Of late there has been a mounting discourse about the meaning and content of Indian identity provoked by the various communal crises afflicting India. I am talking about what happened in Vadodara recently.
The wounds of the communal conflict of 2002 in Gujrat have not healed yet; and it faced Vadodra episode.
Ironically, after four long years, justice seems to have finally caught up with the perpetrators of the anti-Muslim violence in the Indian state of Gujarat. Nine persons were convicted on Friday by a court in Mumbai for the killing of 14 in the notorious Best Bakery incident in Baroda. The bakery was set alight by angry sword-wielding Hindu extremists during the orgy of communal violence in Gujarat in 2002 in which some 2000 people, mainly Muslims, were killed. It is viewed as a little hope, as the first step in bringing to book those responsible for the terrible massacres that swept through the state. At the height of the troubles, Gandhi’s home state was overrun by bloodthirsty mobs killing Muslims in a brutal and chillingly systematic manner as the authorities looked on. It was the worst communal violence witnessed in India since Partition.
But what does one expect from this state where people are so communalised. Where would this hatred take Gujarat and the country as a whole? The twentieth century politics of deprivation has eroded the culture's confidence. Hindu chauvinism has emerged fom the competition for resources in a contentious democracy.
Amitav Kumar in 'Husband of a Fanatic' rightly said:
"It is not merely respect for the other's religion that is important; what is essential is that we have respect for the other's rights as a human being. The fundamentalists in India deny the former and thereby also the latter; the secularists fight for the latter but pay very little attantion to the former. Both aspects can come together in the celebration of a shared life."
We cannot wait for a miracle to alter the situation, we ourselves have to be the deus ex machina. Are we working towards it yet?
2 comments:
Impresseive.. :) Nice..
The wounds of the communal conflict of 2002 in Gujrat have not healed yet because some people do not want people to forget it. It gives political edge. People of India should themselves judge situations happening around them . They should not think with others'ind. They should realize that hate is un-Godly. God has created only love. We should love others. Out views and actions should spread love and not hate. Visit my blogs.
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