Ahmedabad Newsline / Indian Express
February 27, 2007
‘No change in State’s attitude to minorities, riot-hit’
Panel discussion, exhibition on Day One of six-day event marking Gujarat riots; activists lash out at State Govt
Express News Services
Ahmedabad, February 26: More than 25 civil society organisations have joined hands to organise a six-day-long series of programmes to commemorate the Gujarat riots of 2002 _ Sach ki Yadein Yadon ki Sach _ which got under way here at Gujarat Vidyapith on Monday. The first programme of the series was a panel discussion by various social activists on “revisiting 150 years of 1857, 100 years of Satyagrah and 5 years of Gujarat Carnage.”
Speaking on the occasion, noted social activist Teesta Setalvad observed that there has been no perceptible change in the State Government’s attitude towards minorities in the last five years.
“There is a deliberate attempt to look at the burning of train at Godhra and the subsequent riots through different glasses,” Teesta observed adding, “While most of the riot accused are roaming freely, as many as 87 people from Godhra are incarcerated under POTA and are behind the bars for last five years.
Coming down heavily on the State Government, Teesta said that while Chief Minister Narendra Modi refuses to comment on the ban of releasing the movie Parzania, his indulgent silence on Babu Bajrangi’s imposition of the ban speaks volumes. “Who is running the state? Narendra Modi or Bajrangi and people like him?” she asked.
She also raised an alarm on political apathy towards the entire issue. “Why are the protests and remembrances so apolitical? Why is the opposition silent on the issues of justice and rehabilitation of riot victims?” she asked.
“There have been a lot of talks on the role of Gandhian institutions during the riots and post riots, but one may also look at the role of the premier educational institutions in Ahmedabad and Baroda,” Teesta observed, adding that in spite of being autonomous by nature, their silence only indicates that ‘fascism’ has been deeply entrenched in the Gujarat civil society.
A recent study by “Citizens for Justice and Peace,” reveals that till date as many as 8,700 riot-hit people are still living in camps without BPL cards or ration cards, Teesta said adding that going by that study, only about 15 families got a compensation of Rs 40,000 while a majority had to do with meager or no compensation. “There has been no justice for women who were victims of gender violence during the riots,” she further pointed out.
“The Nanavati Shah commission has enough evidence to ask extremely uncomfortable questions to the State Government,” Setalvad said adding that as the report of the commission is expected by the end of this year along with Assembly Election, the civil society needs to remain extremely vigilant and prepared to take to streets if such a need arises.
Speaking on the occasion, Sophia Khan, Director, Safar said that while the state government has been making tall claims regarding the state being peaceful and investor friendly, the current peace is an uneasy calm that is a result of silenced justice. “A lot of people ask me why we are observing this commemoration programme? Why are we reopening the wounds,” Sophia said adding that the wounds of the riot victims are far from healing. “It is only the civil society which is trying with their limited means to heal the wounds, while at the State’s level, the process hasn’t even started so far,” she added.
Others who spoke on the occasion included Mallika Sarabhai from Darpana, Zakia Jawhar from Action Aid, Ila Pathak from AWAG and so on.
Later, an exhibition of paintings in Mithila tradition on the context of Gujarat carnage of 2002 by Santosh Kumar Das was inaugurated at Amdavad ni Gufa as a part of the programme.
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