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http://www.outlookindia.com/full.asp?sid=1&fodname=20020325&fname=Gujarat+%28F%2
GUJARAT Divine Tragedy
The mad scientists of the Hindutva laboratory called Gujarat create a deadly pathogen
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PRIYANKA KAKODKAR
Those who stepped out on to Ahmedabad’s debris-littered streets for the first peace march after the anti-Muslim pogrom a fortnight ago, ironically took the route to Sabarmati Ashram, past the crestfallen statue of India’s apostle of peace and non-violence. Although it’s no stranger to communal strife, the land of the Mahatma has never seen anything as big as the recent carnage.
While the Sabarmati Express massacre, in which 58 persons including kar sevaks were burnt alive by a Muslim mob, has been strongly condemned, the pogrom unleashed against the Muslims the following day has been described by those who witnessed it as no ordinary riot. Points out human rights activist Hanif Lakhdawala of Sanchetna: “This can’t be called a communal riot because both communities were not involved. The Muslims were at the receiving end.” Observers were also taken aback by the sheer extent of killings in the rural belt, which used to be more insulated from communal discord.
How did things come to such a pass? Analysts point to the backdrop of simmering communal tension in the state, particularly after the Ram Janmabhoomi agitation that began 15 years ago, fuelled by the arrival of a BJP government in 1995. Notes Achyut Yagnik, co-author of Creating a Nationality: The Ram Janmabhoomi Movement and Fear of the Self: “Gujarat has been sitting on a volcano.”
In contradistinction to the Gandhian ideals it nourished, Gujarat has never been known for amiable relations between its two communities. Hindu-Muslim strife was recorded even several centuries ago, before the colonial era. But these were largely localised conflicts between two neighbourhoods, says sociologist Ghanshyam Shah of JNU, Delhi, who has been studying riots in the state. After the British fomented the growth of Hindu and Muslim nationalisms, the conflicts began taking on a new colour. As in other parts of India, communal riots took place here even during Gandhi’s time.
According to Muslims, the strong anti-Pakistan sentiment in the state, post Independence, was possibly responsible for the communal polarisation. Notes Lakhdawala: “We’ve a common border with Pakistan, there are many migrants from areas like Sindh who have bitter memories of the Partition and then there’s the fact that Jinnah was from Gujarat,” he points out. Indeed, the VHP’s Gujarat head, K.K. Shastri, is vocal about Muslims being “traitors” and “criminals”. The fact that Gujarat is part of Dawood Ibrahim’s territory has lent credence to the stereotyping of the Muslim as a criminal. Says Shastri: “Bodies such as ours have been formed for the protection of Hindus. Look at how the Islamic terrorists are growing. Look at Osama bin Laden.”
Ahmedabad is particularly notorious for its record of communal conflict. The Ahmedabad riots of 1969—sparked off by rumours that Muslims had stoned a Jagannath temple—are virtually comparable with the recent carnage. The 1970s saw few incidents of disharmony in the state. But by the 1980s, communal incidents were once again on the rise. In 1985, anti-reservation riots were transformed into Hindu-Muslim rioting. In 1990, there was massive rioting in Gujarat after the BJP’s rath yatra, followed by L.K. Advani’s arrest. In 1992, there were widespread riots after the Babri Masjid’s demolition.
The VHP, which claims to be the strongest in Gujarat, agrees that the rath-yatra period saw the highest growth in its membership. “We had about 9 lakh members by then,” says Kaushik Mehta, a VHP leader from Ahmedabad. ]
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The formation of the militant Bajrang Dal in the 1980s has been considered another factor responsible for the rise of communal violence. Observes a senior police officer: “The creation of a civil militia trained in arson has been a major reason why the targeted areas were attacked so quickly and efficiently.” Shastri admits that the Bajrang Dal and the Durga Vahini were specifically formed to protect Hindus. “They are even given rifle training,” he says.
It was during this time that communal riots started spreading to rural Gujarat. Notes Yagnik: “The widespread rural riots that we saw this time weren’t unusual. They were the culmination of the Sangh parivar’s calculated penetration of rural Gujarat, enabled by the politics of yatras, played out through the 1980s.”
The Sangh also made a concerted effort to make inroads into the tribal belt and attract the Dalits. In the 1985 riots, for instance, the upper castes, the Dalits and the Muslims were divided. But ever since, the Sangh parivar stopped harping on the reservation issue. The Hindu identity has become strong for both the upper castes and the Dalits. The burning churches of the Dangs affirmed the tribal society’s saffronisation.
Economic factors are also responsible for the Sangh’s success in dividing the communities. Says Shah: “There is recession, and increased casualisation of labour and unemployment. Nearly one lakh workers have been retrenched by the textile mills in the state over the last 10 to 15 years.” The rising competition for fewer jobs has had a fissioning effect. Says Lakhdawala: “You can see this in the way that Muslim hotels, shops and garages were systematically targeted in keeping with the Hindutva rhetoric ‘they are taking your jobs’.”
The Opposition too has clearly failed to check the Hindutvaisation of Gujarat. Gandhian Prakash Shah says the factionalism in the state Congress over the past 40 years has led to their failure in re-emerging as a viable alternative to the Hindutva parties now.
Sources say that the politicisation and communalisation of the police has become increasingly evident in the past four years. Says an officer: “They have made their biases clear and those who want important positions have to fall in line. The day the BJP assumed office, it transferred senior Muslim officials to unimportant posts. None of the Muslim police officers in the state are allowed to handle important assignments like crime.”
It’s unclear whether the BJP is likely to benefit politically after the latest round of riots. Observes Shah: “Through the mid-'80s and early 1990s, as communal rioting spread, the BJP grew in strength.” But he points out that the benefits of playing the Hindu card are usually short-lived. Shortly before the recent riots, the BJP had performed poorly in both the panchayat elections and the three byelections in the state. VHP leaders, however, insist that what one saw on February 28 was a Hindu resurgence and that Muslims have been taught a lesson—the same rhetoric that the Shiv Sena resorted to after the Bombay riots of 1992-93.
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Bik Gaya Jo Woh Kharidar Nahi Ho Sakta