Remembering the Gujarat Massacre

By Rima Mutreja

The second anniversary of the Gujarat Massacre of 2002 passed by without any major media attention in India or around the world. India and Pakistan were too busy preparing for the one day cricket match which was held in Karachi this week. The Indian courts were inundated with petitions to allow the media to cover the cricket match as it meant “mega bucks” for the entertainment and advertisement industries. To no surprise, these petitions were hastily approved in time for the cricket match. However, the cases for the victims of the Gujarat Massacre which occurred two years ago remain open at large and nothing has been done to put those responsible behind bars.

I was born into a Hindu household on August 10th, 1979 in Bombay (Mumbai), India. My education took place at an all-girls school built by the British called Queen Mary’s School. Each classroom brought together students of every religion, ethnicity and caste. Hindus, Muslims, Parsis, Sikhs, Christians were all taught under one roof.

One day in December 1992, during the semi-annual examinations at school, the principal announced that all exams were postponed indefinitely due to communal riots that broke out in Bombay and other parts of the country.

A wave of chatter ran through the classroom and we did not know why the communal riots had broken out. Worried parents stood outside the school gates waiting anxiously to take their children home. Since I took the local bus home, I was told to take a taxi in case the bus was attacked by rioters.

My taxi driver was Singh Saab (Singh Sir), an elderly Sikh gentleman from Amritsar. He saw I was nervous and went on to assure me that he would get me home safely. I asked him what had happened and why did the riots break out. He said “Baby, wahi Hindu-Muslim kay beech jhagda” (Baby, the same fight between the Hindus and Muslims). He went on to explain how Hindu fundamentalists had attacked the Babri mosque and wanted to demolish it.

Days passed and the riots continued. No vehicles were on the road except for occasional police vans. Stores were closed so it became hard to obtain food and other necessities. Finally, one day when the riots had settled down, a vegetable market was open for a few hours and my parents rushed to buy food. On the way to the market we saw burnt down stores, cars, wooden carts and passed by a group of people chanting the name of the Hindu god Ram. I felt very uneasy as this was a new side to my beloved city. It was a dark and horrific side. Even though Bombay is home to people of all backgrounds we realized how fragile our unity can be because of extreme elements in society.

The same uneasiness came over me when I read about what had transpired in Gujarat from my cousin’s home in Virginia. A train carrying Hindu pilgrims was burnt down in the town of Godhra and the Indian Government, without conducting an investigation, was quick to point the blame on Muslim fundamentalists. A few days later, under a state sponsored genocide program, supervised by Narendra Modi (Chief Minister of Gujarat), more than 2500 Muslims were brutally murdered by Hindu fundamentalists. Most of the victims were women who were dragged out of their homes, gang raped, then murdered. No period in history marks the kind of butchery that was displayed against women. Thousands of children became victims of terror and were left orphans.

Until today, the murderers in the state of Gujarat remain free and the Indian government has done nothing to bring justice to the victims. The courts have delayed hearings or dismissed the cases based on no evidence. Of course, the evidence exists, but due to red tape and the prevalence of Modi and Co. the murderers were acquitted. The fact remains that, since India gained independence from the British Raj in 1947, the Hindu majority government has done nothing to give Muslims equal rights and protection in the country, and has treated them as second class citizens.

I still remember the words of Singh Saab when he dropped me home that day in December 1992, “Hindu, Muslim, Sikh, Isaai hum sab ek hain toh yeh kaisa pagalpan” (Hindu, Muslim, Sikh, Christian we are all one, so why this madness?). As the question keeps echoing in my ears, I can only hope that someday we can overcome our religious prejudices for the sake of humanity.

Rima Mutreja is a human rights activist based in Washington DC. Her current research focuses on Hindu-Muslim relations in India.