The Ghosts of Gujrat!

The deadly year of 2002, saw the slaughtering of innocent lives in the name of religion in Gujarat. It is the year which still brings shiver in our body when we think about the pain and the plight that the people specially the minority Muslims went through. People where mercilessly killed, women raped, kids slaughtered into pieces and even pregnant women weren’t spared. Such was the horrific scene of Gujarat ten years before while the state today is in its run of becoming the richest state of India.

Over the years, the voices of these people somewhere got trapped and weren’t allowed by the strong Executive in the state to reach out to others. Those, who were guilty never got convicted and those whose lives were completely shattered were left to die. The very existence of the community was questioned and these poor people had no other option but to remain quiet and support the brutal and oppressive rule of the state government.

But finally after ten long years, justice has been delivered in this country. Yes, the ghosts of Gujarat if not all are finally been caught and punished for their brutal act of killing innocent people mercilessly. Just a couple of months back, the Gujarat High Court keeping into consideration all evidences sentenced the BJP sitting MLA, Maya Kodnani and Babu Bajrangi of the Bajrang Dal (a part of the so-called Sangh Parivar of BJP) were sentenced to life imprisonment with others finding them guilty in the Naroda Pattiya Case. The Ghosts of Gujarat finally seem to be convicted.

It took our judiciary ten long years to breach the strong executive in the state and finally punish the convict. Today when the family members of those who were killed let a sigh of relief, I wonder about the other ghosts of Gujarat who are still roaming freely. The Godhra riots would be the epicentre of this tragedy where thousands of people from the minority community were brutally murdered. Is it a crime in this country to belong to the minority community? Does a sheer number gives someone the right to kill and maim others? Is this the great secular nature of our nation that we always boast about?

This is the kind of hypocrisy that the state government led by the BJP is always known for. The best bluff to hide their dreadful sins has been the path breaking development in the state and the Congress’s inefficiency to run the country. The BJP has reached an altogether different milestone in this arena. Even after so many revelations they’re still running away from the state’s active role in spreading hatred against the minority community during the riots. And look at the plight of our country, just because Hindus are in majority in the state and that keeps the BJP in power, the original culprits behind it are never been caught.

But despite of all the odds, the courage of a few people must be saluted without whom the little justice that has been delivered would probably never have been possible. This endless list can be topped by people like Tista Setalvad, Mallika Sarabhai, Sanjiv Bhatt etc. These people put in their lives in fighting against the injustices of the state government and their role in spreading hatred among the masses. They were threatened, thrown out of their jobs, sent hate mails and messages and also attacked by goons, but these people swore of putting the culprits behind bars and were successful too. Also Tehelka must also be congratulated for their courageous sting operations and fearless reporting which proved to be key evidences in punishing the culprits.

While many intellectuals today are talking about the impact of the verdict in the assembly elections of Gujarat towards the end of this year, that one question is still bothering me. In the race of elections which is all about permutation and combination of numbers, the key conspirators are still ruling the state, following their orthodox ideologies and still ignoring the voices of those affected who demand for justice. Does the concept of ‘unity and diversity’ and ‘a secular Indian state’ ever be able to be achieved in Gujarat? In return of so many questions, we get only silence at the end.