Mouthpiece

I read in today’s ToI about one Kausar Bano. Kausar was pregnant when she was killed along with a hundred others. Her story told by eye-witnesses about rioters raping and tearing open her womb with a sword and swinging the foetus on its tip, was dismissed as a myth until recently when a rioter confessed to the crime.

I’ve been meaning to write this post for quite some time now but somehow couldn’t. This topic is something that induces in me intense hatred for authorities. Gujarat is like a dead albatross around India’s neck. 2002 riots are like deep scars whose repercussions ensure that India does not forget them easily or early.

As far as I recall(Google it for details or facts) in Feb 2002, while Godhra Express was returning from Ayodhya carrying some Kar Sevaks it caught fire and was charred. Suspecting that this was done by Muslims, there were widespread riots in late Feb and early March across Gujarat in which thousands of Muslims were victimized. Gujarat burned like a hellhole and there were no firefighters to tame the conflagration. Even before India could recover from the shock and awe of what happened, Narendra Modi registered a thumping victory in 2004 Gujarat Assembly Elections.

There are many more victims of atrocities in Gujarat like Kausar Bano. Zahira Sheikh(Best Bakery), Zakia Jafry(wife of a late Congress MP), Kausar Bi(wife of Sohrabuddin Sheikh) and the latest – Ishrat Jahan, a 19 year old college student killed in a fake encounter after being branded terrorist – are just a few of the victims. And all this in the name of religion! God!

The point I want to make is if even a figment of the story of Kausar Bano(above) is true – then forget development, forget diamonds, forget Nano – all that India should demand is justice. I think that when a Socialist says that he wants justice and equality for everybody, he is far more religious than religious fanatics who annihilate humans and apparently humanity. Justice is as basic a requirement as food and water. Justice paves way for peace and peace is the garden where progress blossoms.

This is not the India we want. I wish hatred and ‘fake encounters’ would disappear from the face of earth rather than races and minorities. Religion should be progressive. And if it turns regressive and excessive, I think we’d be better off without it altogether. Nahi?