Jai Hind: Proud to be an Indian

“The Gujarat riots was a reaction to the Godhra train burning (As it has been told by officials) . An entire coach was burnt down by a mob of local in which 58 people were killed. The victims included 25 women, 14 children that were returning from Ayodhya. Mob rioted after this incident. Gujarat administration completely failed to control the riots effectively in time. More than 700 people were killed in this and the following riots (only official figure).” an official’s quote.

India could not free itself of curse of communalism even more than sixty years after independence. If anything it has been getting worse year after year. There has been not a single year in post-independence period, which has been free of communal violence though number of incidents may vary.
I need not to tell what happened in Gujarat in the year 2002. The country was horrified by the gruesome tragedy, but there was no immediate sense then that the incident at Godhra was to become one of the most corrosive ruptures in our nation’s recent history. The incident clearly shows that how a human becomes animal. “I can still hear their screams. I saw my mother-in-law being stabbed; I saw them rape my daughter and then cut off her breasts before setting fire to her,” (Hindustan Times dated 02/11/07) says Madina Bi who witnessed deaths of 7 members of her family . The complete story was published in Hindustan Times.

Now this is something which makes me think are the human the most cultured and emotional species on this Earth? If that is so then how a human becomes a demon and doesn’t think twice before he commits such a heinous crime. It is further shocking that the administrators are also involved in all this be it cops, ministers, judiciary etc. The man in quest of power can be so brutal. The truth that the bloody conquest of Gujarat is actually the conquest of us all: of our minds, our humanity and our self-respect at the very least. If we remain silent, victory over secularism is assured. We need to be more conscious so that evil doesn’t takes over our conscience.

Even today no effort is being made to pacify the wounds of the victims of this carnage. Gujarat witnessed a genocide that led to the deaths of more than 3000 people. As many as 150,000 people were driven away from their homes, many of whom now live in refugee camps. The delicate social fabric has been torn apart; time has not yet healed the wounds of those brutalized, particularly the women and children. Today, most of the victim survivors live without the most basic civic amenities like potable water, sanitation, access to schools, primary health centres and approach roads. The second most disturbing general observation is that while on one hand it is the innocents who are killed in the communal violence, the perpetrators and planners of the riots generally go unpunished, many a times their social and political prestige also goes up.
This is how the political games is played in India, a secular state or pseudo secular state??? You need to give the answer of this. Sometimes religion takes over everything and the wounds are left for ever on humanity. This Human behaviour is indeed very shocking and its shameful. On one hand we hope to make India of our dreams and on other hand our history is full of communal tensions and alienation of a community from the others. Will we be able to fulfill our dream this way? Unless the political establishments in India are seen as even handed in treating various communities, unless the justice system in India is seen as doing its job these incidents will continue for ever and ever.

Don’t remind the Muslims that they are Muslims and Hindus that they are Hindus. We are just Indians. Let us fight as two brothers, if we must, without vitiating the atmosphere. Let the unfortunate incident die down and those found guilty be punished.

I will end this with a poem which i found on
http://bhumikaa.blogspot.com/2007/10/in-name-of-god.html

i came alive
from the burning flames
while she stood there
succumbing to the political games

they slit open her womb
and flung the foetus in the pyre
who would say they are humans?
they were beasts
in human’s attire

‘in the name of god we do this’
they killed mercilessly and said
one ghastly act provoked another
and soon the untamed fire spread

six years have passed
but those screams still haunt me
the bloodbath, the horrifying sights
flash across unexpectedly and jolt me

‘you were lucky to have escaped the genocide’,
they thank the lord and say
somebody go tell them
i was saved once
but i die every single day

” An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind”

-MK Gandhi

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