The vanquished

 

 

They came in droves. The entire locality of 777 houses was surrounded by a mob of over 15,000 people from all sides. Clad in khaki shorts, white sweatshirts and saffron bandana, they were wielding shining swords. The mayhem and arson started at 10 in the morning and continued till late in the night, leaving 99 killed, 225 injured and four missing (official figures). Almost all houses were doused with diesel procured from an adjoining State Road Transport (SRT) workshop.

This is what happened at Naroda Patiya, just a few kms from state police headquarters, in Ahmedabad on February 28, 2002, a day after 59 kar sevaks were charred inside S-6 compartment of Sabarmati Express at Godhara while returning from Ayodhya; the bloody carnage was repeated in 24 out of 25 districts in Gujarat. The retaliation continued unabated for the next three days throughout the state leaving 1169 dead and over 3200 injured – all of them Muslims. In a sting operation last month, a number of the self-proclaimed instigators and perpetrators of violence, claimed they had been given a free run and immunity from law for three days by the chief minister himself.

Five years later, the houses have been rebuilt with the support of the Islamic Relief Committee, but the wounds are still raw. The moment one asked them to recall the incident, tears started rolling down their cheeks.

The series of events that took place in Gujarat during the past five years, has left such an indelible scar on the psyche of about 7.5 lakh Muslims – comprising roughly nine percent of Gujarat’s population – that they have become second class citizens in their own country. Intercommunity trade has come to a grinding halt, Muslims are not employed by non-Muslims, they are not taken as tenants, estate developers refuse to sell them property, and worse, banks have stopped giving them loans and credit cards.

And this is not happening only to rickshaw-pullers, scrap dealers and street vendors of slums like Naroda Patiya. The same plight is suffered by the affluent, upper middle class Muslims who have the money-power but not the “sanction”. They seem to have become persona non grata in the land of their ancestors.

An executive with a private company (name withheld to protect identity) was unable to purchase a flat in Ahmedabad, despite having enough money, because no builder would agree to sell it to her. Similarly, a student from Gandhidham was unable to get a rented accommodation near his institute in Western Ahmedabad as house-owners would baulk at his name (religion). Ultimately, he had to find accommodation in a Muslim locality, faraway from his institute. The state has not yet come to their help. Despite losing their lifelong earnings and assets, they have received compensation from the state government which can’t be described even as peanuts. Washim Punjabhai of Jawaharnagar in Patia lost everything – from furniture, clothes, utensils to electronic goods – during the riots but received a cheque of just Rs 35 – barely enough to buy a plastic bucket. Of the 777 Muslim families of Naroda Patiya, most received damages up to Rs 3000 only.

Sharifa’s 20-year- old son Sharif was killed in Jawaharnagar and her house torched. She hasn’t got a penny from the government. Rukhsana is still waiting to get married as along with her sister and mother she also lost her house containing her dowry. She was handed over two cheques of Rs 1250 each by the district collector a year after the incident.

Things turned so bad for the minorities in Gujarat, that they abandoned their houses in mixed localities and moved to Muslim ghettoes. After all, 11 members of Zahira Sheikh’s family were roasted akive in Best Bakery in Vadodara on March 2, 2002 because hers was the only Muslim family in Hanuman Tekri slums. Haji Karimuddin, a scrap dealer living two kms from Hanuman Tekri sold off his house at a throwaway price four years ago to move into Ekta Nagar, a Muslim locality. Gulbarga Society having 11 bungalows, is a ghost town as all residents abandoned their houses to move to safer places after a former Congress MP, Ehsan Jaffri, was lynched by the rampaging mobs. Even moderates like Professor J.S. Bandookwala of MS University, who recently appealed for amnesty to all accused of 2002 violence to improve inter-community relations in Gujarat, have moved to “safer” locations. “I lost my job as the factory I was working in, was burnt by rioters. I was jobless for five months as nobody was ready to employ a Muslim till I landed a job in an MNC”, says Mohd Ayub of Rajkot.

The trend is confined not only to towns but was widespread in villages too though it largely went unreported. Muslims’ properties were damaged in rural areas and paltry sums were doled out by state the government as compensation. Mohd Amin Sheth’s farmhouse was damaged in Mosadra village in Sabarkantha district but he received a compensation of Rs 20,000, a handsome amount compared to that given to Naroda Patiya residents.

Despite the ferocity and ostensible spontaneity of the “reply”, the sequence of events hint that either the whole exercise was carefully planned and skilfully executed or it was a coincidence that the carnage was limited only to central and south Gujarat and tribal areas - considered not-so-strong for the BJP. Muslims in BJP’s bastion – Saurashtra – were spared by the rioters.

Non-violence is still the buzzword in Mahatma Gandhi’s hometown Porbandar in Saurashtra. The Muslim locality starts within 100 metres of his birthplace and claims to be living in complete peace. “Hindus are our brothers. Nothing happened here in 2002 as well and we don’t anticipate trouble in future also ”, says Ibrahimbhai, returning from Friday prayers. But, in Gujarat’s biggest fishing port, Veraval, near Somnath, economics is the balancing factor as the fishermen are Hindus while fish traders are Muslims. Inter-dependence of communities prevented any untoward incident in 2002. There were slight skirmishes in 2004 in the wake of killing of a Muslim after a looting incident, but things normalised within few days when strife hit their trade badly.

Bharuch was another peaceful town in 2002 though it was represented by a former Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) leader Ramesh Mistry in the Assembly. “There are 40 per cent Muslims in Bharuch town and apprehension of a strong retaliation was probably a major deterrence”, says Mohd Jamal Patiwala, a Jamat-e-Islami leader.

The Hindu zealots have targeted not only Muslims but Christians as well. Two churches were torched near Peepalwada in 1997 and tension hung heavy with over 10,000 people attacking Christian education institutions in Dang on Chrismas eve the following year. The tirade has resumed after a lull of nine years with Shabari Kumbh being organised by Hindu organisations at Subir in Dang district for past two years, exhorting tribals not to convert to Christianity and calling the Christians to come back “home”.

The media and court glare checked the Hindutva organisations from resorting to another round of terror after 2002, but the lethal blow delivered five years ago, has completely crippled the morale and economy of the Muslims. “We have taught them a lesson which they won’t forget in the near future. We don’t foresee communal trouble in Gujarat till Narendrabhai Modi is the state’s chief minister”, Raju Pandit, a BJP leader in Bharuch told TSI.

But, ask VHP and Bajrang Dal leaders like Kaushik Mehta whether they had successfully subjugated Muslims in Gujarat, pat comes the reply, “I don’t want to say anything. Why don’t you put these questions to those in power? We are not the government”. It is an unwritten rule in Gujarat. Muslims shouldn’t expect any favour from the government. Or for that matter, from the opposition either. Nor should they expect any sympathy from the police either. Incidents like fake encounter of a suspected militant, Sohrabuddin, and his wife Kausarbi, have resulted in reinforcing this belief. The upright officer Geeta Johri, asked by the Supreme Court to investigate the case, submitted her interim report to the government nailing senior police officers like DG Vanzara and is awaiting the government’s nod to proceed further. It is quite likely the sanction may not come at all. Until of course, media and the court force it to act otherwise. “Modi has kept hindutva alive”

The 92-years old Gandhian, Chunnibhai Vaidya, has been an apolitical person thoughout his life, confining himself to Sabarmati Ashram in Ahmedabad. But, this time he is busy campaigning against chief minister, Narendra Modi. TSI talks to him to find out the reasons: Is Gujarat going the right way?

I am confident, humanity will survive and Gujarat will move in the right direction. This is a temporary phase.

What is wrong with it?

The basic fabric is being torn. I have visited villages. They abuse Bapu and say Godse saved the country.

Did you ever speak to the chief minister about this?

He is not the person to be spoken to... he doesn’t reply to my letters.

How long will Modi’s rule last?

He will be in the saddle till 2012 only. This time he will win because he has still kept the Hindutva issue alive among the middle class. The religious thought is more overpowering in the psyche of the people than the party politics.

Can religion be separated from politics?

Yes, of course. I am a professional optimist.