Communal riots happen all the time in India, so, what is so special about Godhra riots? Why does it get mentioned so many times in the media? Why does it get special treatment? Why can't people get over it, after all, it almost happened a decade ago (in 2002)? Hindus also die in these riots so what a big deal, why make such a big issue out of it? Nowadays one can hear a lot of questions and statements like this, especially because Mr. Narendra Modi is a prime ministerial candidate of the BJP for the upcoming national elections in India, and the Godhra riots are one of the major issues he is going to face during his fight for the top post. I remember hearing similar types of questions many times before, 1984 when the massacre in Delhi happened after the unfortunate assassination of Prime Minister Mrs. Indira Gandhi, Rajiv Gandhi said these infamous lines, "When a big tree falls, earth shakes." These words seem to somehow try to justify the riots that happened after Mrs. Gandhi's assassination. Similar statements were made after the Babri demolition and the riots that followed it, after the Mumbai bomb blasts. The list is too long to mention. Almost after every riot, there is a lot of anger, emotional drama, and blame game. Justifications are offered, motives questioned, some parties get political mileage and others wait for the next riot to get their chance to score some points for their side. This is a tragic and vicious cycle going on for several years in Indian politics. Neither political parties are interested in breaking this cycle nor do people seem to be interested in understanding that they are being used like cards and are the ultimate sufferers. Literally, people are used just like cards which are used to kill each other, which can be sacrificed if necessary to save some important cards, anything can be done to these cards to win the game. The strange thing is not only players who play this game but even cards seem to be loving this cruel game. It seems the cards are not aware of their pathetic situation.
So what is wrong with all these questions? Why do I feel they are insensitive and somehow try to legitimize or justify these riots? First of all these statements seem to assume that if something is happening regularly then we should get used to it even if it's wrong, cruel, or inhuman. Just because it's a routine event, it doesn't deserve acceptance. Another assumption some people make is two wrongs can make one right. If Muslims along with some Hindus get killed in riots or vice versa then it's okay because both sides suffered the loss. Such a strange logic is offered to justify the tragic purposeful loss of a human life. Have we become so casual and insensitive about the plight of victims of mass violence? Every riot, every murder, and every death in this manure is wrong. They all are tragic and unfortunate doesn't matter which caste, race, or religion those people belong. Political parties and religious leaders both take advantage of this rift between people of different faiths. Many of them don't seem to be interested in narrowing this gap but they want to widen it more. They want to make it so wide that there should not be any scope for reconciliation. They want to do it by using either Mandir issues, Masjid issues, fatwas, or moral policing. Communal riots are part of this game. It is for investigating agencies to decide whether Mr. Modi was involved in the Godhra riots in any way or not. He should not be treated like a criminal without any strong evidence against him but at the same time, he is answerable to questions related to these riots because he was the head of that state when this thing happened. His silence on this issue or his refusal to apologize not only displays his compulsion to play for his vote bank but also displays the perception that even though whatever happened was sad, it was not completely wrong. Riots are projected as an act of revenge, but the question is how many times do we need to ignore such revengeful acts and move on. How many times more?
Whatever happened in 1984 was wrong, whatever happened with Kashmiri Pandits was wrong, and the Godhra riot was wrong. Any riot is wrong, period. It doesn't matter which religion or party the victims belong to, every incident should be investigated, and every culprit should be punished. If this doesn't happen these things will get institutionalized like corruption and will keep on happening regularly. That is why the Godhra riots are serious, so are the Muzaffarnagar riots, so are the 1984 riots, the Malegaon blasts, Mumbai blasts everything is serious. How can we even compare or say one is worse than others? Based on the number of deaths? Based on the reason why they happened? Based on which party was ruling during that time? What criteria do people use to categorize them? Why do they even try to do such categorization? Every such incident is a slap on our country and its secular constitution, a slap on our inclusive culture but no one seems to mind it.
So what is wrong with all these questions? Why do I feel they are insensitive and somehow try to legitimize or justify these riots? First of all these statements seem to assume that if something is happening regularly then we should get used to it even if it's wrong, cruel, or inhuman. Just because it's a routine event, it doesn't deserve acceptance. Another assumption some people make is two wrongs can make one right. If Muslims along with some Hindus get killed in riots or vice versa then it's okay because both sides suffered the loss. Such a strange logic is offered to justify the tragic purposeful loss of a human life. Have we become so casual and insensitive about the plight of victims of mass violence? Every riot, every murder, and every death in this manure is wrong. They all are tragic and unfortunate doesn't matter which caste, race, or religion those people belong. Political parties and religious leaders both take advantage of this rift between people of different faiths. Many of them don't seem to be interested in narrowing this gap but they want to widen it more. They want to make it so wide that there should not be any scope for reconciliation. They want to do it by using either Mandir issues, Masjid issues, fatwas, or moral policing. Communal riots are part of this game. It is for investigating agencies to decide whether Mr. Modi was involved in the Godhra riots in any way or not. He should not be treated like a criminal without any strong evidence against him but at the same time, he is answerable to questions related to these riots because he was the head of that state when this thing happened. His silence on this issue or his refusal to apologize not only displays his compulsion to play for his vote bank but also displays the perception that even though whatever happened was sad, it was not completely wrong. Riots are projected as an act of revenge, but the question is how many times do we need to ignore such revengeful acts and move on. How many times more?
Whatever happened in 1984 was wrong, whatever happened with Kashmiri Pandits was wrong, and the Godhra riot was wrong. Any riot is wrong, period. It doesn't matter which religion or party the victims belong to, every incident should be investigated, and every culprit should be punished. If this doesn't happen these things will get institutionalized like corruption and will keep on happening regularly. That is why the Godhra riots are serious, so are the Muzaffarnagar riots, so are the 1984 riots, the Malegaon blasts, Mumbai blasts everything is serious. How can we even compare or say one is worse than others? Based on the number of deaths? Based on the reason why they happened? Based on which party was ruling during that time? What criteria do people use to categorize them? Why do they even try to do such categorization? Every such incident is a slap on our country and its secular constitution, a slap on our inclusive culture but no one seems to mind it.
How can people even justify punishing the entire community for some stupid acts of a few people from that community? Terrorists do this, rioters do this and surprisingly even after performing such gruesome and cowardly acts, they find sympathizers and supporters in their community. When is this madness going to stop? If I question Godhra these people ask why am I not questioning Mumbai blasts or anti-Sikh riots? If I raise a question about Kashmiri Pundits I am asked why I am not talking about the plight of Muslims killed in Kashmir? Whenever someone questions about some "X" incident he/she is asked why they are not questioning about some"Y" incident. In the end, neither the victims of the X incident get justice nor the victims of the Y incident. Riots keep on happening, leaders win or lose the election because of them, people keep on getting killed in riots, and no one knows when all this will end? I am sick and tired of all this. I don't know whom I should blame here? Politicians who make inflammatory speeches? Religion and religious leaders who spread fanaticism? People who follow these leaders blindly? Poor investigations and the inability of our legal system to punish culprits? No one? Gandhi had said once, "An eye for an eye only ends up making the whole world blind." Are we going to do something to stop these riots or wait to turn the whole world blind? We have to start somewhere so what can't we start with this particular incident. If we ignore this one then there will be some other reason to ignore the next one also. If we want to put an end to all this we all must act, by we I mean everyone involved in this including our judiciary, politicians, people, everyone.
Thanks for reading and please share your views on this topic.
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