2001, just when the Earthquake happened in Gujarat, I was just a 10-year old. It was really sad to see all those people, their houses, shops being in that terrible condition as they were. Earthquake, from what we read in one chapter in a social science book some days back, was there to show me what it actually is, and how damaging it can be. But, who knew, there were more socially damaging things waiting to happen.
The very next Friday, the mosque’s moulvi requested each of us to pray for the souls of the deceased in the zalzala and help to the needful over there in Gujarat. Also, lined up were various people looking for donations for Gujarat victims outside the masjid. Schools, colleges everywhere people were kind enough to give away some of their stuffs for the needful.
It was the time, when we had only Doordarshan, unlike many in our neighborhood, and they had started these 2-minute news updates every hour. And every time there was a Gujarat earthquake related news coming, so it had become some sort of a routine to see Gujarat out there. The only things I knew about Gujarat were the earthquake and Amul, about which I had heard sometime from my dada.
I can’t gather the details now, but I am not pretty sure, as to what happened in almost a year. Whether DD continued to show its monotonous news stories only about earthquake, or not. But that image was still there. But then another incident happened, something related to train burning. As far as I remember, and there were riots.
Things started to come together, all those previous talks that used to happen in between conversations’ in dada’s oldie-addas or even sometimes when dadi used to tell some small stray incidents of chousath (’64) or Tiraasi(’83) ke riots. (Although, when she used to say it, it used to sound like Right). So, now, again another Riot had happened, and this time in Gujarat. I believe I didn’t understood most of the stuff that time, only thing that went in my head was the bafflement as to how and why certain people behave like that.
There were lots of things that were buzzing my little and yet-to-turn-teenager head at that time. I had already started thinking of myself as someone who is not a kid anymore. But then, I guess, most of us used to think like that. Suddenly, it struck as to why our relatives from the other part of the city, mainly around the industrial part of Sakchi( Where Tata Steel, or TISCO as it used to be called then was) to our locality Mango(where there was hardly any development at that time, and situation is not much different even now) which is a fully muslim-populated area to take a casual and safety refuge at every Ram navmi. The real reason, as I asked and could know was, about the fear of riots that they had.
With years passing by, my tiny little head becoming big, things were somewhat becoming clearer. Although, I must say, there are still little things that are not. Actually, there was just a little question, WHO are these people make these riots happen?? And WHY do they do that??
Going back to Gujarat, and the reason I had this long prologue to what I actually wanted to say.
Putting this one question of Why and who, which I mentioned above, I somehow got the answer.
The answer is not something to be said in mere words, because this is a perspectivial thought that came from this. And this answer didn’t come from asking that question just once, not twice but numerous times. I do advice, if you don’t have the answer, then please keep asking yourself.
“Shri Narendra Modi” once said something about action-reaction, displaying his immense knowledge about Newton’s law of motion. Not to forget his made-to-woo oratory skills, which he can use to talk about in colleges (where there might be protests outside the premises, but then his “intellectual” fans don’t mind that), or he can go globe-trotting to tell about it (provided he gets the visa, Oops).
I would just like to say, to him, the action that your government did, or didn’t do for some reason about which everyone knows and some try to act as if they don’t, will always have a reaction waiting for you someday. Not exactly in the manner that you made people of your own state to go through, but at least in making you get rejected for a visa (First CM to do that, Record!!), maybe getting “disinvited” to events, and more importantly getting the mandate of the people of secular India, where people have the guts tell it to you that what you did will always remain in their memories. And you will know about it soon. Kyunki bhai, 2014 door nahi.
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