This week marks the 11th anniversary of the Godhra train carnage and the subsequent riots, a dark chapter in India’s history.
The event has been covered, discussed and unceasingly analysed in the media and public forums. It has shaped the politics of our country. And yet, i feel we have not done something essential that is required to come to terms with such a tragedy. We haven’t faced our demons.
In fact, in my past four years of writing columns, this has to be the most difficult piece to write. Why dig up old wounds that will only cause more pain? Why not just bury the past?
Well, you can bury the past, but you cannot bury wounds. Wounds need to be healed. Unfortunately, we have not done so.
For if you start any debate on the Godhra incident, within minutes it degenerates to these two arguments — a) the Hindus retaliated because the train with Hindus was burnt first or b) innocent Muslims were targeted by fundamentalist Hindus, who used the train incident to cause genocide. Both arguments look reasonable enough. However, they do not provide a solution. Inherently, these arguments are about blame. They can be reduced to a) ‘you did it’, or b) ‘no, you did it’. Little wonder no closure has been reached in 11 years.
We have also tried to attach villains to the incident. Blame that guy, he caused it. It is usually the slimy, wily, greedy politician — whom we love to assign as the root of all Indian problems.
It is amazing how every Indian feels there is a problem in our system, and someone else is to blame for it. We need someone we can point fingers to, for misleading us, looting us, dividing us and keeping us backward. It is a comforting narrative, “I am a good citizen who cares for India. The rest of them are keeping us behind”.
Really? If everyone feels the problem is with the rest, then who is really at fault? Perhaps the problem may actually be with us?
We don’t want to face the ugly truth. We don’t really want to understand what is about us that we can be so easily incited to burning trains or to do a riot. We don’t think we are in any way responsible for what happened.
Sure, the reader of this newspaper isn’t a criminal and didn’t kill anyone. However, ask yourself this. Are we, at some level, guilty of feeling things that are not in the best interest of India? Do a lot of us not, at some level, harbour mistrust for the other religion? In peaceful times, we can talk about unity and peace. However, God forbid, five terror attacks happen in the next few months, perpetrated by criminals who are Muslim. Will Hindus not start doubting Muslims again? Will we not start calling them names, or talk about sending them to Pakistan, or how they are the reason for almost every Indian problem? Will we not develop a public opinion that the Muslims need to be kept in check? And then, in that environment, if there are anti-Muslim riots after an attack, will we not give the perpetrators of those riots some sympathy or validation? If yes, then have we changed, at all?
Similarly, if Hindu groups target a few innocent Muslims in a few stray attacks, will the Muslim community not start to feel vulnerable? If you are a Muslim, will you not feel Hindus are out to get you? Won’t you feel you need a special protection, compared to the other Indian citizens? In this scenario, if a politician comes and offers support to your community, will you not back him unconditionally? Will you not pardon all their corruption, inefficiency and lack of accountability, just to feel a little safer?
We are still divided. We are still unable to respect India as much as we respect our religion. In peaceful times, this doesn’t surface much. However, in volatile times, this brings out the worst in us. The Godhra incident was an example of the worst in us. It was the cost of keeping country second and religion first. It was the price we paid for thinking religion is so important, giving us the right to break laws or abuse democracy. Unfortunately, the families who suffered in the incident paid the biggest price.
We find reasons to hate each other. We huddle in our groups, not marrying our children to theirs, a clear sign we are divided. We hurt, but we never try to heal. We point fingers, but we never self-reflect. We make little effort to find or communicate common ground, the biggest being all of us jointly have to take the nation forward.
It isn’t just this incident. We have lost a lot as a nation because of these divisions — whether in human life, or bad politics leading to poor development. It is time we stop. It is time we reflect, feel the shame and come to terms with it. There is no one person who needs to apologise for this. We all need to. It is time we face our demons, and tell them we will never allow ourselves to feel the wrong way again. That we will always put nation first, and not let that resolve be threatened, even in tough times.
If we do this, the healing will begin. We will move ahead as a society that has learnt from the past. We will no longer be swayed.
We cannot compensate for the pain of those who suffered and lost lives. But if we can move on from this as better people perhaps they will, from the heavens above, forgive us.