local brother who is part of a charity organization is in India as we speak and this is what he sent us…
Dear friends,
Faisal and I are now in Mumbai and have safely returned from a few
days in Gujarat. We met various NGOs and activists (both Hindus and
Muslims) doing work there for the victims and visited sites of
violence from the 2002 genocide and relief “colonies” (makeshift
camps) set up for victims by Islamic committees (and NOT by the
government) and met with some survivors.
We heard heart-wrenching tales of horror - so many people have a
story to tell - but many don’t want to. It’s understandable: what’s
the point? They’ve repeated it many times over and hurt no one but
themselves with the agonizing memories. No one can ever understand or feel what they do unless they themselves have endured something
similar.
We gave survivors words of encouragement and messages of motivation
on behalf of their brothers and sisters in Canada. They seemed to
really appreciate that our thoughts and prayers were with them -
that their suffering wasn’t forgotten.
It was almost unbelievable to actually be walking in exact locations
that gruesome burnings and gang-rapes took place. At different
spots, survivors re-created the scene from 2002 - taking us through
what happened; from where the mobs of Hindu extremists came from,
how they were chanting and calling for Muslim blood…exactly where
bodies were dumped, burned…where even young girls weren’t spared
from being raped by dozens before being burned alive.
One of the worst places that we visited where there was a feeling of
death and carnage that was veritably tangible was the compound of
Ihsan Jafri. He was a Muslim MP who tried saving dozens of Muslims
from the mobs outside - gave up his life in doing so. His desperate
calls to everyone in the government - from high up in the federal
govt to the Chief Minister Modi (aka the Butcher of Gujarat) - were
ignored. The mobs killed him slowly, cutting him up limb by limb,
relishing his death.
People are not generally permitted to enter the Jafri compound and
it is watched over by a police sentry. However, they escorted us
inside. What was once a nice, living compound has now been reduced
to abandoned buildings, still bearing the marks of fire, populated
by a few stray dogs. Though it’s on a main street, there was
deathly silence inside the compound.
It genuinely felt like a place that had experienced great misfortune
and horror…it was a terrible feeling for both of us inside -
almost one of suffocation. I stared at the overgrown foliage in the
compound, walking through it, grappling with the thought of the mobs
raping Muslim girls right there…their screams fading into the air,
the ground having swallowed their innocent blood. Their screams and
the entire scene seemed to flash in my mind like a terrifying
nightmare.
What a depressing time we live in: in 711 CE, 17-year-old Mohammed
ibn Qasim (may Allah be pleased with him) was commissioned and
successfully rescued Muslim widows from the Hindu pirate, Raja
Dahir, in Sindh. Just a few kilometers away, in 2002, Muslim women
were targeted with sexual violence, the likes of which had not been
seen since a decade before in Bosnia-Herzegovina…yet the hundreds
of millions of “Muslims” today allowed this to happen.
A lot of places have since changed…life has moved on, memories
have been suppressed. But the genocide against Muslims continues in
Gujarat in a different shape - but arguably even more dangerous.
This is also being seen in the country as a whole.
There’s so much more to write…but I just don’t feel like it right
now.
**
Part 2**
We are elsewhere now, but it’s been difficult getting internet access so far on this trip. Anyways, continuing with some thoughts from Gujarat:
-
a good portion of buildings in areas that were hit hard in the 2002 genocide have since been renovated, but many still haven’t.
Regardless, there is a lingering feeling of general discomfort… -
I don’t think I’ve been anywhere thus far that Muslims are living in a sense of as much terror. I figure there’s a difference between a conflict zone and a place of genocide: for example, when I went to Palestine last year, the people seemed resilient yet desensitized. In Ahmedabad and surrounding areas, while Muslims can still be seen without being attacked, they live in a nagging, constant fear: any time anything can happen. They are in ghettos and feel relatively safe only within its boundaries.
There is also the presence of a systematic socio-economic boycott of
Muslims. This suppression and attempt to completely crush the spirit of Muslims is something that may even be more serious long-term - especially since this type of oppression barely gets press. Thus the genocide continues…
-
Modi’s filthy face is seen on gigantic advertisement boards,
highlighting his popularity. The fact remains that some of the elite Muslims are trying hard to assimilate into the population, to an extent, and even support Modi and the BJP re: economic success of the state… -
Anywhere where there is a Masjid that exists (usually old ones - no new ones have been constructed, at least overtly), a bigger,
overbearing temple is constructed nearby… -
One of the most painful things that we learned was that there was
some sexual violence subjected by Muslim men on Muslim women in the
refugee camps. The psychological impact of feeling powerless, losing dignity, etc. is at the core of this type of “self-violence”. Naturally, it’s always the women and children that suffer the most in such horrific situations… -
The government has finally started to give money out to victims (6
years later) who lost dear ones or incurred injures in the genocide. However, there are 2 problems: the official count of Muslims killed is around 750, whereas the actual number probably exceeded 5,000. As well, cash given to the survivors is causing problems for them within their surroundings: theft, abuse of those receiving money, marriages being done for money, etc. -
Islamic groups’ work has been nothing short of impressive in helping people rehabilitate; they have even helped some Hindus who were affected. As such, outward religiosity has increased in the community as a whole. As well, it is quite remarkable that despite the atrocities, there has been no militant backlash by the Muslims.
Secular activists are doing an admirable job on the legal and human
rights scene - though it’s an extremely tough challenge; on many
levels, it is a losing battle. Hindu extremist leaders were right on when they said that Gujarat was a “laboratory”…mad science at its best.