I WAS SAFE in my hometown in Kerala when Muslims were butchered in Modiland. Thanks to the Malayalam media, we received horrible descriptions of the genocidal State-sponsored crime of the deshi fascists. We knew that everything was pre-planned. We knew that the “protectors” themselves organised this genocide. We knew Modi would be re-elected in December 2002. We knew the victims of the genocide would not get justice. We knew that not even a single RSS supporter would change his or her political outlook and social view.
Yet I was shocked to see TEHELKA’s latest issue. I was shocked when I saw a VHP leaderproudly claim to have torn out the womb of a pregnant women after killing her. I lost control of my senses when he said that they did not spare even a single Muslim in Naroda Patiya, even though I already knew that that was what they had done. I cursed myself when I read about how Muslims were dumped in a well in Naroda Patiya and burned alive. I felt low again when I thought that I was also born in the same country where Modi is a ruler.
Where is one to look for a resolution?
Practically speaking, it is in the reproduction of the facts. The horror of a genocide that took place in front of us should haunt the collective conscience of secular Indians. The miseries of the poor of Gujarat should remain in our debates, in our public sphere, our media, our art, our literature, our cinema. A permanent reproduction of the facts. That should be the foundation of the anti-communal crusade of our generation. We should remind ourselves that we are the children of the killings.
When the Babri Masjid was demolished by the Hindutva fundamentalists, we failed to launch an all-out campaign against the perpetrators. Ten years later, they struck again, killing thousands of Muslims in Modiland. If we fail once again, we do not know what awaits us in 2012.
(Published in Tehelka November 17, 2007)
Yet I was shocked to see TEHELKA’s latest issue. I was shocked when I saw a VHP leaderproudly claim to have torn out the womb of a pregnant women after killing her. I lost control of my senses when he said that they did not spare even a single Muslim in Naroda Patiya, even though I already knew that that was what they had done. I cursed myself when I read about how Muslims were dumped in a well in Naroda Patiya and burned alive. I felt low again when I thought that I was also born in the same country where Modi is a ruler.
Where is one to look for a resolution?
Practically speaking, it is in the reproduction of the facts. The horror of a genocide that took place in front of us should haunt the collective conscience of secular Indians. The miseries of the poor of Gujarat should remain in our debates, in our public sphere, our media, our art, our literature, our cinema. A permanent reproduction of the facts. That should be the foundation of the anti-communal crusade of our generation. We should remind ourselves that we are the children of the killings.
When the Babri Masjid was demolished by the Hindutva fundamentalists, we failed to launch an all-out campaign against the perpetrators. Ten years later, they struck again, killing thousands of Muslims in Modiland. If we fail once again, we do not know what awaits us in 2012.
(Published in Tehelka November 17, 2007)
