Saturday, December 21, 2013

A ride with Zakir Bhai


“Sir, aap pichhe kyun beth rahein hein… Aaage baithiye… accha lagega (Sir, why are you sitting in the rear seat… sit in front… you will enjoy the ride…) said a very warm and friendly voice… I turned around to find Zakir bhai’s friendly face beaming at me with the rising sun… Zakir Bhai is one of the many drivers in our hospital and has especially grown fond of me during our brief conversation when he dropped me at the railway station during my last visit to our Anand hospital…

I was supposed to go to Ahmedabad today for a meeting with a NGO on some official work and needed to start early from the hospital to be able to make it in time…

We took the National Expressway 1 and were soon zooming and zipping past to what seems to be a flurry of trees and passing vehicles… we remarked on how cold it has gotten this time of the year and were comparing temperature from my last visit in Jan, 2013. Soon discussion veered towards the poster boy of Gujarat and soon to become the “power to be” in the world’s largest democracy.

Zakir Bhai talked with a glazed look staring blankly ahead reminiscing of the fateful day in 2002 which changed the entire socio-politico religious dynamics of the state.  The state led massacre of thousands of innocent people and the brazenness with which it was done has left most of the people from the given community shattered and has broken their collective self-esteem and a belief in themselves to prosper in “vibrant Gujarat”.

Zakir Bhai recounted, with a sense of helplessness, on how jobs have dried up for the Muslim youth and how the secret unwritten code for recruitment especially in the public services realm  has been to not recruit Muslims. Unemployed youth, in an ever materially prospering state which does not hesitate to boast of its material gains, gradually become frustrated and disillusioned with a system which for them is no longer “ours” but has become “theirs”. 

Post riots were a difficult time especially for Muslims who were a minority in many villages and hamlets of Gujarat. Large settlements and ghettos of Muslim have been seen to be predominantly untouched in times of communal tension and unrest. This has, sadly, served as a really negative example for many a Muslim household to follow suit and thus universalise the mentality of “ghettoization” following the state sponsored fear psychosis. 

After the aftermath of the riot, many a Muslim organisation came to Gujarat to provide relief, support and succour to the wounded body, mind and confidences of the community at large. One such organisation from Delhi, he recounts, while working with the riot victims, came to shockingly know the fact that at some places the community does not actually want to be re-settled back in the villages as they fear that they will ultimately be consumed by the fire of hatred that has been ignited in the minds of the majority community after Godhra. Following such revelation, the organisation proceeded to purchase plots of land at the outskirt of the city and constructed house, ensured all civic amenities was provide for and in the process  actually created a ghetto for their brethren!

The fault line and deep chasm seen in Gujarat is irreparable and one is but shaken at the audacity with which the state carries itself both overtly and covertly. The poster boy of BJP in Gujarat, recounted Zakir Bhai, while addressing a rally in a “Hindu” stronghold, unaware of Muslim audience (or was it intentional!) said that the Hindus need to ensure that Muslims are kept “under their shoes” and never be allowed to raise their head again. As his voice boomed at the rally and as the news of the vitriolic message traveled to many villages and hamlets nearby, the Muslim community panicked and quite a few of them fled to migrate to ghettos for the safety of themselves and their family.

As I sat, listening to Zakir Bhai and his tells of misery, of how Muslim women are treated in times of riot and how the community is ridiculed during their festivities, i clearly saw an organised effort to systematically decimate a community – not physically but psychologically and mentally with clinical precision; I shuddered with horror of what will happen to the nation when such divisive forces are at the helm of affair of this country and take over the reins of governance of world’s largest democracy.

For a moment I just closed my eyes shutting out the voice of Zakir Bhai thinking of yelling at him to stop the narration… I imagined the impression of my beloved country with its ideal of encouraging pluralism, secularism and tolerance, where each Indian by nature is warm, friendly and tolerant of each other’s failings, idiosyncrasies and hypocrisy, of how we are this big melting pot of all culture and civilisation which has assimilated all foreign culture (coming either through invasion or through travellers, traders etc) in to the main stream culture and helped them assume an identity which added more vibrancy to our overall Indianness… and each time India has emerged as a strong nation.

I also imagined of how as a child in my school I would stand shoulder to shoulder proudly  with other children (of Hindus, Muslims and Christians… did it matter!) to sing the national anthem with goose bumps all over me, how at that moment I stood tall proud to be an Indian… then and every time.. of how I would attend the various pujas and visit pandals during festivals getting blessed and in turn inviting friends at home to celebrate Eid and Bakrid, how as a teenager all of us visited the Jagannath temple with my friends disguising me with a Hindu name and what fun we had! 

Are all this ideal going to be defeated because of the rise of intolerance and vested political interest vying for votes which will give them power to rule… has the NAMO effect become so powerful that one day it is going to eliminate the one big thing that all of us take pride in – being a part of the world’s largest secular, democratic country with so much differences that the even the English were confident that the concept of India as a nation is so ludicrous that it  will crumble to dust once they left the shore of the country post-independence?
Suddenly I was brought to my present state to what Zakir Bhai was telling me…

“Lekin sir, hamara gaon ke log aise nahin hein… Hum 30-40 Muslim family hein aur baaki sab (400 families) Hindu hein.. Lkein hamare andar Bhaichaara abhi bhi hey… Hamare doston, jin logon ke sath hum bade huein, woh humein apna bhai maante hein.. hum unke mata pita ko apne Abu are Ami ka darza dete hein… Hum sablok milke saare tyohar manatein hein aur yeh humein kabhibhi pata nahin chalta ke bahaar Gujarat ke  doosre jgahon mein Muslim aur Hindu ke bich mein itna jhamela hey (But Sir, it is not the same sitiation back at my village… we are 30-40 Muslim family in a village of around 400 Hindu families.  But we have preserved the atmosphere of brotherhood amongst us. Our friends with whom we have grown up consider ourselves as their own brother and we also consider their parents as our Abu and Ami. All of us get together to celebrate each other’s festival and have lot of fun together… while in our village, we never get a sense of how difficult life is in other places of Gujarat for Muslims due to the tension between the two communities).

As a smile returned on the tense face of Zakir Bhai narrating tale s of love and togtherness in time of strife, I suddenly felt my doubts and tension dissipating… in Zakir Bhai’s concluding tale I found the flicker of hope that has kept this proud nation going even after bearing ravages and scars of history. 

And what does this flicker of hope tells us during this uncertain time when the 2nd largest community in the country is in a state of fear and apprehension of what will happen in 2014 when India elects its future leadership. Would the divisive, intolerant and communal forces take up the reins of power? Would the hopes and aspiration of the minority in this country find an outlet for expression? Or would it be a repeat of 1947 when many fled / were made to flee their homeland to contribute to the concept of “nation as a ghetto”?

The flicker of hope tells us that we the people would prevail, that we would stand strong against this divisive force which comes from within us and not outside, that we would win the war with love and tolerance as our forefathers have done and more importantly show these forces their place in the history where they ultimately belong.