REALITY WHAT WE SAW

Teesta Setalvad Fr Cedric Prakash Sushobha Barve

The second day of our stay in Ahmedabad has revealed more tales of
horror in the different relief camps that we visited but worse, has
also emphasised the systematic patterns of behaviour and complicity
in the violence.

Violence has not abated but is simply taking place in the more
dispersed rural areas where even the media does not reach. Even as we
write this update, reports of four persons being burned alive in
Santrapur village came in. Each one belonged to the minority
community. In regions of north Gujarat especially violence continues
and terror reins the countryside. Villages on the outskirts of Anand
have stoicly resisted the violent threats to their Muslim
inhabitants. To pressurise the Hindus, the local VHP has been sending
them a set of bangles every day. So far the locals have held out. The
day before yesterday a minister from the state cabinet actually
addressed a meeting of the villagers decrying them for not having
been violent.

Yesterday, in our update we had stressed that the violence in Gujarat
should not be referred to a communal riot but ethnic cleansing and
genocide. Evidence of this was viewed by us, once again, as we drove
to the outskirts of Ahmedabad, to Vatwa that has given shelter to a
total of 6,000 members in relief camps. The main relief camp was a
make shift pandal where women, children and men eat, and sleep right
there. There is a problem of sanitation. There is also a problem of
insufficient toilets. The administration has not responded to the
repeated demand for mobile toilets and tents.

We have also pointed out in repeated media interviews and updates
that a factor in Gujarat's violence is a trend recorded by writer,
Teesta Setalvad (through Communalism Combat) in Gujarat for the past
two years. The hiring of young men, on high salaries, by the Bajrang
Dal for the express purpose of wielding the talwar and the trishul.
In fact, a trained militia. Every single account that this writer
received before arrival in Gujarat and which has been corroborated
since does not simply reflect the systematic use and operation of
this violence in this round of ethnic genocide. In every incident in
Gujarat over the past few days, the attacks by mobs were not the
usual, riot mobs. They were mobs of 5-15,000 that collected swiftly
with precision and wrecked total destruction on life and property in
brief periods and brutal ways. It is not easy to collect such large
mobs in a city of Mumbai, let alone Ahmedabad let alone villages. The
clearcut evidence of this militia poses a challenge to Indian civil
society and the 'secular' Indian state -how will be cope? Can we
successfully articulate a demand for the disbanding of such a
militia? The training given to this militia is not simply on the
perpetration of violence. It is also a mental training in
de-humanisation of the 'enemy' through ideological hatred that
enables men (and women, in some cases) to attack, dismember,
de-humanise, kill, burn and then finally enjoy the loot.

On our drive down to Vatwa, along the outskirts of the city, evidence
of selective destruction of Muslim shops was clear. For kilometre
after kilometre, dhabas, garages,

Laundries, bakeries and garages owned by the minority community were
burned even as the shops next to them were completely unharmed.

At Vatwa we met displaced persons from Burhani society (80 homes
belonging to Dawoodi Bohras completely destroyed), Bismillahnagar,
(60 homes gutted) Roshni Park,(105 homes gutted down) Raunak Park,
Bachubai Kua (80 houses) Darbar Khetar, (80 homes) Syedwadi (150
homes destroyed), Azimpura (100 homes gutted) Tufel Park, Iliaz Park,
and Navapura (300). This entire area was targeted by their Hindu
neighbours living in nearby societies two days after the Godhra
incident, Thursday February 28. The attack by all eye witness
accounts was planned with meticulous precision as crowds of no less
than 15,000 saffron bands on heads, talwars, guptis and dharis in
hand, on four-six occasions for the next twelve hours wrecked
systematic destruction on homes, reducing them to empty shells. The
homes in Burhani society belonging to the Dawoodi Bohra community
were utterly gutted. When women tried to go to the sabzi mandi today,
orders were issued by the local Bajrang Dal, Mahesh Patel, indicted
for inciting the violence ordered sabziwallahs not to sell vegetables
to Muslims. Stones were also thrown at women crying to get a glimpse
of what was left of their homes.

In almost all areas, the police has not yet fulfilled it's primary
function of registering the First Information Riots related to the
violent incidents. Instead often they have registered false cases on
young men of the minority community who tried vainly to defend
themselves.

The frightening aspect of the violence is the deep-rooted terror
still in the minds of the survivors. On three occasions over the past
three days we have been told of the kind of casettes played late at
night by nearby societies that house perpetrators of the crime where
voices of 'looton, kaaton, maron, Jai Sri Ram' can be heard.

Provocative speech and hate speech by both the mainline Gujarati
media, the statements of the Chief Minister, Narendra Modi and
through provocative pamphlets being surreptitiously distributed
continue. CM Modi's statement reported in the Indian Express this
morning is telling. "The violence in Godhra was communal violence,
the violence after that was 'secular violence'". The Gujarati paper
Sandesh is probably the worst perpetrator of hate speech over past
days. Today a report titled, "Hindu upar khatro-Haj Yatra pachi valta
humla ni khaufnaaf saajish" warns the Hindu Gujarati that "Several
state govt agencies that after Godhra incident, the fear of terrorism
looms karge all over Gujarat. With the help of international help,
RDX bombs and aeroplane hijacks are likely to be used by these
terrorist forces." Neither the police nor the state is taking any
action against this publication.

Schools re-opened in the 'other' Ahmedabad and further evidence was
'normalcy' was witnessed. When a few of us friends went for dinner to
a Gujarati restaurant, I (Teesta Setalvad) was asked to lower my
voice and preferably not speak of the only thing that I can speak of
at the moment. Hunger is an equaliser and since our long day had
meant no food we ate, but ate in a locale that gave us a real taste
of virtual reality. A friend on the table summed it up well, "Aaj kal
jab log puchte hai, kaise hon? Lagta hai ki is dinon mein woh shabdon
ka matlab hi nahin raha."


Response To Gujarat

Today a citizen's initiative has resulted in a pamphlet related to
the destruction of the culture and heritage of Gujarat. It will reach
in tens of thousands to the villages and remote parts. You may view
it on sabrang.com soon, after Friday or Saturday. Other small and
larger peace initiatives have also begun. Tomorrow the visit of two
ex-prime minister's V.P.Singh and I.K.gujral is awaited. An all-party
delegation of MPs will also visit the city the day after. There are
rumours that the State plans to sabotage the visit by taking them to
make shift camps where not many problems can be perceived.

needs at many camps March 7, 02

The Nobel Ambulance society that happens to be Muslim owned and run
was bitterly humiliated and prevented from reachin relief to affected
persons since violence broke out in Gujarat. I had a meeting with the
Secretary, Mr Salim Shaikh was requested that I put out this appeal
for Medicines

Tablet Zentac 2,00,000
Tablet Furazoladin 2,00,000
Tablet DHQ 2,00,000
Tablet Lopamide 2,00,000
Tablet Vitac 2,00,000
Tablet B Complex 2,00,000
Tablet Ampielox 500 1,00,000
Tablet Proxyl 250 1,00,000
Injection Dextrose 5 % 1,000 bottles
Infusion Set 1,000 pieces
Injection D.N.S. 1,000 pieces
Injection Sielvien
Shet 24 No 23 200 pieces
Tablet Metacin 500 2,00,000
Tablet Ibuprofen 400 2,00,000
Tablet Wysolone Song 2,00,000
Tablet tetracycline 250 mg 2,00,000
Tablet CPM 2,00,000
Tablet Dexona 2,00,000
Tablet Chloroquin 2,00,000
Injection Xylocain 2 % 1,000 bottles
Betadine Cream 1,000 tubes
Cotton 500 pieces
Tablet Voveran 50,000
Tablet Avil 10,000
Capsules Mox 250 10,000

Noble Ambulance Society
2485 Sindhiwadi, Jamalpur, Ahmedabad 380001
Phone: 079-5399790
079-5394494
Teesta Setalvad