[sacw] SACW | 3 June 02

[Harsh Kapoor]

South Asia Citizens Wire Dispatch | 3 June 2002
http://www.mnet.fr/aiindex

South Asians Against Nukes:
http://www.mnet.fr/aiindex/NoNukes.html
__________________________

#1. 'By tolerating injustice you are supporting it' (Harsh Mander)
#2. The confrontations of fundamentalism (Jeremy Seabrook)
#3. Evil, Be Thou My God ( RK DASGUPTA)
#4. Minorities on the edge (Amulya Ganguli)
#5. Heard of a place called Juhapura? (Janyala Sreenivas)
#6. Downpour of misery on Gujarat camps (Palak Nandi)
#7. Back From Dead To Talk Of Life
#8. Hindu Shield In Burning Gujarat

__________________________

#1.

Deccan Chronicle (Hyderabad, India)
June 3, 2002
INTERVIEW OF THE WEEK

'By tolerating injustice you are supporting it'
Harsh Mander, IAS officer=20

Harsh Mander is an IAS officer of the 1980 batch who recently shot=20
into fame when he resigned from the services after expressing his=20
disgust with the Gujarat carnage. But since going public about what=20
he felt then, Mander, currently working for a NGO, ActionAid, India,=20
has avoided media glare.

Mander told Deccan Chronicle that what has happened in Gujarat is a=20
trend that has developed over the last 20 years and could erupt=20
anywhere given the facilitating environment.

Excerpts of the interview

Having been part of the bureaucracy not so long ago, can you comment=20
on how the Gujarat bureaucracy and police conducted themselves during=20
the carnage?

The Bureaucracy and the Police have very clearly defined roles,=20
partly in law, partly in practice. But the underlying principle in=20
all these is that the State must use minimum necessary force to=20
control public disorder. But for communal or sectarian violence, the=20
principle has been turned on its head.=20

Instead of minimum force, maximum possible force, mustered in the=20
shortest amount of time needs to be applied. Because every minute's=20
delay leads to the targeting of largely innocent people. Equally=20
important is that the poison of sectarian hatred spreads very fast=20
both across space and time.=20

For instance in this case too it did attempt to spread to other=20
states like Rajasthan or Maharashtra. There is also this danger of it=20
travelling across time because the poison of hatred is something we=20
could carry with us for generations.=20

Therefore it is the utmost duty of all the State authorities to do=20
all that they can to control sectarian violence within the minimum=20
possible time.

What happened was totally contrary. I think 1984 was the turning=20
point when this principle was reversed and the riots that followed in=20
1989 and 1992 demonstrated further decline in standards set for the=20
bureaucracy.

But this carnage showed complete abdication of responsibility by the=20
bureaucracy. When any citizen engages in sectarian violence, it is a=20
very serious crime.=20

But when the authority whose raison d'etre is to protect innocent=20
lives, commits a crime, then that becomes a crime of a completely=20
different order.=20

Besides the less dramatic but equally serious failure has been the=20
total lack of involvement of State authority in the process of relief=20
and rehabilitation which is unprecedented.

Would you say the bureaucrats were in complicity or were they mere=20
mute spectators?

There is a very thin line between fear as a reason and fear as an=20
alibi - that you did not perform because you were really frightened=20
or you did not perform because actually some part of you believed in=20
it. But I would say that there is so little justification to say that=20
you were frightened.=20

Having served the bureaucracy for nearly two decades I know you are=20
given so much legal protection and statutory protection, that if you=20
stand up, all they can do to you is transfer you out.

But in the face of reports that two ministers sat in the Police=20
Control room on the first day of the carnage, that armed mobs were=20
seen emerging from the houses of some other ministers, could a police=20
constable or even an SP resist such pressures?

I wouldn't say that about a constable, though there are some who have=20
stood up even in this situation. But certainly the leadership of the=20
Police and the civil services had the legal authority and moral duty.=20
If you say that it is natural for one to be frightened of fighting on=20
the front, I would say please choose a different profession , don't=20
be a soldier.

What about reports that a lot of Gujarat bureaucrats are either going=20
on leave or seeking postings outside the State.

I don't belong to the Gujarat cadre so I would not have inside=20
knowledge of it. I can only comment as a distant observer. And I find=20
it sad that officers want to leave. I can understand the pressures=20
are difficult to deal with. But once again I would like to reiterate=20
that this is the real test for which you are given all the power.

We can't partake of the advantages of the posts and abandon them when=20
things get hot. Though I can understand the feeling of alienation and=20
isolation of honest officers, they must also act collectively with=20
mutual support and stand up to it.=20

If they give in so meekly even on questions of holding their meetings=20
they don't have anyone to blame for that.

Is it some silent complicity or fear that is the cause?

Maybe I am an optimist. But I feel that a large majority of people=20
feel it is enough to be passively good in your own private sphere. 'I=20
am not bigoted, I don't practice casteism. I am not communal in my=20
personal life. I pay my taxes. I stop at the red light. That's=20
enough. But it isn't enough. The whole point I am making is that=20
tolerating injustice around you is actually taking sides with that=20
injustice.

Before you there were others like G R Khairnar, Arun Bhatia who opted=20
out or attempted to opt out. Why do people like you have to opt out?

I think that apart from the people you have described, the real=20
heroes in the services are those who have done really remarkable=20
work, stood up for justice, stood up against corruption but kept a=20
low profile.=20

Even in the darkness of Gujarat you have had some very fine young=20
officers specially in the Police who have stood up courageously and=20
acted.=20

For instance Baroda rural SP, Kesho, and Bhavnagar SP, Rahul Sharma.=20
So there is space to stand up and be counted. I served more than 21=20
years. I don't think that even for a day I did anything my conscience=20
told me not to do.=20

Over the years unfortunately there has developed some value to some=20
postings and less value to the others. You might be getting the same=20
salary, have the same official level but people want to be in=20
influential positions. They don't want to let go of that.

You are working with ActionAid on the Aman Samudaya project to=20
provide relief to the victims in Gujarat. You have spoken that the=20
chasm between the victims and the rest of the population in Ahmedabad=20
has grown so wide that the plight of these people does not seem to=20
affect the day-to-day functioning in the state.

I think events in Gujarat are actually holding up a mirror to us as a=20
society and as a polity and as human beings. And it has shown that we=20
have such a capacity to indulge in such brutality. Sadly despite=20
ample evidence of this now, there is almost no remorse in the=20
society.=20

Instead you have the Lawyers Association saying they would not plead=20
for Muslim clients, businessmen saying they will not trade with=20
Muslims and all kinds of outrageous things.=20

The word that you keep hearing everyday in Ahmedabad is 'boarda'=20
(border), this divide. They keep talking of this border within the=20
city itself and it seems to have fairly wide support in the middle=20
class and even the working classes.=20

Trade unions, NGOs and most of the leading players did not either try=20
to stop the carnage or even help in terms of relief. I must say these=20
are really, really worrying trends and what I would like to say very=20
strongly is that I am not sure this is not peculiar to Gujarat alone.=20

I think something has happened to our society over the last 10, 15,=20
20 years which could happen elsewhere also if a certain facilitating=20
environment is created. In India the large majority still remains=20
humane, tolerant, secular, but passively so.=20

And the minority of various religions believing in the ideology of=20
hatred are the ones who are active and organised and they are=20
carrying the day and unless we recognise this and wake up, our=20
society is going to be so fundamentally transformed that there will=20
be no going back.

____

#2.

The Statesman (Calcutta, India)
2 June 2002

The confrontations of fundamentalism
NEW VISTAS
JEREMY SEABROOK

FROM the end of February until early May 2002, the news in India was=20
dominated by Gujarat: the burning of 58 Hindu zealots on a train at=20
Godhra as they were returning from the contested religious site of=20
Ayodhya. At that time, extremists of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad and=20
other allies of the BJP government in Delhi were agitating to rebuild=20
the temple at Ayodhya, believed to be the birthplace of Ram. This=20
renewal of Hindu fundamentalism was itself an opportunistic response=20
to a feeling that, following the 11 September attacks in the USA,=20
Islam was on the defensive, and now, if ever, was the time to strike.
Whether or not the Hindu travellers had insulted Muslims at the=20
Godhra station, the consequences of the burning of the Hindu kar=20
sevaks were fateful. After the outrage, Hindu mobs in Ahmedabad and=20
in towns and villages in Gujarat went on a spree of retaliatory=20
burnings, knifings and killings, displacing large numbers of poor=20
Muslims. The administration and police did nothing to stop the=20
bloodletting. Gujarat's BJP chief minister Narendra Modi stated that=20
the people of the state had been, in his estimation, remarkably=20
restrained in their response.
For two months, sporadic attacks against Muslims continued. Although=20
the police subsequently acted, curfews were imposed but until now no=20
one has been charged with any of the killings. It was reported that=20
while fear, silence and smoke hang over the Muslim slums of=20
Ahmedabad, on the other side of the Sabarmati river daily life goes=20
on as "normal", McDonald's functioning as usual, the multiplex cinema=20
doing brisk business. Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee expressed=20
his confidence in Modi and, despite the protests of the secular=20
forces in India, refused to replace him.
The excesses of Gujarat - the place usually promoted as one of the=20
great success stories of India, with its high levels of foreign=20
investment and a modern prosperous state - spread worldwide. Gujarat=20
is now the only state still governed by the BJP. The Central=20
government had lost much popularity in the preceding years, having=20
shown itself to be as venal, incompetent and corrupt as the=20
governments which had preceded it.
Modi's response was a promise to hold fresh elections in Gujarat:=20
confident that the Hindu majority would maintain him in power, the=20
threat to communalise the electoral process would earn a popular=20
mandate for the laissez-faire which had allowed the killings in=20
Gujarat to rage unchecked by the law.
Foreign governments expressed their concern to New Delhi, which=20
declared that it had no need of lectures on communalism from former=20
colonial powers, particularly when these were themselves grappling=20
with the problems of racism and xenophobia in their own countries.
The reason for the BJP's existence is the pursuit of Hindutva, the=20
establishment of a Hindu State. This objective has been held in=20
check, both by the secular nature of the Indian Constitution and also=20
by the fact that the BJP does not have a majority, but must take into=20
account the susceptibilities of its secular allies. This has created=20
great tension. The unleashing of the Hindutva forces in Gujarat=20
offered the saffron Right in India a tantalising glimpse of what=20
absolute power might permit, but it also demonstrated the capacity=20
for violence and disintegration of a communalism that is never far=20
below the surface.
Since 11 September, new insecurities have been experienced by the=20
Muslim minority in India - a minority which, however, remains in=20
terms of numbers one of the largest concentrations of Muslim=20
populations in any country in the world outside Indonesia. The war on=20
terror, which caught up Pakistan in the coercive US coalition, had=20
two significant consequences for India. Since Pakistan and its ISI=20
outfit have encouraged, promoted and connived at terrorism in India=20
since the resurgence of tension in Kashmir 12 years ago, India saw=20
only hypocrisy in US support for Gereral Pervez Musharraf: the=20
military dictator was transformed overnight by the exigencies of=20
realpolitik into an ally against terror.
Second, the Muslim minority in India became increasingly tainted as=20
"anti-national", the enemy within, potential subversives,=20
infiltrators, owing their allegiance to the ubiquitous elsewhere of a=20
militant Islam.
The alienation of the Muslims was facilitated by a series of=20
spectacular terror attacks in India: the assembly in Jammu and=20
Kashmir was attacked in October and 40 people killed. The assault on=20
Parliament in Delhi in December was interpreted as an attempt to=20
destroy democracy, and an attack on the US Center in Kolkata.=20
Finally, there came on 14 May the storming of an army barracks at=20
Kaluchak near Jammu when terrorists shot not only soldiers but their=20
families, including children, leaving 30 people dead.
Ever since the December attack, India had been mobilising. The=20
3,310-km border with Pakistan had been mined, villages emptied of=20
their people, farmlands cleared. The military has been extensively=20
deployed along the whole frontier, particular concentrations in=20
Kashmir close to the Line of Control. The rhetoric of conflict at=20
this stage spoke of giving Pakistan a bloody nose, teaching Musharraf=20
a lesson, giving him a good hiding - euphemisms intended to minimise=20
the brutality and violence of war.
After 14 May, preparations for war completely eclipsed the horrors of=20
Gujarat. These became yesterday's news, overtaken by the greater=20
urgency of the threat against India. Government efforts to minimise=20
what had happened had earlier been greeted with outrage, as when=20
defence minister George Fernandes shrugged and said of the violence=20
against women in Gujarat that this was not the first time rapes had=20
occurred in India. But now the rhetoric shifted. It was no longer=20
"the image of India being tarnished in the world", it was a question=20
of the nation in danger. The old enemy, the mutilated entity of=20
Pakistan, had failed to rein in terrorists. India had handed the=20
Pakistanis a list of 20 terrorists wanted in India and had demanded=20
they be handed over. The time had come for action, punishment, to=20
prosecute India's own version of the war on terror.
Emboldened by the apparently easy US success in Afghanistan and=20
Israeli incursions into the West Bank, there were clearly models and=20
precedents for India to follow.
The Indian government sees a way of erasing the orgy of communalism=20
in Gujarat: the attack in Kaluchak provides the opportunity to focus=20
on the old enemy, which is, of course, only the external=20
manifestation, as it were, of the enemy within. But the great=20
advantage now is that a more general Indian nationalism can be=20
invoked to unite rather than divide the country. The maladroit and=20
murderous experiment in Hindutva in Gujarat is supplanted by an=20
appeal to an ostensibly secular patriotism. With the threat - or is=20
it a promise? - of war against Pakistan, Congress opposition leader=20
Sonia Gandhi sits down with Vajpayee and offers full support. The=20
fractious coalition parties fall silent; demands for Modi's removal=20
are no longer heard.
As the temperature rises - in every sense, in the torrid, parched=20
summer of Delhi, where this year the fevers of war are added to those=20
of the season - flags and banners are waved by crowds gathered in the=20
eerie light and heat created by duststorms over the capital.=20
Politicians cancel their holidays. The shopping trips to London and=20
Paris will have to wait. Visits to their children and their banks=20
overseas must be put on hold. Superintendence of their properties=20
abroad will have to remain in the hands of agents or relatives for a=20
little longer.
The government senses that where Hindu nationalism sowed only=20
discord, "secular" nationalism promises unanimity. Patriotism is to=20
be the vehicle in which the policy of Hindutva will be smuggled into=20
a reluctant India, just as infiltrators and militants are smuggled=20
through the porous borders of Pakistan, into Kashmir and elsewhere.=20
Despite the high risk, the policy is appealing - a swift victory over=20
Pakistan, then a re-election of a saffron government in the ensuing=20
euphoria, perhaps, for the first time, with an overall majority in=20
recognition of its triumph. Then the real business can begin -=20
nothing can stop the agenda of the Hindu Right.
>From the fire in Gujarat to fire-power against Pakistan. In any case,=20
despite the omnipotence ascribed by the Indian authorities to=20
Pakistan and its ubiquitous and Machiavellian ISI, Pakistan is in=20
fact in a state of virtual siege, caught between the fugitive=20
militants from Afghanistan and the coercive US embrace in the war=20
against terror. Musharraf is himself sheltering between the ruins of=20
economy and the debris of democracy. Now, if ever, is the time to=20
strike.
A strange recklessness is born: that Pakistan is in a state of=20
desperation and may be tempted to the nuclear option is, doubtless, a=20
constraint on India. Only the insomniac hatreds of half a century,=20
the frustrated extremism of a government whose anti-Muslim passion=20
lies at the core of its very reason for existence, may prove more=20
powerful inducements to act. The inspiration of the US in Afghanistan=20
and Israel against the Palestinians is appealing - surgical strikes,=20
a lesson taught, demolition of the structures of terror; but an=20
invitation to the nuking of Delhi is a high price to pay for the=20
victory which would doubtless follow.
But for the BJP, the opportunity is unlikely to present itself again=20
- victory under the benign cloak of Indian nationalism, then a=20
popular mandate and overall majority under which its dream of=20
Hindutva can be realised. The risks, however, are intolerable - the=20
blood and ashes of Gujarat magnified a thousandfold, the cities of=20
India reduced to a wasteland, and pollutants across the sub-continent=20
which no religious rituals of purification can ever cleanse. To=20
proceed or to back down - the fundamentalist wager is balanced=20
against the very survival of the two wounded entities of ancient=20
imperial divisions. In the surcharged emotional global atmosphere=20
following 11 September, who can be sure reason will triumph?

_____

#3.

The Statesman
2 June 2002

EVIL, BE THOU MY GOD
The communal violence in Gujarat is historically linked with the=20
demolition of the Babari Masjid and has encouraged the Prime Minister=20
to raise the voice of the Sangh Parivar

By RK DASGUPTA

MILTON'S Satan speaks the five words in the title of this article=20
when he realises that "all good is lost". Satan has then lost all=20
hope and all remorse. I think such was our Prime Minister's mind when=20
at the Goa conclave of his party he shed all liberalism and raised=20
the voice of the Sangh Parivar almost recanting what he had earlier=20
said about the communal violence in Gujarat. He now sees that he can=20
achieve his political good only through evil.
Actually the BJP has thus advanced its electoral fortunes and assumed=20
power at the Centre through a bizarre coalition with 13 regional=20
parties making a government which seems to be a kind of Beggars'=20
Opera. The process through which the party has attained this shaky=20
majority in our Lok Sabha began in January 1948 when Nathuram Godse,=20
once a member of the RSS, assassinated Mahatma Gandhi as a punishment=20
for his sense of justice to Pakistan. Although Godse was not an=20
enrolled member of the RSS when he shot Mahatma Gandhi, the whole=20
country knew that he was an RSS man and the government of India=20
banned the Hindu organisation soon after the assassination.
In Dr Koenread Elst's two-volume The Saffron Swastika: The Notion of=20
Hindu Fascism (2001), there is a defence of Godse saying that his Why=20
I Assassinated Mahatma Gandhi (1977) shows that he was a believer in=20
secular democracy. Dr Elst does not say a word about how a believer=20
in secular democracy could kill Gandhi. The question may not be so=20
important when Dr Elst's whole work of 1070 pages in all is a=20
sustained defence of the Sangh Parivar and its politics.
After the assassination of Gandhi, the RSS could not actively pursue=20
its Hindutva doctrine mostly because of Nehru's liberal policy which=20
lasted till his death in 1964. But when the Congress began to lose=20
its power and had neither the character nor the talent to influence=20
Indian politics, the Sangh Parivar began to reassert its Hindutva=20
doctrine and the first expression of this was LK Advani's Rathyatra=20
of October 1990. Taba rathachakre mukharita patha dina ratri. (The=20
wheels of your chariot resound in the street day and night.) This is=20
the beginning of communal tension in the country. The Hyderabad riots=20
of December 1990 was, as The Statesman said in its issue of 11=20
December 1990 a "spark from Ayodhya". This Rathyatra ultimately=20
qualified Mr Advani for the position of home minister in the BJP=20
coalition government.
What increased the BJP's power in Delhi in good time is the=20
demolition of the Babari Masjid on 6 December 1992. It took place in=20
the presence of LK Advani who knew the RSS kar sevaks who=20
accomplished the task. It was the demolition of a historic Muslim=20
shrine which very substantially advanced the electoral fortunes of=20
the BJP. The communal violence in Gujarat is historically linked with=20
the demolition of the Babari Masjid. It has encouraged our Prime=20
Minister to say about the Muslims what he said at the BJP conclave in=20
Goa.
Till this conference at which the Prime Minister shed his secular=20
mask without any compunction he would sometimes speak as Dr Jekyll=20
and sometimes as Mr Hyde. But at the Goa convention he spoke=20
unabashedly as Mr Hyde. The continuance of riots in Ahmedabad has=20
tarnished the image of the BJP, but it has emboldened its heart. It=20
now sees that the Savarkarian Hindutva is asserting itself even in=20
the homeland of Gandhi. The bullets of Godse killed the Mahatma: the=20
Gujarat violence is destroying his life's ideal. And at this hour the=20
BJP coalition government named our Andaman Air Port after Vinayak=20
Damodar Savarkar. Did not Savarkar, the author of Hindutva (1923)=20
which is still the holy book of the RSS launch a movement in 1940=20
asking his countrymen to "Hinduise all politics, militarise=20
Hinduism". And it is now common knowledge that Savarkar wrote a=20
letter to the British government praying for release from jail and=20
promising cooperation with it.
This honour conferred on Savarkar is meant to revive the Hindutva=20
doctrine on a national scale and reassert the spirit which led to the=20
demolition of the Babari Masjid. If the BJP succeeds in going ahead=20
with this plan our country will soon be facing a near-civil war=20
situation. But who can stop the BJP? It is ruling with subservient=20
allies who cannot think of a presence in the Union government without=20
its patronage. Power is important in politics today because it brings=20
pelf. The BJP may not have a majority in the Lok Sabha after the next=20
general election: but it can look forward to allies joining it and=20
give it the power to rule. [...].

_____

#4.

The Hindustan Times
Monday, June 3, 2002

Minorities on the edge
Amulya Ganguli

Even from Narendra Modi's Gujarat, there have been heart-warming=20
tales of Hindus saving their Muslim neighbours and vowing to protect=20
them in future. All of this must be deeply disheartening for the=20
saffron camp, showing that its hate campaign hasn't been successful=20
enough.

But they reminded me of a story which a Mumbai taxi driver once told=20
me. There's a dargah, he said, where the custom was that a Hindu=20
would offer a chadar every morning. But a fanatical mullah suddenly=20
turned up and said that this was ridiculous, why should a Hindu offer=20
a chadar? A Muslim would do so from now on. And locked the gates.

Next morning, however, the gates wouldn't open. Everyone pulled and=20
pushed, but the gates remained shut. After three days of huffing and=20
puffing, the mullah relented and apologised to the long dead pir of=20
the dargah, saying that he had been mistaken in trying to change the=20
custom. A Hindu was then located and asked to offer a chadar. A band=20
was requisitioned to mark the occasion. As they approached the=20
dargah, the gates swung open.

It's an apocryphal story, of course. No one will ever vouch for its=20
veracity. It will be a futile quest to try and find whether it is=20
true or false. But it represents a profound truth - that all=20
communities must live together in amity. What is more, it is a truth=20
which will be readily appreciated at the lower levels of the social=20
scale. For it is the poor Hindus and Muslims living cheek by jowl in=20
their jhuggi-jhopri clusters who suffer the most during riots.

So, they have invented tales about the strange dargah to reassure=20
themselves of their need for one another. After the taxi driver=20
finished his tale, I was on the verge of asking him whether he was a=20
Hindu or a Muslim. But, then, I realised that the question would be=20
foolish. His community had become irrelevant, his Indianness was all.

Partition was the handiwork of the upper and middle classes. If there=20
was universal adult suffrage in 1947 - if the residents of the=20
jhuggi-jhopris had the vote - it is extremely unlikely that the=20
country would have been divided. What is strange about the political=20
debate at that time was that the problem of the minorities was never=20
considered in depth.

Nehru only wondered how the country could be divided at all when=20
there were Hindus and Muslims in each village. His was a=20
philosophical approach. "What is happening now," Nehru said about the=20
riots, "is to a large extent an upheaval in the lower middle classes=20
- the classes that supported Hitler ... The history of India has been=20
one of assimilation... It is perhaps because we tried to go against=20
the trend of the country's history that we are faced with this..."

If Nehru was his usual dreamy self (Jinnah called him Peter Pan who=20
"never grows old"), the apparently more practical-minded=20
Quaid-e-Azam, too, adopted an entirely unrealistic attitude. "You are=20
free to go to your temples," he told Pakistan's constituent assembly=20
on August 11, 1947, "You are free to go to your mosques or to any=20
other place of worship... You may belong to any religion or caste or=20
creed - that has nothing to do with the business of the State."

Commenting on this speech, Stanley Wolpert wrote in his biography of=20
Jinnah: "What was he talking about? Had he simply forgotten where he=20
was? Had the cyclone of events so disoriented him that he was arguing=20
the opposition's brief? Was he pleading for a united India..." On the=20
other side of the few days' old border, the Congress was saying, "...=20
the mountains and the seas fashioned India as she is, and no human=20
agency can change that shape or come in the way of her final=20
destiny... when the present passions have subsided... the false=20
doctrine of two nations in India will be discredited and discarded."

Perhaps the minority problem was never considered because the=20
Indians, not having ruled the country for the previous two centuries,=20
hadn't deemed it worthwhile to look into what is essentially an=20
administrative matter. As Mountbatten said about Jinnah: "Until I met=20
him I would not have thought it possible that a man with such a=20
complete lack of administrative knowledge or a sense of=20
responsibility could achieve or hold down so powerful a position."

Probably everyone thought that all will be well once the British=20
left. Besides, minority rights, human rights, etc. were not very much=20
in the public domain then. The preoccupation of the votaries of the=20
two-nation theory - Jinnah and Savarkar - was only with dividing the=20
country based on which community was in the majority in which area.=20
The minorities of those areas were nobody's concern.

Savarkar said, for instance, "Let us bravely face unpleasant facts as=20
they are. India cannot be assumed today to be a unitarian and=20
homogeneous nation, but on the contrary there are two nations, in the=20
main, the Hindus and the Muslims in India." Ambedkar's response was:=20
"Why Mr Savarkar, after sowing this seed of enmity between the Hindu=20
nation and the Muslim nation, should want that they should live under=20
one constitution and occupy one country is difficult to explain."

As can be seen, no one was bothered about how the minorities would=20
fare. The reason perhaps was that the Hindus and Muslims of the upper=20
and middle classes did not live cheek by jowl like the poor in the=20
towns and villages. To them, Partition was a game for enhancing their=20
political influence.

Indeed, outrageous as it may sound today, even the thought of=20
minorities in one country (for instance, the Muslims in India)=20
playing the role of hostages to ensure the safety of the Hindus in=20
Pakistan was aired. As Maulana Abul Kalam Azad wrote in India Wins=20
Freedom: "When I first became aware of such suggestions, I was=20
shocked... The idea of retaliation as a method of assuring the rights=20
of minorities seemed to me barbarous... The rivers of blood which=20
flowed after Partition... grew out of this sentiment of hostages and=20
retaliation."

For the poor, therefore, Partition wasn't a game. And so an=20
organisation which had grassroots connections like the=20
Jamiat-Ulema-e-Hind was against dividing the country. Its leader,=20
Husayn Ahmad Madani, held the view that the "inhabitants of India,=20
regardless of their religion, are one Indian nation". Another Jamiat=20
leader, Zia-ul-Hasan Faruqi, said that the ulema feared that the=20
atmosphere of hate as a result of Partition would endanger the Muslim=20
minority in India.

In an article on the Jamiat's attitude towards Pakistan, Yohanan=20
Friedmann wrote that the Jamiat knew that the laws of Islam would not=20
be implemented in India. It also knew that the Muslims would not have=20
a decisive voice in the government. Nevertheless, the Jamiat was=20
convinced that the Muslims would be able to influence the new Indian=20
State and that there would be a Muslim president of the republic from=20
time to time. It has to be said that this humble organisation was=20
more prescient than the aristocratic landowners and barristers who=20
founded the 'moth-eaten' Pakistan.

The reason for the Jamiat's better insight was that its members did=20
not belong to the 'educated' and property-owning classes, who had the=20
vote in those days. Ayub Khan, the sponsor of 'basic' democracy in=20
Pakistan, noted in his Friends Not Masters that "the history of the=20
ulema has been one of perpetual conflict with the educated classes.=20
This conflict came to a head during the struggle for Pakistan. It is=20
well- known that a number of the Muslim ulemas openly opposed the=20
Quaid-e-Azam and denounced the concept of Pakistan". Education is not=20
always a blessing.

_____

#5.

The Indian Express
Sunday, June 02, 2002

Heard of a place called Juhapura?
A Muslim city in a divided city: Even Gill's OSD has moved here; new=20
schools, hospitals are being built
Janyala Sreenivas

Ahmedabad, June 1: Slowly but very very surely, the Gujarat carnage=20
has forced a fearful Muslim community to start building a city of=20
their own-hardening the fault lines in an already deeply divided=20
Ahmedabad.

This is Juhapura. And it's not only the poor and the homeless, there=20
are judges and IPS officers, executives and businessmen, lawyers and=20
bureaucrats. Including, ironically, Security Advisor K P S Gill's=20
Officer on Special Duty A I Saiyed.

He's moved to Juhapura from Navrangpura in March. So has another=20
Muslim officer, S S Pathan, inspector of the anti-corruption bureau.=20
So has retired High Court judge Justice A M Divecha whose house in=20
Paldi, a ''mixed neighbourhood'' was attacked on Day 1 of the riots.

'We will ensure our children don't have to venture out'

Their neighbours are a Who's Who: leading High Court advocate Iqbal=20
Hawa, former Union Secretary (Ministry of Communication) R K Sayeed;=20
Samshuddin Pirzada, former city civil and sessions judge and deputy=20
secretary of legal department; former Additional Director of Health M=20
Ghansura; former Assistant Commissioner of Police R K Qadri.

Muslims all. Four of them moved to their relatives' homes in Juhapura=20
during the riots and have now made permanent arrangements. Before=20
March 1, Juhapura was just a ''Muslim-dominated'' neighbourhood with=20
a population of 1.5 lakh. Falling under the Vejalpur police station,=20
it remained relatively trouble-free during the riots.

One key reason was that retired police and government officers,=20
senior citizens and some businessmen formed groups and kept youths=20
and ''anti-social'' elements on a tight leash. Today, its population,=20
is said to have risen by almost 50,000 in the last three months.

And look at what's being built right now:

* 38 new residential complexes

* 7 schools, 3 English-medium, are on the anvil.

* 3 general hospitals, including a 260-bed facility, are coming up.

* 3 restaurants will soon open their doors.

* 35 mosques will be built in the area.

''The idea is to make Juhapura self-sufficient,'' says resident and=20
advocate Arif Diwan, ''so that we and our children don't have to=20
venture out.'' Especially in the time of riots.

''It's a natural reaction as Juhapura remained peaceful,'' says=20
Additional commissioner of police Satish Sharma. For Amit Shah, BJP=20
MLA, under whose constituency Juhapura falls, ''it is not=20
polarisation.'' Juhapura, he says, offers upper-class Muslim families=20
what they cannot get in walled city areas ''like good flats or=20
bungalows, proper drinking water etc. It is natural that where there=20
are a large number of the same community, more people join them.''

Disagrees R K Saiyed, former Secretary, Union Ministry of=20
Communications, and former Commissioner of the Linguistics Minority=20
Commission: ''Your children are denied admission to schools, you=20
cannot get your favourite tea because the agent does not want to come=20
to Juhapura, couriers don't want to operate here, sweepers do not=20
attend... what do you do? You have to make your own arrangements.''

Part of these arrangements includes generating employment in Juhapura=20
itself. An informal residents' committee has already identified=20
professionals, including 80 doctors and a dozen engineers, 18 retired=20
government officers, blood bank lab technicians, who live in and=20
around Juhapura, whose services are to be retained in the area itself.

If all this means a veritable fortress, it's not as safe as it=20
sounds. On one side of the neighbourhood, across a wall, is=20
Shrinandnagar, which is considered the ''Hindu'' border. Neighbouring=20
societies have raised their walls, even topping them with barbed-wire=20
fencing. On the other side is the Hindu-dominated Vasna area. Most=20
residents of Juhapura fear entering through Vasna to go to Juhapura.

Additional commissioner of police Satish Sharma says: ''Those who can=20
afford are really moving to safer places. It is a natural reaction as=20
Juhapura remained peaceful.''

______

#6.

The Indian Express
Monday, June 03, 2002

Downpour of misery on Gujarat camps
Palak Nandi
http://www.indian-express.com/full_story.php?content_id=3D3740

______

#7.

The Telegraph
3 June 2002

BACK FROM DEAD TO TALK OF LIFE

FROM BASANT RAWAT

Ahmedabad, June 2:
Everybody saw him, arms folded and tears welling up in his eyes, in=20
one of the most telling pictures of the Gujarat riots, everybody read=20
how he just about survived the bloodbath, and now Calcutta can hear=20
him.

Qutubuddin Ansari, 29, will visit Calcutta at the end of June to=20
share his nightmarish experience of the communal carnage in Gujarat=20
that shows no sign of ending. He will talk about life after that=20
horrific moment when the mob attacked him and his family. How he was=20
pleading with the police and the RAF to save their lives and, after=20
six hours of ordeal, how they heaved a sigh of relief when the army=20
took over.

Ansari, a tailor, will bring a message of peace and harmony. He says=20
he will tell Calcutta how the army saved Muslims. "I will tell them=20
(that) my elder brother, who is also a tailor, was paid two months'=20
salary by his Hindu owner even though my brother was sitting idle at=20
home. I will tell them how my Hindu friends hugged me when I went to=20
the shop to start work again. I will tell them (that) not all Hindus=20
are responding to the VHP's call to boycott Muslims."

Ansari hasn't drowned in rancour, and that's exactly why Mansoor=20
Ahmed went all the way to Ahmedabad to trace him. "I want them to=20
know all these positive things=8A people will realise how valuable life=20
is and how important it is to have peace and harmony," said the=20
minority leader from Calcutta.

Ahmed, founder-president of the All-India Muslim Students'=20
Federation, has invited Ansari to address a gathering of prominent=20
persons from all walks of life. "The basic idea is to raise funds to=20
rehabilitate riot victims and provide a reasonably good amount to=20
Ansari so that he can start his own shop," Ahmed told The Telegraph.

Ahmed, who is camping here to find out the needs of riot victims, has=20
promised Ansari money to start his own business - a dream for the man=20
who gets Rs 3,200 as salary for working in a readymade garment store.

When Ahmed came all the way from Calcutta and told Ansari about his=20
plan, he was surprised and could not believe him. Even when Ahmed=20
managed to convince him, the first thought in Ansari's mind was:=20
"What if my shop is burnt again?"

The deep scars left by the suffering has left Ansari unsure and=20
traumatised. Ask him about the day he was clicked pleading with Rapid=20
Action Force personnel to rescue him and his family from a violent=20
mob that had torched his dwelling in the city's riot-hit Bapunagar=20
area, he is at a loss for words.

He chokes with tears even three months after the arson that left more=20
than two dozen people dead and reduced to ashes the source of=20
livelihood of several families.

Ansari is unable to utter a single word, but his unending tears say=20
it all - the hell he went through. After staying in a relief camp for=20
four days, he returned to his house where the memories of March 1=20
still haunt him.

But he is not bitter. The ordeal has not shaken his faith in humanity=20
- he feels grateful to the army that brought a semblance of normality=20
in areas overrun by mobs.

He says his outlook has actually broadened and he has become more=20
humane, compassionate and a firm believer in humanity and secularism.=20
That is the message he will bring to Calcutta.

_____

#8.

The Telegraph
3 June 2002

HINDU SHIELD IN BURNING GUJARAT
FROM SUNANDO SARKAR AND ALAMGIR HOSSAIN

Gholla (Murshidabad), June 2:
Seven days spent mostly in giant metal containers meant for stacking=20
loaves of bread inside a room with no windows. Two drives of an hour=20
each, again in vans meant for shipping bread and through streets=20
strewn with corpses of Muslims. A short walk from the vans to the=20
station, shouting "Jai Shri Ram" with tilaks on their forehead.

But Billal and Litton Mallick of Gholla, Shahidul Haque of=20
Sarmastapur, Sharif Sheikh of Faridpur and Kajal Mallick of Salar=20
don't harbour hate for Hindus. A few weeks after escaping from the=20
Gujarat mayhem, they - and their neighbours and relatives - haven't=20
given up on the idea of a Gujarat with Hindus and Muslims living side=20
by side.

The sole reason for that - for all these Muslim-dominated villages of=20
Murshidabad - comes in the form of a Hindu with the unlikely name of=20
Gyamar Singh. This man, who has never set foot in Bengal, struck a=20
blow for secularism, say those who returned from the bloodbath, that=20
was more powerful than the sordid images of Muslims being put to the=20
sword. For, it was Singh, a contractor who supplied cheap labour to=20
the bakeries dotting Ahmedabad, who stood between a dozen men from=20
Murshidabad and certain death when Ahmedabad was burning.

Twelve men from various villages in the Bharatpur area of the=20
district - all Muslims - have been working for some time at Modern=20
Bakery in Naroda. Billal and Litton, at 16 and 14, were the youngest=20
of the lot.

When trouble started following the Godhra incident on February 27, it=20
was Singh's idea - he, incidentally, was a "practising Hindu who=20
observed many Hindu rituals", Litton said - to put them up on the=20
first floor of the bakery. It was also Singh's idea that they spend=20
most of the day cooped up in metal containers meant to stack bread=20
and biscuits, he added.

"We did as we were told," elder brother Billal added, even though=20
that meant cramps and very little exercise - only to relieve=20
themselves - at night. "Singh spread the word around the=20
neighbourhood that every Muslim had fled and that the bakery had been=20
shut indefinitely," he said.

But seven days later, despite Singh's best efforts, word got out that=20
some Muslim workers were holed up inside the bakery. "We left the=20
bakery after dark on March 5," Litton recounted. The journey to=20
Singh's house - an hour's drive away - was, again, in covered vans=20
meant for shipping bread.

Litton, Billal, Sharif, Kajal and the others learned the next morning=20
that they had given death the slip by a few minutes. Around 9.30 pm,=20
a mob arrived at the bakery and set it on fire. "They must be=20
thinking even now that they killed a lot of Muslims," Billal said,=20
shuddering.

But that morning, there was no time for shuddering and afterthoughts.=20
They set out for the railway station at 6, again inside the=20
bread-carrying vans. "Each van could barely accommodate four=20
containers and the motorcade of three vans reached the station around=20
7," he said.

Singh had planned everything to the minutest detail. He did not=20
forget to put tilaks on their foreheads and he did not forget that=20
the brief walk from the parking lot to the station must be=20
accompanied by regular shouts of "Jai Shri Ram".

Once inside the station, they were safe, said Litton and Billal;=20
there were hordes of paramilitary forces and policemen and the wait=20
for the train - till the evening - was the first time they breathed=20
easy.

The leave-taking with Singh, Litton admitted, was "very sad". "A=20
Hindu man who risks his and his family's security to save Muslims=20
during such hate-filled times must be extra-ordinary," he said.

Billal and Litton are not going back, but their neighbour, Sonababu,=20
has returned to Singh. Though they are scared to go back, Sonababu=20
did not do anything foolhardy, they said. "Somehow, having Gyamar=20
Singh around gives you a feeling of safety of security," the brothers=20
chorused. Even in Ahmedabad.
--=20
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