Asghar Ali Engineer

[Ed. Note: The author is the director of the Centre for the Study of Society and Secularism in Mumbai, India. This article appeared in Secular Perspective in the issue for April 16-30, 2002.]

A visit to the state of Gujarat is a shattering experience for any sensitive soul. It is more than a month since the violence erupted, and it still continues to burn. The brutalities are of such a nature that one feels that Gujarat has not entered an age of enlightenment, or, if it ever entered, it has exited from it and has entered an era of darkness. Gujarat is an embodiment of brutality today with some honourable exceptions.

The opposition parties are demanding only the removal of Chief Minister Narendra Modi. It is not enough: the entire Narendra Modi government should be dismissed, and president¡¦s rule should be promulgated. Many ministers of this Narendra Modi government are deeply involved in organising the genocide. Mr. Zadaphia, the home minister, and Harin Pandya, the revenue minister, were seen by many eyewitnesses with the marauding mobs. Some first information reports (FIRs) also have mentioned their names.

As long as this government is in power, the victims and survivors cannot hope for justice. The police are either not recording FIRs or are framing very minor charges against the killers, looters and murderers. As long as this government is in power, the guilty can never be punished. In most cases, the participants involved in the mayhem have been assured that they will be fully protected. Only president¡¦s rule can make some difference. The present governor moreover is a member of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), a Hindu nationalist organisation. Many people pointed out to me that the present governor should be removed, though it does not seem possible.

The Gujarat carnage is an attack on Indian democracy, its diversity and pluralism. India has been a pluralist society, and not just since it adopted democracy and became a republic in 1950, for India has been a pluralistic society for ages. It always has been proud of its rich pluralist legacy. Indian pluralism is the anchor of our secularism. We cannot think of our secular democracy without pluralism.

What has happened in Gujarat since the end of February is a concerted assault on this pluralism. Attempts are being made to completely isolate Muslims in ghettos and to look down upon them as if they are non-Indians. In addition, the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP), another Hindu nationalist organisation, and its cohorts are distributing pamphlets on a large scale with the blessings of the present government that call for an economic boycott of Muslims in which Hindus are encouraged not to sell to Muslims nor to buy from them, and there are many people who are also implementing it. A Hindu doctor was stabbed by an unidentified person, and these doctors decided not to practise in Muslim areas; but when a Muslim doctor was murdered, no such hue and cry was raised. No one even showed any concern.

Many Hindu employers have already asked their Muslim employees not to come to work. The VHP enthusiasts are going to various schools and threatening their headmasters and principals to remove Muslim students from their rolls. It sends a chilling sensation down one¡¦s spine what will happen if Muslim students are really removed from schools under these threats from the VHP and Bajrang Dal. The ghettoisation will then be complete.

It is members of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and RSS who never tire of accusing Muslims of refusing to be a part of the Indian mainstream. Though this is not true, but even if it is true, who is responsible for their being out of the mainstream? If they are expelled from government and private schools, will they not be driven into madrasa (Islamic religious schools) shells? The government of Gujarat, under the leadership of Narendra Modi, is, it appears, silently encouraging the VHP enthusiasts to implement their plan of a Hindu India, at least in Gujarat. This should not be taken lightly by those who care for the secular character of Indian democracy. If it occurs, even partially, it will be the beginning of the end of pluralism and secular democracy in India.

Today one can also see how the administration surrenders itself to the fascist forces under their rule. For the Gujarat government, the Indian Constitution does not exist. The administration obeys all illegal and extraconstitutional orders of the government of Gujarat. Anyone who insists on the rule of law is instantly transferred. Harsh Mandar, a conscientious IAS officer who wrote a very moving piece about the Gujarat carnage, was so disgusted with the current state of affairs that he resigned in sheer disgust.

Like the administration, the police force has also proved to be quite obliging. Many observers have described it as a matter of shame for the police force. When the ex-director general of police, Shri Julio Ribeiro, visited Gujarat, many top police officers avoided meeting him out of this sense of shame.

¡§Normally when I go to Gujarat,¡¨ he said in an interview, ¡§senior police officers come to see me. This time they tried to avoid me.¡¨

When he was asked what was the reason for the failure of the police in Gujarat, he said, ¡§The top brass must take the blame. I did not sense a whiff of leadership from the top police officers. Senior officers have been reduced to mute spectators as they have little control over the force.¡¨

I also spoke to a senior police officer in Ahmedabad who himself has been a victim of the Modi government for being conscious of his duty as a police officer. He was transferred because he did not allow the riots to take place in his jurisdiction. He confirmed what Ribeiro said in the above interview.

In addition to the leadership of the police force, many lower officers and constabulary had full sympathy with the marauding mobs. Several victims of the violence told me that the police blocked their way, and the mobs attacked them and burned their relatives alive. If they tried to run, the police fired at them.

In the Bapunagar area, it is alleged that the police killed about 40 young boys at point-blank range. The bullets hit them, as post-mortem reports show, in their heads and chests. Many lives were saved just because the military arrived. The death toll otherwise would have been much higher; and in the case of Akbarnagar in Ahmedabad, a whole colony was destroyed just behind the office of the assistant commissioner of police.

Moreover, gas cylinders were used extensively to blast even pucca houses (well-constructed homes). Who supplied the rioters with gas cylinders on such a scale? Several trucks loaded with gas cylinders were brought to Ansar Nagar where a madrasa building, Jamia Qasim, was set on fire. I saw the building myself, which was heavily damaged.

There is another factor which also should be seriously reflected upon: the participation of Dalits and other marginalised groups in this massive display of genocide. Many have emphasised Dalit-Muslim unity to fight communal fascism, but the Hindutvawadis have instilled a sense of Hinduness among Dalits. The huge crowds of 10,000 to 15,000 which surrounded Muslims on all sides primarily consisted of Dalits and other marginalised groups. Of course, in Gujarat, there is no Dalit leadership worth the name. Some who had taken the lead for the Dalits during the 1981 anti-Dalit riots have become now totally ineffective, and Dalits who had expressed anger toward upper-caste Hindus and vowed to fight them have united with them. They were no doubt given liquor and money, plus the incentive of loot, but this does not explain the fury with which they attacked.

The constant propaganda against Muslims ¡X they are enemies and anti-nationals who must be taught a lesson ¡X also had its effect. The VHP, in order to fight Muslims with the help of Dalits, expressed solidarity with them as Hindus and instilled in them a strong dose of Hinduness while de-emphasising their Dalitness. In the political strategy of the Hindutva, Dalit support is important, not only for Muslim carnage, but also to win elections with their support, assigning them at the same time a subordinate position.

They have also worked out a strategy to buy the Dalit leadership by accommodating them in the power structure. Whether it is Dalit leaders Mayawati or Paswan, after arousing the fury of the Dalit masses against the BJP and upper-caste Hindus, they have worked out their own equations with the upper-caste leadership. These Dalit leaders ¡X Mayawati and Paswan and others like them ¡X kept quiet throughout the Gujarat carnage. Mayawati, when asked about his silence, quipped by asking about the Godhra incident. Only those Dalit leaders still outside of the power structure continue to show their anger against the upper-caste Hindus. Thus, it will be seen that, politically, Dalit-Muslim unity has never been very effective.

What was encouraging in this mayhem by the Hindutvawadis [spelling?] is that the Muslims in relief camps were sad but not bitter and angry. This gives us some hope. Those who are business people, like Bohras, Khojas and Memons, are more worried about restarting their businesses, though it will be very difficult for them to find the means to do so. A senior police officer told me that the chief minister, Narendra Modi, had clearly told them in a meeting that there is no question of doing anything about rehabilitation, despite the prime minister¡¦s announcement. He said only relief for a few days should be given, and the inmates of the relief camps should be asked to go back to their homes.

Another thing one should note is that there is a lot of concern among people outside of Gujarat for peace, harmony and secularism as never before. Many Gandhians, who had kept quiet during earlier riots, are protesting this time and actively working for the restoration of peace. The peace meeting in Ahmedabad, which was convened by Mallika Sarabhai and disrupted by members of the VHP, was well attended from all parts of India. Chunnibhai Vaidya, a prominent Gandhian from Gujarat, is working for peace, though he is receiving many threatening calls. Moreover, there have been protests against the carnage throughout India, which is a very hopeful sign. Although the BJP may have gained in Gujarat, it will suffer reverses elsewhere in India. The allies of the BJP in the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) will also undoubtedly suffer. They made some noise here and there just for public consumption but showed no genuine concern for peace in Gujarat. The Telugu Desam Party (TDP), though worried about Muslim votes in the state of Andhra Pradesh, spoke out only after all the damage was done in Gujarat as did Paswan. It will certainly not go down well with their electorates.