ANNUAL CONFERENCE 2002

(Mumbai, 6th & 7th September, 2002)

NOTHING OFFICIAL ABOUT IT!

-  Amitava Bandyopadhyay
Supdt. of Customs, Kolkata.

Atal intolerance blast
The Telegraph
Thursday, 1 August 2002

"The very essence of religion and culture is man's triumph over base and barbaric aspects. But why does barbarism perform its dance of death every once in a while? I am at a loss to understand this," the Prime Minister said ............

..... "Equally beyond my comprehension is how some human beings can be trained in terrorism and that too in the name of religion to kill innocent human beings in large numbers."..................

As the bus was sneaking down through the panoramic Aravalli hills towards Ahmedabad there was a murmur inside the bus "Jabardast danga ho raha hai, Shahar main curfew jari hone wala hai". I along with my wife and two children was returning from Mt. Abu after holidaying there for a week. Some panic-stricken commuters were also mentioning some places "Kallupura", "Gomtipur", “Delhi Darwaza" etc. and these words were taking me aback. What I could make out from these rumours that beneath the placid surface lurks a disquiet that has ravaged the city we were approaching. Wrecked by weeks of violence the city was struggling to emerge from a cesspool of violence and religious hatred.

As told by the conductor of the bus we had to get down 7kms. ahead of Ahmedabad station from where our train would leave at 9pm. The bus disappeared alighting us with our luggage in the midst of a deserted cross road of the suburb. It was a hot summer afternoon and my children were asking for drinking water. All the shops and houses nearby were closed and even the windows were shut to debar them to quench their thirst. Suddenly we could listen to a huge hue and cry and saw an armed and furious mob approaching us screaming "Jai Shree Ram". From that procession of fury one well-built bearded young man with a saffron ribbon tied on his forehead came running to us and ruggedly asked while gasping:

"Tourist hal kya?" While replying him in the positive I saw him keenly watching the vermilion marks on the forehead of my wife and the conch bangles of her. Being satisfied with his queries he then went off warning us "Samne khatra hai, aaplog age mat bariye", It seemed to me perhaps he wanted to know "Hindu hai kya?"

My children got horrified, they strongly grabbed my hands and forgot their thirst. Meanwhile, one auto-rickshaw driver with his decorative auto-rickshaw appeared before me saying "Sab, station jana hal?" At this I got heaven in my hands and we quickly boarded the auto-rickshaw with our luggage. My children sat on the rear seat grabbing their mother, and I shared the front seat with the driver, Kallu sheikh by name. Kallu was chewing paan with flavoured tobacco and kept on talking while driving his auto. He was ceaselessly but vividly describing the horrors which were taking place in and around the city about the mass-killing, how the men, women and children were being ruthlessly butchered and their bodies were mercilessly charred. "Sab, sunne mein aya abhi abhi panch bachhon ko zinda jalaya gaya". I kept mum and never wanted to know whether they were Hindus or Muslims. I stared at the pensive faces of my children and it struck me at once whether children of this world belong to any caste, creed or religion?

Now, it was dusk when we were approaching the station and it was 7pm by my watch. The auto was zipping through an abandoned city of fire and fury. Suddenly we were stopped by a police van, a policeman came out of the van and asked the driver, "Kidhar jana hai, ye log kaun hai gari mein?" Then he asked me about my identity and being satisfied about us he then requested me "Sab, samne ek masjid jal raha hai, aap doosre raste se station jao, carfew sure ho gaya hai", Saying this he boarded the van and dispersed in the dark. I could listen to a huge cry "A-l-l-a-a-h h-o A-k-b-a-r" was being screamed somewhere in the vicinity. I became terrified and nervous too anticipating something unforeseen. Kallu could make out the situation and coolly assured me to reach us the station in time. He then requested my wife and children to get down from the rear seat of auto, took out a burka by removing the seat and gave it to my wife asking her to wear it quickly. He gave his embroidered cap to me to give me a Muslim look. He took out his black-threaded necklace with a square silver locket and put the same around the neck of my son. We all did so spontaneously but hesitantly. He then started driving down his auto through the narrow lanes and muhallahs of desolate Ahmedabad to reach us safely to the station. By now, we all became greatly alarmed but Kallu was trying his best to appease us saying, "Sab, station aur ek kilometer ke duri pe hai, bilkul ghabraiye mat, Insallah hum aplogon ko pounchake rahunga!" He then geared up the speed of the auto to its maximum. All of a sudden we could see that we were being chased by a jeep full of a hostile mob, fiercely screaming "Allah ho Akbar" and stopped before our vehicle. They were all armed and angrily looking' at us. One of them jumped out of the jeep and came running to us and noticed with a sceptic and venomous look. I was then totally bewildered, but my perplexity had never unnerved Kallu, who, in turn, immediately went out of his vehicle and told that man "Bara bahen aur bhaisaab ko bachhon ke saat station chorna hai" .......... " Thik hai, age baro" it was the command from that man who speedily went off. We took a sigh of relief! It was a divine favour shown to us and that voice was as good as an oracle to me.

We left Ahmedabad scot-free and unhurt but mentally we were shattered. While we were boarding the train I returned the cap to Kallu, my son returned his necklace but Kallu refused to take back the burka from my wife and requested her to keep the same as a token of love from a "chhota bhai" ..............

Aftermath of that nightmare was over. I was teaching history of Mughal Dynasty to my children sitting in my cozy drawing room while we came across the word 'Burka' and we find the dictionary meaning of which is as follows-A long enveloping garment worn in public by Muslim women [ref. The Concise Oxford Dictionary: IX edition]. But my realization is that the said garment may act as a life saviour to a Hindu women and her family; that the garment teaches us to be modest not only to women but also to the human civilization; that this out-fit makes me hung down in shame and reminds me how intolerant we are to other religions. Furthermore, my children added that burka is an outfit which acts as a memento to a Hindu "Bara bahen" from a Muslim "Chhota bhai" .......... can you add any more?