudiced anywhere – the difference between societies that allow this prejudice to manifest itself in more sinister forms or not is whether there is rule of law or not.
A second factor in our case that makes many educated people increasingly lean towards the right wing is that historically, the parties at the centre or the left have had low credibility with the educated classes. They are not seen as any more secular than the right wing and they are additionally seen as hypocrites. It was not always the case – during the freedom movement, leaders like Nehru or Gandhi carried a lot of credibility (many younger people nowadays might not agree, but that was indeed the case at that time). They were not seen as dishonest compared to the right wing politicians. In the years before the BJP came to power, that was a factor that attracted many people who did not necessarily share their ideology. After 5 years of BJP rule on the other hand, people have seen that they are no different on that front. And the support has also dropped.
Coming back from this digression – I think the key points are that
a. Education does not guarantee moderation
b. Rule of law, at least over a period of time, leads to moderation (at least in actions, if not in thoughts).
This should give a sense of where, in my opinion, the priorities should lie. Ensure that the state does what it is supposed to do, i.e. treat every citizen equally, whether in terms of security, or punishment for crimes, or indeed benefits and favours and you will see that over a period of time, there will be moderation in behaviors too. My personal view is that moderation in thoughts will also follow – the example of the US and South Africa show that.
One more thing – the ‘raw hatred’ that Mohib refers to is on both sides. I grew up for some years in a Muslim dominated town and my mother taught in a school dedicated to educating children from primarily poor Muslim families. I have similar experiences of terror during riot situations, of not knowing whether the persons attacking people on the road due to their religious identities would turn against us also, despite the good reputation my mother had built in the local community and so on. There are simply fewer Muslims on the internet and hence you don’t see them on the internet fora and blogs. But on the streets, I would think that the feeling is not one-sided. Also, there is a difference between a majority and minority in this respect and I recognize that.
Girish: Greatly appreciate your posts. You indeed are of the rare species of desi netizens whose lucidity, intelligence and perspective makes me happy.
Sharique: I share Girish’s sentiments. It is indeed disheartening to read about your sense of alienation with India. Here is what I have to add. I’ll take the liberty of being a bit harsh. Are you not letting your grievance getting the better of you? If this is the fortitude that someone in your situation shows, truly there will be no hope for those with a fraction of your opportunities.
Here is something you should attempt. Dissociate yourself from your identity, for a little while, and ponder things out of your best self. This will allow you to view things from a larger perspective and not be swept away by the grief. Human folly is not new. It has taken the most heinous of forms over the course of our history – Gujarat is not the worst, and will not be the last. On a personal front, my grandmother experienced incredible fear during the brutal years of the Razakars serving the Hyderabad Nizam. She is to date sweetness personified. She is not educated, unlike you and me. If she was not embittered, it tells me, its quite possible.
During the Gujarat riots, I too despaired for India. But I was able to come around because I manage to bring in an element of detachment. Empathy is a virtue, but it can compromise one’s ability to see the widest possible angle. India is as much your nation as any two anna jingoist out there. Make an effort to understand India’s heritage – this will give you greater confidence in the nation and its future. Its ability to come through all these travails stronger.
The hatred on the web: in addition to Girish’s on the spot remarks, I’ll say, let it play itself out. These are times, if you look around the world, of uncommon churning. Changes are afoot and its never pretty. View things as part of a larger sequence so you attribute just the right importance to such things. Viewing disproportionately, you’ll reach the wrong conclusions.
@Girish,
You should do some guest posts at IM.
Cheers,
HP
Whether one adopts a positive or negative outlook so far as India is concerned is really immaterial. The fact is we (meaning all fighting for a civilized polity) have to fight it out. What other alternative is there – another partition with a total exchange of populations this time around? We have to continue the fight even though the unfortunate reality is that we are likely to see more such riots/pogroms in the future.
I would also like to caution those who think that “education” will solve the problem. The hatred that Sharique pointed to on the internet is not coming from the 40% of Indians who are illiterate or the broader 80% [or is it 90%?] or so with no internet access. It is coming from a select group of us Indians who are very privileged compared to the rest of our countrymen/women. Why such hatred should spew out from the most educated of us, I don’t pretend to know but I only want to point out that “education” does not necessarily impart tolerance and broad-mindedness.
Good thinking and great writing, what to say dude, u r my hero.
I must say that initially I was completely unaware of what had happened in Gujrat, but later was shocked to learn of the slow government response and the participation of some of its officials in the violence. After 60 years of an independent and secular nation (one of the few in this part of the world), to know that such acts of violence against minorities in our nation is inglorious. Right wing organizations such as the RSS, talk about invading Muslim armies or might say that India has predominantly been a Hindu country and so on. Well I don’t look at it that way. Muslims too througout their history in India have been important contributors to every field. Their part in the freedom struggle is indisputable. Without them we would have no wonders such as the Taj Mahal. They continue to do so even today, the film industry is a live example. They too have the right to stake their claim as anyone else.
As a Hindu I know that Hinduism preaches tolerance and respect for others beliefs. I think that a Hindu who preaches the word of hatred against my Muslim brothers is no brother of mine. The vast majority of these right wing activists claim to be devout Hindus, but I very much doubt they even know a shred of what Hinduism preaches let alone its essence. Well, I certainly don’t support the idea of enacting revenge on a generation just because their what their ancestors commited might have been inappropriate. If we continue to follow this vicious cycle of hate we will only end when we destroy ourselves completely.
Just as Suresh established earlier education does not necessarily dispel an irrational outlook. More will be needed. Today muslims comprise about 16% of the total population. Yet on an average their representation in government sectors is just about 6%. This under-representation is quite disheartening. If they succeed in increasing this number they will certainly succeed in making their voice heard and achieve what they have’nt been able to.
I would request you to kindly add your contributions to the
Gujarat Riots section on the Wikipedia article about it.
Right now there is a, silence even in Wikipedia about this.
Please help.
Thanks,
Mu2
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gujarat_Riots
that is the URL by the way.
Sharique
Please recognise that no individual has a right to deny any other Indian his/her legitimate rights as an Indian. We need to recognise that each victim of a riot is an Indian first and a Hindu/Muslim later. To counter such evil we need to stand and fight together. Escaping from our country is no solution. I’m working in the US now, and inspite of all its ills, I have learnt that it is a great country today because its people/leadership stood together for the “American Values”. To a large extent it welcomes people into its country without prejudice, as long as they are open to contribute to collective progress.
Let us first recognise that a Hindu fanatic is as much an enemy of the Indian state as a muslim fanatic. Both stand against the values of equality, secularism and respect of the individual that our nation stands for. It is a responsibility of every responsible citizen – muslim or hindu or any other religiion – to stand for India when such nationalist perverts try to cause riots, bomb blasts or disturbance. We play into their hands each time we hide within our community boundaries. What happened in Gujrat is a matter of shame/distress for every Indian. No words can express our anguish at what happened. People who indulge in such riots do not deserve to be called as humans, leave alone Indians or Hindus. As a muslim if you feel you are threatened by such freaks, you should want to make greater efforts to be stronger as an individual – as professionals, as businessmen, as political leaders representing a secular India and not a religion.
If a muslim in Indian feels alienated, he/she just needs to look at Aabdul Kalam to get reassurance that as a country we idolise heroes not on the basis of religion but on their work. Perhaps no politician alive in India commands the respect and admiration Kalam does. The suitable reply to the hindu fanatic or muslim terrorist is for every citizen to belief that he/she has the right and duty to take advantage of the opportunities India offers. Terrorists are cowards who can only fight through violence. More often they kill the very same ppl they claim to represent.
Let us also recognise that religion is not our only identity. We also have regional identities, professional identities, institutional identities. As ppl we need to stand for our secular identitites to beat the designs of these religios zealots.Religion is best left to personal choice. Each religion is great on its own and it does not the support of murderers,perverts and traitors.
I am fascinated by this discussion.One of my best teachers through my high school years is a muslim and its been more than 15 years since i have come out of school and still can say i have good contact with him.I have some very good muslim friends.I live in Australia and i googled mohammed haneef and ended up here on this discussion board.I am not as well informed as you guys are but i would like to say these hate campaigns from either side do not have a moral conscience.Even though we blame the system i beleive each individual has a responsibility for their own actions.The biggest loosers are Indians in this situation as these kind of hatred in the community only hurts our economy.A house with no unity will fall.While we Indians end up in these clashes other economies are booming and we are missing out.By the way i have some very good pakistani muslim friends up here.In this age who the hell cares about which religion you belong too??even if we do care we have proven beyond any doubt that muslims and hindus can peacefully live in one place in india for hundreds of years.
These clashes are the cosequence of bad motives on both sides taking shape.Lets not Brag about how great Hinduism is?Its how much hinduism thats left in us???That applies to muslims as well.
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