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The Milli Gazette, May 01-15, 2002
Conspiracy to deprive Muslims
of education in Gujarat
Narender Modi dispensation has ensured that in his model
‘Hindu Prant (state)’ of Gujarat there is no place for
Muslims now. The genocidal tendencies of the State government and
its patrons at the Centre now make it amply clear that the
Muslims of Bharat should rather make up their mind to live a life
under the subjugation of Sangh Parivar communalists for a long
time to come.
In Round Two of the genocide in the state, Muslim students have
been compelled to boycott their examinations because the state
government could not guarantee their safety and safe return from
the examination centres to their refugee camps. Not only this,
the state government was even not ready to budge an inch from its
already declared stand that it would be unable to provide the
examination centres for the Muslim students in minority-friendly
areas as was done in the case of Hindu students who were provided
the examination centres in their own respective strongholds.
In a move which shows paucity of principles for the Gujarat
government, the ‘helpless’ and ‘scary’ Muslim
students had to grudgingly boycott the SSC and HSC examinations
being conducted by the Gujarat State Examination Board (GSEB).
The second phase of the secondary and higher secondary
examinations in Gujarat was boycotted by 90% of the 14,000 Muslim
students. The examinations which began on 18 March had to be
postponed due to tension and outbreak of communal riots. Some
violent incidents in the three cities of Bharuch, Modasa and
Himatnagar had necessitated the cancellation of the examinations.
At least 9,800 Muslim students who have all been affected during
the riots in Ahmedabad, fearing for their lives, boycotted the
board examinations beginning Thursday 18 April. Around 8.25 lakh
students were to appear in the two examinations being conducted
by GSEB at over 600 centres.
"In view of the extreme insecurity and grave threat
perception prevailing in Ahmedabad, and, in particular, the
recurring violence of recent days that is affecting students, and
considering the persistent refusal of the authorities to
re-allocate safer examination centres for minority community
students, it was resolved that the Muslim community shall not
participate in SSC and HSC examinations beginning 18 April,"
said M. H. Jowher, president, Society for the Promotion of
Rational Thinking. Mr. Jowher asked: "Would any Hindu girl
be ready to go to Juhapura if her examination centre was there?
Is it not irrational to expect young Muslim girls to appear in
examinations in Hindu-dominated areas?" The boycott decision
was jointly taken by Gujarat Relief Committee chairman Afzal
Memon, Habeeb Mev, M. H. Jowher, Mufti Shabbir Alam, Murtaza Khan
Pathan, and several others.
In a separate statement to the press, Navaid Hamid, Secretary,
Movement of Empowerment of Muslim Indians, said that the purpose
of shifting the centres was either to discourage the Muslim
students from appearing in the examinations or to put
psychological constraints of safety on their minds during the
examinations.
However, Gujarat Education Minister Mrs. Anandiben Patel said
that the CBSE examinations were already being conducted in the
state. "If the SSC and HSC examinations of the State Board
were postponed again, there would have been a delay in the
results, leading to denial of admission to Gujarat students in
key courses outside the state," the minister said. Muslim
students huddled in various relief camps said, "We have been
living like prisoners for so long, how can we take the exams in
this state of mind?" However, in Shah Alam refugee camp,
most of the students did appear for the examinations since the
Government had agreed to provide an examination centre to them in
nearby areas, according to reports.
The Milli Gazette, May 01-15, 2002
New dimensions of Gujarat
genocide
By N Jamal Ansari
When Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee visited Ahmedabad, he
said, ‘I have not came here for counting dead bodies’.
The statement came from heart. It has been established now that
more than ninety percent victims of Golwalkarite Doctrine were
Muslims and as per his own earlier statement at the time of
assembly elections in four states, ‘BJP did not need votes
of Muslims’. Hence it was quite natural for him to avoid any
count.
It is also known to the outside world that the objective of Sangh
Parivar for herding terrorised Muslims into camps and isolating
them from localities they inhabited is achieved. In short, media
has exposed saffron brand of governance under which Muslims
should be second class citizen. For enlarging the ambit of
saffron Hinduism, the media was taught a lesson on April, 7, on
that day Godse overtook Mahatma Gandhi in his own Sabarmati
Ashram. Not only Medha Patkar was assaulted but police was
pressed to silence media. Some deeper analysis point out that the
whole ethnicide of Muslims is not confined to Gujarat alone. The
issues involved are not merely dead bodies, burning of houses or
humanism. Let us discuss the issues and their impact on Indian
Nation.
Gujarat is one of the most prosperous and industrialised states
of Indian Union. Edible oil, milk, dairy products, diamond and
textiles trading are backbone of state revenue. In short economic
health of the state is far better than other states. Rule of law,
peace and communal harmony are pre-condition for economic
prosperity-Gujaratis themselves irrespective of religious tag are
prime business community. But television channels showed people
in cars looting and burning Muslim establishments. How this
middle and upper middle class gentry changed itself into a group
of looters and killers? Behind their attitudinal change lies the
Hinduism of Savarkar and Golwalker brand. I must point out that
Zionism and Jews are two different concepts. Likewise Hinduism of
Golwalkar and Mahatma Gandhi or Swami Vivekananda are poles
apart. If one closely follows the culture of Sangh Parivar, one
will find out it violent, racist, anti-women and separatist. In
the name of Lord Rama, they have done everything which is
anti-thesis of his preachings.
Coming back to the economic activity, Muslims are engaged in
several trades and businesses. Motor workshops and other
mechanical jobs are their one of the main jobs. In garment
industry Muslims have fair share. Needlework and embroidery
traditionally belongs to them. In industrial workforce, Muslim
constitute the biggest section. Hoteling and restaurant running
are also their prime sectors. In the transport sector, they run
majority of local auto-rikshawas and taxis. In truck business
also they have stake. Primarily the segment of driving the
vehicles of all sorts is a job done by Muslims.
Beside Muslims, trading and industrial activity in general also
made a downward slide due to violent and hostile atmosphere of
the state. Gujarat Chamber of Commerce has given an assessment.
The total loss of nearly Rs 2500 crore within a week includes Rs
1500 crore from closure of markets. Production loss is of Rs 650
crore whereas Rs 100 crore loss is that of self employed people.
Diamond trading alone accounted for a loss of Rs 300 crore. Keep
in mind that these figures do not include the losses suffered by
Muslims.
Naredra Modi is so much busy in experimenting as well as
implementing saffron agenda that he has no time to assess these
losses. Industry and business associations should have been more
active and vocal but they are keeping a deadly silence. Only one
of them, HDFC Chairman Deepak Parekh spoke. He called Gujarat
genocide as ‘a national failure’. He categorically
admitted in an interview that, ‘the carnage after Godhra has
hit business sentiment badly. Can you believe that the sales of
many manufacturing companies have collapsed in Gujarat in the
crucial fiscal end month of March due to riots. Beside riots have
damaged India’s reputation more in international forums than
what is happening in Pakistan’ (Indian Express, March 28).
Another national daily quotes industry sources to say that,
‘the Prime Minister must announce punitive measures against
the people responsible for the mayhem and take steps to resurrect
the state economy which has been dealt a body blow’ (The
Hinsutan Times, April 5).
Beside trading and industrial losses, another problem has cropped
up in Gujarat. Muslim employees of government and public sector
like Banks and Railways are desperate to leave Gujarat at the
earliest. According to the Indian Express of April 14, at least
27 employees of western Railways have applied for transfers on
humanitarian grounds. The State Bank of India has already
transferred eight employees, two or three more transfers are
expected. The Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) has also
received half a dozen applications for transfer outside Gujarat.
There are reports that some IPS officers also want to leave the
state. Considering the above mentioned facts published by a
national daily one can easily conclude that there is a
constitutional breakdown in Gujarat besides law and order
collapse. Is it not a fit case of implementation of Article 356?
Finally analyse some points. Narendra Modi has got clean chit
from Prime Minister A.B. Vajpayee, Home Minister L.K. Advani, BJP
President Jan Krishnamurthy and the whole Sangh-Parivar despite
the fact that each and every responsible forum from media to
human rights organizations have questioned his direct role in the
genocide of Muslims. National Human Rights Commission has
indicted him. The British High Commission has reported to the
British Foreign Office in London that, ‘the violence in
Gujarat was pre-planned. If the Sabarmati Express tragedy had not
happened, another flashpoint would have been created to justify
premeditated violence as reaction’ (Hindustan Times, April
15).
The role of Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee is very dubious.
On April 4, at Shah Alam Camp in Ahmedabad, he said, ‘I
don’t know with what face I will go abroad’. He climbed
down from false emotions on April, 9 and April, 11 in Singapore
and Cambodia where he stated that, ‘India is an ancient
country with one billion people. Let not some of the recent
unfortunate happenings in India create any unease in you’.
And lastly on April, 12, he shouted at Goa- ‘Wherever there
are Muslims there is strife. Don’t teach us secularism. We
allow (Muslims and Christians) to follow their religion’.
Not even once, he displayed decency to declare that the guilty
will be punished.
Now what can be done? Replacement of Narendra Modi is not a
solution. Article 356 should be imposed in Gujarat. As the state
Governor also belongs to RSS, he should be replaced and any
centralist intellectual or diplomat may be appointed Governor. At
this time elections cannot be held there. Former Chief Election
Commissioner, TN Seshan has clearly pointed out that, ‘the
EC has access to reports from the NHRC, National Minorities
Commission, media and opposition parties. It depends upon it to
decide about it. Presently conditions in Gujarat are not
conducive for free, fair polls’ (Indian Express, April 15).
Hence declaring elections will be nothing but a conspiracy.
It is high time for people who believe in rule of law to rise in
unison and take determined measures to confront Hindutva Brigade
frontally. Otherwise, I am afraid, that we will loose our fruits
of independence. We are slowly but surely moving towards a
fascist state and we have to reverse this situation.
The Milli Gazette, May 01-15, 2002
Minority officers flee Gujarat
Ahmedabad: Muslims who can are fleeing Narendra Modi's Gujarat.
Shaken by the riots, IPS officers and senior employees of
government organisations have started packing their bags.M.A.
Wadoo, an ONGC official whose rented apartment was ransacked by a
mob and belongings worth Rs 5.3 lakh destroyed, has sought a
transfer "on humanitarian grounds''. "I lost everything
I had earned in 27 years of service. I have so much pain within
me that I cannot express. I just want to leave Gujarat. I cannot
live in perpetual fear. I cannot move about freely here. For the
past 25 days, my daughter has not moved out of this room (ONGC
transit accommodation)," he said.
The officer, who had gone home to Andhra Pradesh when ONGC flew
its Muslim officers out of the state for their safety, has
returned only because his daughter has to sit for the Class XII
board examinations.
Most of the 20 Muslim officers in ONGC from outside Gujarat have
not come back since the riots. Even those who are here only
temporarily, having already applied for transfers. S.L. Bhardwaj,
an ONGC official, said almost all Muslim officers have applied
for transfer on various grounds. But the picture will be clear
only in May or June, when transfer orders are issued.
The same story is repeated in all public sector organisations. In
banks, the departments of posts and telecommunications and in
organisations such as Indian Oil Corporation - anywhere that any
Muslims from outside Gujarat work - the management is faced with
requests for transfers (The Telegraph, April 10).
The Milli Gazette, May 01-15, 2002
Gujarat violence a genocide:
women’s panel
New Delhi: A women’s fact-finding panel that toured
Ahmedabad and six riot-ravaged Gujarat districts said on 16 April
that the pattern of state-sponsored violence against Muslims
there ‘‘clearly indicates genocide’’.
They found that Muslim women were especially targeted by the
Sangh Parivar-led mobs and have documented numerous instances of
mass rape, sexual abuse, torture and humiliation.
Apart from the laws of the land, several international
conventions that the country has signed stand violated in letter
and spirit, they said. ‘‘Examining the facts,
documenting testimonies, we have arrived at the preliminary
conclusion that the role of the State in the events of Gujarat
since February 28 has violated the Universal Declaration of Human
Rights,’’ the panel told newsmen at a Press conference.
The women’s activists from Delhi, Bangalore, Tamil Nadu and
Ahmedabad found it difficult to narrate the gory details of what
they had seen and heard. Sheba George of Ahmedabad broke down,
saying,‘‘We are Gujaratis and Indians....to people who
ask me what I am doing, I tell them Gujarat is my karmabhoomi
‘’.
‘‘While nothing can justify or rationalise inhuman acts
such as the burning of the bogie near the Godhra railway
station,’’ the panel found that ‘‘the
post-Godhra carnage did not happen as a spontaneous reaction to
burning one bogie, but that it was a calculated response—
the culmination of a hate campaign carried for over a decade to
promote the Hindutva ideology.’’
The fact-finding team accused several elected representatives
like sarpanchs with VHP-Bajrang Dal allegiance of being directly
involved in the carnage. Maya Kodnani, the BJP legislator from
Narora-Patiya on the outskirts of Ahmedabad, did not bother to
check the reports that there had been several cases of rapes and
torching of women and children, they said. They found Kodnani
— herself cited in an FIR for direct participation —
openly sympathetic to those who had carried out criminal acts.
The group, comprising Syeda Hameed of Muslim Women’s Forum,
Delhi, Ruth Manorama of National Alliance of Women, Bangalore,
Malini Ghose of Nirantar, Delhi, Sheba George, journalist Farah
Naqvi and Tamil Nadu-based Mari Thekaekara, was in Gujarat for
five days in March.
‘‘We have been shaken and numbed by the scale of
brutality of the violence that is still continuing in
Gujarat,’’ they said in the introduction of their
60-page report (TOI).
Full text of the report is available from:
Delhi: Dr. Syeda Hameed (syeda@mantraonline.com),
Malini Ghose (nirantar@vsnl.com), Farah Naqvi
(farah_naqvi@hotmail.com);
Bangalore: Dr. Ruth Manorama (ruth@blr.vsnl.net.in); Tamil Nadu:
Mari Thekaekara (marimarcelt@yahoo.co.in);
Ahmedabad: Gagan Sethi (janvikas_eq@icenet.net), Sheba George
(sahrwaruad1@sancharnet.in).
The Milli Gazette, May 01-15, 2002
Citizens' report blames Modi
for Gujarat violence
Fact finding team finds out that the anti-Muslim carnage that
erupted in the state appeared pre-planned and carried out with
the connivance of Modi's government as well as the BJP, to which
the VHP and Bajrang Dal are allied reports Ajit Shah
New Delhi: An independent fact-finding mission to Gujarat has
blamed Chief Minister Narendra Modi and Hindu radical groups for
the anti-Muslim violence that claimed nearly 830 lives in the
state since February-end. Consisting of a former top bureaucrat,
an ex-police officer and two academicians, the mission that
toured the two worst-hit cities of Gujarat Ahmedabad and Godhra -
March 22-26 says Modi abetted the carnage of Muslims by Hindu
mobs.
In their report issued here these unofficial investigators claim
the Modi government told the police and bureaucrats not to hinder
Hindu mobs from targeting Muslims, which contributed to the high
death toll.
"Throughout the state the police, although responsible for
law and order and fully empowered to take all necessary measures
in this respect, regardless of what signals were transmitted by
the top political leadership, not only failed to fulfil their
duties but in various cases actively colluded with rampaging mobs
bent on death, destruction and looting," the report says.
It claims that a clutch of Hindu radical groups led by the
Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), the ideological mentor of
Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee's Bharatiya Janata Party
(BJP), were responsible for the killings.
"The direct and circumstantial evidence, confirming that
there was a systematic and planned pogrom and that the agents
responsible are the various organisations of the Sangh Parivar
(the RSS and its affiliates), is simply overwhelming."
The former bureaucrats in the mission are ex-Indian finance
secretary S.P. Shukla, a retired member of the elite Indian
Administrative Service, and former director general of police
K.S. Subramanian, who retired from the Indian Police Service.
The other members are Kamal Mitra Chenoy, an associate professor
with the School of International Studies at Jawaharlal Nehru
University, and Achin Vanaik, visiting professor at the Third
World Academy with Jamia Millia Islamia.
Their report disputes the claim by Modi and Union Home Minister
L.K. Advani that the torching of a train by a suspected Muslim
mob at Godhra that killed 58 Hindus and set off the anti-Muslim
carnage was planned and backed by Pakistan's intelligence agency.
After visiting Godhra to piece together the sequence of events,
the mission says the mob that had attacked the Sabarmati Express
February 27 most likely did so under serious provocation from
activists of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP).
The VHP activists were returning from Ayodhya in Uttar Pradesh
after attending a religious show in support of a divisive bid to
build a temple on the ruins of a razed 16th-century mosque
despite a court ban.
There was already substantial tension in Godhra - where Muslims
equal Hindus and which has had a history of sectarian violence -
as VHP activists on the train had reportedly misbehaved with
Muslim passengers and vendors, the mission said.
"Given the specific (communal) history of the area and the
general circumstances prevailing, the speed with which a large
mob of several hundred Muslims could gather together and resort
to fire bombs is not at all surprising and did not require the
kind of pre-planning suggested by various conspiracy theories.
"Moreover, the fact that the attack was confined to
basically one bogie indicates that the presumed provocation was
deemed to have come from there. There were 1,700 VHP activists on
the train but only one coach was targeted."
By contrast, the mission's report said, the anti-Muslim carnage
that erupted in the state appeared pre-planned and carried out
with the connivance of Modi's government as well as the BJP, to
which the VHP and Bajrang Dal are allied.
"The connecting link between this localised riot (Godhra
incident) and the pogrom that followed was provided by the
VHP-Bajrang Dal-RSS decision to deliberately inflame matters by
calling for a bandh (shutdown) the next day.
"No only did the BJP's state government not disallow this
bandh (which it should have) but actually endorsed and supported
it.
The mission, which also visited Ahmedabad, said it based its
report on interviews with eyewitnesses, serving and retired
administrative and police personnel, journalists, judges,
lawyers, rights activists and managers at the relief camps for
victims.
It has demanded that Vajpayee dismiss the Modi government and
institute an inquiry by a Supreme Court judge into the sectarian
violence. - IANS
The Milli Gazette, May 01-15, 2002
Riots continue to rock areas
outside Gujarat
By Danish A Khan
The fires of the post-Godhra carnage in Gujarat still continue to
smoulder. Several parts of the Indian nation have been engulfed
in the Gujarat fire. Reports of communal riots keep on emanating
with each passing day. Parts of several states of the country
such as Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Maharashtra,
Punjab and Karnataka have been overtaken by communal madness and
frenzy. The incidents taking place have been horrendous and
heart-rending.
The murder of a 17-year-old boy in Mhow town in the State of
Uttar Pradesh on 19 April night led to the outbreak of communal
violence. People from Hindu and Muslim communities clashed with
each other and indulged in brickbatting. Properties were also set
on fire, reports said. Incidents of violence and arson prompted
the district authorities to impose curfew in the trouble-torn
town. Rapid Action Force (RAF) personnel were also deployed in
strength to curb the violence. While talking to the media
persons, Inspector General of Police B. M. Kannur said that so
far 150 persons have been arrested by the police for violating
the curfew. The situation is now under control, he said.
Cases of eve-teasing and misbehaviour with young girls at Bhopal
in the central Indian State of Madhya Pradesh led to communal
tension between the two communities. The incident took place on
the night of 19 April. Even as the news of misbehaviour with
young girls spread, Hindus and Muslims took to streets and
clashed with each other. The violence left at least four people
grievously injured. Superintendent of Police A. P. Singh said
that 12 persons have been arrested. Besides, additional police
forces have been deployed at sensitive spots and the situation
was being continuously monitored.
Stray incidents of violence have been reported from the State of
Rajasthan too. In Banas Badanpura locality of Jaipur district in
Rajasthan a person was done to death. The killing which took
place on 14 April night resulted in communal tension in the area.
There were reports of stone pelting and group clashes between the
people of Hindu and Muslim communities. The district authorities,
however, said that the situation had been carefully handled and
was under control.
Communal riots were also reported from the communally-sensitive
western Indian State of Maharashtra. Three persons were killed,
two stabbed to death and one succumbed to heart attack due to
shock, after communal riots broke out on Tuesday night. Mob
clashes between Hindu and Muslim communities left several people
injured, most of them grievously when violence broke out in
Kalyan in Thane district, 55 kms from Mumbai, on 9 April. Giving
a detailed account eye witnesses said that an ordinary squabble
between a Muslim autorickshaw driver and his Hindu passengers led
to fisticuffs. The altercations later on took a communal turn
sparking off riots. Mobs went on rampage and started setting fire
to houses and business establishments. At least 14 houses were
burnt and several shops ransacked. The rioters also burnt two
scooters, an autorickshaw and damaged several other vehicles.
Indefinite curfew was imposed in the satellite town on Wednesday,
10 April afternoon following reports of fresh incidents of
brickbatting and arson in the Rohidaswada area of the old
township which also saw large scale rioting and violence just a
day earlier. Zonal Deputy Commissioner of Police said that 10
persons were arrested. Adequate companies of Rapid Action Force
(RAF) and the State Reserve Police Force (SRPF) had also been
stationed in the trouble-prone area. A strict watch was being
kept on the situation.
Earlier, according to reports reaching here late, Vishwa Hindu
Parishad (VHP) activists during a bandh call in Ludhiana tried to
attack Jama Masjid. However, the alleged attack was foiled by the
alert police force of the district. Security measures were also
further tightened following the incident. In Ludhiana district of
the State of Punjab, Muslim population is at an estimated
strength of five lakh. Besides, there are nearly 50 mosques and
six madrasas in the district.
The communal campaign and incidents of rioting are not solely
being directed towards the Muslim community alone. Even the
Christian community is not being spared. A church was attacked on
Sunday 14 April near Mangalore in the southern State of
Karnataka. According to reports, a mob of about 60 persons
carried out attack on the Church when prayers (Mass) were being
conducted. The mob attacked the Church in protest against what
they claimed as alleged attempts to convert local Hindus to
Christianity. Worshippers said that stones were hurled at the
prayer hall used by a Protestant group at Moodabidri when Sunday
prayers were being underway. Some Hindu families were also
attending the prayers. However, no one was injured in the attack,
although two cars and some window panes were damaged in the
communal incident.
The Milli Gazette, May 01-15, 2002
Were sexual crimes in Gujarat
planned?
By Syed Ubaidur Rahman
Ahmedabad: Women have been the main target of the rioters in
Gujarat. After visiting the state for more than a week and
meeting hundreds of people in different camps spread over the
four most affected districts of the state including Panchmahal,
(under which Godhra comes) Baroda, Anand and Ahmadabad, I have
reached the conclusion that women were consciously and specially
targeted by the rioters who were being controlled by the VHP and
Bajrang Dal criminals besides the members of the RSS and the BJP.
The way the Hindu mobs acted while brutally dishonouring Muslim
women will put the Serbs in Bosnia and Kosovo to shame. Wherever
there were killings, there were large scale rapes of Muslim women
irrespective of age differences. There are incidents when all
this was done while their fathers, brothers and husbands were
made to witness this brutality after being made captives. And at
times all this was done inside the village mosques.
Fatima Bibi Md Yaqub Sheikh whose family lost 19 members
including her sisters and brothers says that whatever they did
could have been justified, except the way they raped women. She
says that when her family tried to flee Naroda Patia, the area
where 90 people were burnt alive they all requested the police to
save them, but police instead of doing anything for their safety
asked them to surrender themselves to the mob.
She says that her sister and her niece both were repeatedly raped
by the mob. She adds that her sister offered the rioters twenty
thousand rupees that she had with her and asked the rioters to
spare her and her daughter. But she says, those were not men,
they were devils wearing Khaki shorts, Fatima Sheikh refers to
the RSS men who were in the mob. She adds that those devils not
only snatched those twenty thousand rupees from her sister but
raped her and then burnt her alive. Her niece too was given the
same treatment after being raped by men she lost count. And both
of them were disgraced there on the road.
Fatima, sobbing inconsolably told me that her sister and niece
were not the only ones who were raped by the mob on the road near
Naroda Patia. She says there were at least 25 such cases. And all
the women were stripped naked before being raped and then were
burnt alive. She says that even the very old ones who were not
raped were also stripped first before being thrown in the fire.
Jawed, one of the worst victims of the riots, who has been left
alone after his father, sister and all other family members were
killed by the rioters is another victim. All of eleven years old,
he says, ‘unhon ne meri mummy, papa, aur baji ko zinda jala
diya. Meri masi ke ladke ko jaan se mar diya aur meri masi ki
beti aur bahu se badtamizi ki aur phir unko bhi jala diya (they
burnt alive my mother, father and sister. They killed my cousin
brother and then outraged his wife and sister). Jawed saw all
this being done to his closest relatives. This young boy who has
been brought to Shah Alam dargah camp in Ahmadabad by some
strangers will probably never forget what his innocent eyes saw
being done by these beastly people.
Bilqis Yaqub Patel from Randhikpur is one of the worst cases of
this horrific crime to whom I met in Godhra relief camp. Five
months pregnant this woman of around 20 years was not only beaten
up badly and left for dead, she was also raped by three men from
her own village. Eight other women, her close relatives including
her sister Shamim, Amina Adam, Halima, Munniben Abdul and Madina
who were with her too were meted out the same barbarous
treatment. Munniben was just all of nine years and Halima was
over 45. But for those age difference was nothing.
Shamim, Bilqis’s sister who had delivered a baby boy just
two days ago while fleeing was not only tortured brutally by
those people who had thrown her two-days old baby into the fire
but also repeatedly raped. No woman was spared. Everyone was
given the same brutal treatment. Bilqis says she and all other
women who were killed-Bilqis too was taken as dead when the
rapists and killers fled-were lying stark naked when she regained
consciousness.
Bilqis who lost her two-years-old child and the one in her womb
due to miscarriage refuses to speak. Sharifa Umarjee and her aids
who take care of these devastated women in the Godhra camp ask
her to tell what happened and it was only after their prodding
that the young lady spoke. Sharifa Umarjee told this
correspondent that it was only today when they received the news
that Bilqis’ husband has survived and is in another camp in
Dahod district.
But Bilqis is a unique case as she was among the very few women
in the whole state who were able to file an FIR against the
devils whose name she told me as Govind Nai, Naresh Moria and
Jaswant Nai. She has also named all the 23 people who killed all
the women and children who were with her.
Others are not so fortunate. Hundreds or probably thousands of
women who were raped after every incident of violence and burning
around this devilish land have not been able to file FIRs. Don't
ask about those who were burnt alive after being raped and
mutilated.
Reenu Khanna a social activist in Baroda says that the rioters
from Sangh and more particularly from the VHP have used rape to
inflict deep psychological wounds in the minds of the whole
Muslim community. Khanna who has been working for relief and
rehabilitation of the affected people along with her husband says
she knows that whichever locality these people attacked they also
left horror tales after playing havoc with the women there. When
asked about the police registering FIRs against the perpetrators,
she says that the police rarely files any charges against the
criminals and even if it does it makes the criminal look like a
group where no name would be mentioned. She says that rape cases
have gone almost unreported and there are very few cases when any
FIR has been filed.
Yasmin Sheikh, only 13-year-old has remained mute ever since she
was brought to the Camp in Godhra from her village, Delol near
Kalol taluka in Panchmahal district. A young child who had not
seen the world at all had a very tragic brush with the marauders.
This is the village where 35 men women and children were burnt
alive and all the houses were destroyed including the lone double
story mosque. All her family members were killed including her
mother, father and all other relatives. She was sexually
brutalized and then left for dead on the road outside the
village. No FIR has been filed in this case.
Similar is the case of Raheemabi who has taken shelter in Rakhyal
camp. Her whole family was chased from Ansar Nagar area in
Ahmadabad. No one has survived in her whole family and she alone
has been left to tell the gory tales of the horrific crime the
Sangh goons did with her family. Not only she but her sister,
both were sexually targeted by the mob. She says that she
recognizes the people who killed her sister and her family, but
police is not ready to file FIR.
Examples are scattered all over the state, in all relief camps
throughout the state. In every relief camp there are dozens of
women and young girls who have been meted out this treatment. And
it continues to be done.
YA Charkha asks about the future of these women and girls. He
says that the beasts who attacked our localities near Godhra town
were well prepared to do what they were assigned to do. He says
that he has been told by reliable contacts that the criminals who
attacked Muslims were told by their bosses to do as many sexual
crimes as they could. And they were told that there would be no
police to book them in these charges and no one would ask them
anything about what they did.
Muhammad Shamim one of the trustees of the Shah-e-Alam camp says
that the large scale sexual crimes against Muslim women were
committed to add to psychological frustration of the whole
community. He says that it was one of the worst instruments and
worst sort of violence perpetrated and planned by the Sangh
criminals.
Francis Prakar the principal of the prestigious St Xavier's
College in Ahmadabad who has been active in providing relief to
the affected people throughout this macabre killing and inhumane
assault on women says that he fears reprisal from the affected
people if the issue is not addressed properly and justice is not
given to them. Justice to the victims and the perpetrators, he
adds. He means that criminals should be given fitting reply so
that no one could dare to repeat these and victims are
compensated properly, though he adds that in these cases no one
can compensate them due to the height of mental agony and
physical suffering.
The Milli Gazette, May 01-15, 2002
Unprecedented outpouring, unbecoming of a prime
minister
Vajpayee equates Islam
with terrorism
Less than a fortnight ago Vajpayee had condemned the killings
and the continued riots in Gujarat as a kalank (blot) on
India’s face. But now he says: ‘Gujarat mein kya hua?
Agar Sabarmati na hota to jo hua who nahi hota (What happened in
Gujarat? If the attack on Sabarmati [train] had not taken place,
then what followed [anti-Muslim violence] would not have
happened). Mr Vajpayee did condemn the aftermath of the train
attack at Godhra but hastened to add: Lekin aag lagai kisne? (But
who started the fire?).
A statement by the Indian prime minister equating Islam with
terrorism continues to cause an unprecedented uproar in the
Indian political life, especially among Muslims and secular
circles. Vajpayee has been accused of having finally cast off his
'moderate' mask which he has carefully donned all these years to
present an acceptable face of the Hindu extremists whose
political party, the BJP, he leads.
The whole world heard Vajpayee say it live on TV on April 12 in
Goa: ‘Jahan Jahan Musalman hain ghul milkar nahi rahte hain
(wherever there are Muslims they don’t want to live in
peace)’.
And this was just the beginning. Vajpayee went ahead with
Muslim-bashing and added, ‘Auron se ghulna milna nahi
chahte. Shantipurna tarike se parchar karne ke bajaye atankwad se
dara dhamka kar apne mat ka parchar karna chahte hain (They
don’t want to mix with others. Instead, they want to preach
and propagate their religion by creating fear and terror in the
minds of others).
Vajpayee dwelt at length on 'Islamic fundamentalism' in the
countries he visited recently. He said: 'one version of Islam
taught love, peace and compassion' while 'Islam today was being
used for militancy and Jihad and trying to bring the world under
its influence. ‘Har jagah jahan Muslims bahut sankhya mein
rahte hain, unki chinta hai ki kahin Islam ugra rup na le le
(wherever Muslims live in large numbers, the rulers apprehend
that Islam can take an aggressive turn)’ Vajpayee went on to
say.
As if even this was not enough, the prime minister of a country,
which has 131.5 million Muslim population, tried to squarely
blame Muslims for the on-going riots in Gujarat. Less than a
fortnight ago Vajpayee himself had condemned the killings and the
continued riots in Gujarat as a kalank (blot) on India’s
face. But now he says: ‘Gujarat mein kya hua? Agar Sabarmati
na hota to jo hua who nahi hota (What happened in Gujarat? If the
attack on Sabarmati [train] had not taken place, then what
followed [anti-Muslim violence] would not have happened). Mr
Vajpayee did condemn the aftermath of the train attack at Godhra
but hastened to add: Lekin aag lagai kisne? (But who started the
fire?). It is the same theory what the Gujarat chief minister
Narendr Modi who is directly and indirectly involved in the
massacres in the state has been advocating. Modi has all along
been maintaining that the riots are a direct 'reaction' of what
happened in Godhra.
After the outcry at all levels inside and outside Parliament,
Vajpayee took recourse to the time-tested trick of claiming that
the media has quoted him 'out of context'.
Vajpayee and his spin-doctors now claim that his remarks were
being misrepresented: ‘It is projected as anti-Islam and
anti-Muslim. A motivated propaganda, both within the country and
internationally, is sought to be launched on the basis of such
misrepresentation. My remarks taken in totality contained nothing
that is either against Islam or Muslims’ Vajpayee said in a
press statement.
Stating that in his speech in Goa he had drawn attention to two
contradictory streams in Islam, Vajpayee added in his press
statement, ‘I had said Islam has two forms. One is that
which tolerates others, which teaches its adherents to follow the
path of truth, which preaches compassion and sensitivity.’
‘But these days militancy in the name of Islam leaves no
room for tolerance. It has raised the slogan of Jihad. It is
dreaming of recasting the entire world in its mould’ he
added.
Prime Minister’s anti-Muslim and anti-Christian tirade has
attracted widespread condemnation. Asked about the controversial
statement in a press conference, Congress Party president, Sonia
Gandhi, said that Vajpayee has lost his 'mental balance.' Ghulam
Nabi Azad, president of the Congress party in Jammu & Kashmir
demanded that Vajpayee should be arrested under the
anti-terrorism law (POTA) for trying to divide various
communities of the country. Shahid Siddiqui, general secretary of
the Samajwadi Party, said that Vajpayee's statement is tantamount
to declaring war against Muslims.
GM Banatwala, member of Parliament and president of the Indian
Union Muslim League, condemned PM’s remark and called them
most deplorable. ‘His proactive Goa speech and the fascist
attitude already endorsed by the BJP in Goa session are grave
threats to democracy,' Banatwala said. All-India Muslim Majlis-e
Mushawarat president, Syed Shahabuddin said that the extremist
Hindu face of Vajpayee has been unmasked.
The All-India Christian Council (AICC) has also deplored
Vajpayee's remarks. ‘In one swoop, he has defamed Islam and
Christianity, condoned state terrorism, forgiven the Gujarat
chief minister Narender Modi and sought to convert the bigotry
and hate campaigns of the RSS and the VHP into votes for the
BJP’ the AICC said. The council also said ‘to now
rationalize and thereby encourage retaliatory violence in its
wake is to savagely criminalise civilizational discourse in
India.’
This was not the first time when the Prime Minister made cynical
remarks. Vajpayee who has been called a 'moderate' in an
extremist Hindu nationalist party, has a history of making such
remarks. And he has always tried to explain away criticism by
claiming that the media misquoted him.
It was just last year when Vajpayee tried to justify the
demolition of the Babri Masjid in Ayodhya by his own partymen.
Appearing in an Iftar Party hosted on December 6, 2000 by the
lone Muslim member in his government, Syed Shahnawaz Husain,
Vajpayee said: ‘Ayodhya mein Ram mandir ka nirman rashtriya
bhavana ke prakatikaran ka kam tha, jo abhi tak pura nahi hua hai
(construction of the Ram Temple at Ayodhya is an expression of
national sentiment which is yet to be realized).’
Vajpayee also rejected the demand for the resignation of the
three ministers in his government including LK Advani, the home
minister, who have been charge-sheeted for their role in the
demolition of the Babri Mosque. Vajpayee later claimed that he
was misquoted.
During the Uttar Pradesh state legislative assembly elections
last February Vajpayee had said that his party, the BJP, does not
need Muslim votes. Earlier during Bill Clinton’s presidency
when Vajpayee visited the US, he said that he is 'a sawayamsevak
first and then Prime Minister' and that 'whether he remains Prime
Minister or not he will remain a swayamsevak.’ Cadres of the
extremist Hindu outfit Rashtriya Sawyamsevak Sangh (RSS), the
parent party of the BJP, are called 'swayamsevaks'. Later
Vajpayee claimed that he intended to say that he was a servant of
the nation!
Daily Hindustan Times has editorially advised Vajpayee: 'This
can't go on. India cannot afford a prime minister who shoots his
mouth off on sensitive issues and then issues tedious
clarifications two days later.' An editorial in another important
newspaper, The Times of India, said that 'A leopard, they say,
cannot change its spots. But in India we have long been prepared
to believe otherwise. A case in point is that of prime minister
Atal Bihari Vajpayee…Mr Vajpayee's unwarranted diatribe
against a section of his own people will be difficult to
reconcile with his image of being a moderate. It will come as a
grave shock to a nation still coming to terms with the trauma of
the past month and a half,' it said.
The Milli Gazette, May 01-15, 2002
No business, no work, Gujarat
Muslims left to their fate
By S Ubaidur Rahman (recently in Ahmadabad and
Godhra)
IS Gujarat turning into a Rwanda? Seems exaggerated, but the way
things are turning it may not be far when the same fate will be
reflected on the streets of Vadodra, Surat, Ahmadabad and Godhra.
Human rights organisations at home and abroad and even the
European Union and UK have taken note of this aspect of the
carnage in Gujarat. It keeps erupting after a lull. The main
culprit has been confirmed in his job and the home minister is
conspicuous by his silence and leaders of the mobocracy he
unleashed by his rath yatra are threatening to extend the war
zone to all parts of India.
Mayhem and curfew have completed two months now. Hundreds of
thousands of Muslims inside relief camps and outside are on the
verge of starvation. The daily wage-earners are already starving
for lack of work. They cannot venture out and find work in the
dangerous environment outside Muslim localities. Thousands of
such people have almost no contact with the outside world.
Muhammad Muslim who lives in Juhapura locality in Ahmadabad, the
biggest Muslim concentration area in the state capital, says that
he has not been able to earn even a single penny since 28
February, when the riots erupted. His six member family mostly
goes hungry. He says that he can manage somehow without food, but
how he can see his six-months old grandson wail as he is unable
to get milk for him.
Islam is not a unique case. Hundreds of Islams are living
miserably in localities like Gomtipur, Juhapura, Rakhel, Shapur
and other areas where curfew continues on and off since the
outbreak of riots. This is not confined to the daily
wage-earners. Thousands of people, who owned shops and
businesses, have been overnight made penniless. Their businesses
have been completely destroyed.
People living in multistory housing complexes too are suffering.
Several people whom I met in Juhapura and Rakhel besides numerous
other places said that it is becoming harder and harder for them
to manage two times meal a day in the absence of work. Not to
speak about those who have lost their businesses. Their life is
doubly miserable. These people have not only lost businesses but
also hope as they do not hope that they will ever be able to
reclaim their old businesses, shops and factories.
Shafi Madani, chairman of Islami Relief Committee-Gujarat (IRCG)
which has been involved in the relief work ever since the
outbreak of the riots, says that the magnitude of the problem
cannot be gauged by his people. He adds that they have already
distributed ration kits to more than eight thousand families in
Juhapura area alone. His office in Juhapura is always cramped
with ever-increasing numbers of affected people. Thousands are
now forced to starve in Muslim areas, confirms Madani. He adds
that though his people are trying to reach out to as many people
as they can, what they have at their disposal can hardly match
the needs of the affected people.
We can provide food to five thousand people or can anyhow manage
ten thousand people, but here the whole Muslim localities are
facing similar situation, adds one of his aides. If you promise
these people two kilo of flour and you ask them to stand in
queues for the whole day, they will happily oblige, says Iqbal
Mirza, a relief worker in Juhapura area.
Anwar Khan, a relief worker at Rakhyal, says that a large number
of people who are starving contact them for food supplies, but
there are thousands others who will never ask for any help. He
says that people who come from better- off families and who have
lost their businesses will never ask for any help. He says that
he knows many such families who are starving but are reluctant to
reach relief centres while relief organizations think that they
do not need help. Even people who have money in their bank
accounts are suffering from the same fate. Despite having money
in their accounts they cannot venture out to those [Hindu] areas
where banks are located. I cannot go to my bank as it is situated
on Ashram Road, says Anwar. He says that though he goes out for
relief work with his friends, he still cannot dare to move alone
even now. Nobody will allow any member of his family to go out to
bank and get killed there, he adds.
With almost total business destruction, prosperous Muslim
families have been financially crippled all of a sudden. Looking
at the number of insurance claims when the trouble is still
continuing, it seems that Muslims’ economic backbone has
been broken. Value of claims in the smallest insurance company in
the country, National Insurance Company, has reached Rs 540
million. The company has received 1205 claims so far. The New
India Assurance Company has received 1058 claims worth Rs 340
million and the United India Assurance Company has so far
received the largest number of claims at 1300 which are worth Rs
400 million. The Oriental Insurance Company received 973 claims
worth Rs 290 million. This is only the tip of the iceberg of
Muslim economic losses since most Muslims did not insure their
businesses and houses out of religious considerations.
We are still receiving claims and it seems that the number of
claims will increase when the tension recedes, says RM Kaul,
regional manager of the National Insurance Company in Ahmadabad.
Small and big businesses alike have suffered during these riots.
Arsonists have selectively targeted all the Muslim hotels
(restaurants). Indu Kumar Jani, a social activist in Ahmadabad,
says that he was not aware of the fact that Tulsi, a chain of
restaurants all over Gujarat belonged to Muslims. He adds that
most of the customers were Hindus and he believes that hardly
anyone knew that it was owned by Muslims. Same is the case with
Sarvodya ‘pure vegetarian’ restaurant. Not even Muslims
knew that these eateries were owned by members of their own
community. Kaul says that a large number of Muslim restaurants
were insured by his company. As many as 38 of them were gutted in
the initial days of the riots in Ahmedabad alone. It is the
number of restaurants insured by only one company. Many others
have been burnt and figures are trickling in.
Now those people who owned big businesses just two months ago
have joined in poverty and starvation with others living in
Muslim ghettos. Fatima Bibi who has now taken shelter in Shah
Alam Dargah camp after the rioters set afire her husband’s
warehouse in one of the worst affected areas of Ahmadabad, Naroda
Patia, says that the loss of business has left her husband almost
insane. He has stopped talking and rarely eats anything being
given to him by the relief camp volunteers. And to add to Muslim
woes the VHP and Bajrang Dal are asking Hindus not to go to
Muslim shops and resturants, not to employ Muslims or use their
services in any way. This is further aggravating problems and
will lead to total ghettoisation.
Husain Umarji, who is running a relief camp in Godhra city, told
this correspondent that the business loss is taking its toll on
people. He says that not only it becomes harder for us to console
those from whom we used to receive large amounts as grants for
our schools and societies but also to assist them in this time of
need. He says scores of men have been mentally affected due to
loss of business and the helplessness it has created in their
minds. He adds that prior to riots, the transport business was
dominated by Muslims in Panchmahal district in which Godhra
falls, but now the whole business has been destroyed. There are
reports that more than one thousand trucks belonging to Muslims
were burnt in Godhra city alone.
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