Religious Hatred Explodes
In Violence

By Sasha Mansukhani

What does democracy mean to a boy who has seen his father being cut to pieces, watched his mother and sister being dragged out of the house and set on fire by an angry Hindu mob? And what dint of patriotism could the boy feel as he watched the flames engulf his bedroom, destroying all that was dear to him?

"I hate India and I hate its people," said a seven-year-old Muslim boy in Gujarat in 2002. "I want to grow up and kill all Hindus." Any average Indian's first reaction would be to catch this young boy by the shoulders and tell him, "It is because of people like you that there is trouble in our country. Haven't you heard of peace and brotherhood? Don't you know India is a secular country? Have you no patriotism?"

But in the wake of the Gujarat riots that took place in India between February and March 2002, a generation of children, Hindu and Muslim alike, are living with scarred lives, waking up in the middle of the night screaming, their heads full of visions of fire and blood. Revenge is the motivating factor in their lives, their only reason to live.

Do you know what the Gujarat riots were about? Who started it? Why it lasted for so long? Who was responsible for it? I live just a few hundred kilometers from the heart of the violence and I can't say that I know the truth about what happened, even having read a hundred reports and articles on the subject.

The polarization of the Hindu and Muslim communities in India began in the 18th century at the time of the British colonization. The British used the policy of divide and rule to maintain an iron grip over the country. The inter-community biases have lingered on even after India gained her independence and it remains the major cause of disunity in our country today. The Gujarat riots were sparked by a Muslim mob that torched a train at Godhra station, a city in the state of Gujarat, burning alive 59 Hindu devotees on a pilgrimage. This incident plunged the state into an inferno. Hindus immediately responded, hungry for revenge. They took to the roads with iron rods and flames. And while a curfew had been imposed in 40 cities of Gujarat by the Indian government, it did not have much effect at controlling the fury.

There are those who blame the Hindus for harassing the Muslims at Godhra station. Some report that the Hindu activists refused to pay for what they ate at the Muslim shops at the station. Another said a Muslim man was bullied; still another man reported that some men carried off his daughter and locked her in their train compartment. The torching of the train was an act of desperation by a mob that was trying to set the girl free. Others say the attack on the train was preplanned by a fanatical Muslim group or perhaps the Pakistan Inter Service Intelligence had a hand in staging this horrible occurrence.

The revenge attacks claimed over 2000 lives, mostly Muslim, however even this figure is under dispute. In one of the local newspapers, a reporter wrote, "Please don't call it a riot, it was a genocide, pure and simple." With the deluge of contradictory 'facts' it is unlikely that the truth will ever be known, buried in a nameless grave along with the people who perished.

Professor Vipin K. Tripathi, who teaches Physics at Indian Institute of Technology went to Gujarat 10 days after the incident to do his own fact-finding only to discover that it was extremely difficult to get information from anyone. "It was hard to find someone who was not prejudiced," he said. "It was hard to find someone who was not involved in the killing or a victim of what happened whether by physical violence or by threats on their life if they speak the truth to anyone."

Disgusted by the absolutely inhumane way in which the Muslims were slaughtered in Gujarat, Tripathi reported that before they took their last breath, Muslims were forced to say, "Jai Shri Ram," Ram, the Hindu God is Great. Tripathi firmly believes that the state government encouraged the rioting. There was no police intervention; in fact, many took part in the rioting. Protesting the massacre was out of the question. "Those who were free of prejudices were made aware that the state was backing the violence so they remained passive," he said.

While finding truth and achieving peace in the region appears impossible, Tripathi has discovered there are some people who are working to achieve peace in the state. Risking their lives, there is a group of middle-aged Hindu women who are helping the refugees. They meet with villagers and patiently explain that they must not be provoked into violence so that the Muslims may return to their villages.

It is immaterial who started all the violence and the historical hatreds. The truth is the Gujarat riots lie as proof that fire can never be quenched with fire - igniting one flame only makes a bigger fire. The solution lies not in trying to find a scapegoat, but in seeking forgiveness from both sides. As tough as that might be, it's the only solution because everyone has seen enough death.