Gujarat: The Way Forward

I had just arrived at the Ahmedabad airport on my way to Gandhinagar to help mymother-in-law and other family members and friends from Gulberg Society who had escaped the carnage three daysearlier in which dozens of Muslims including my father-in-law and the former Member of Parliament Ahsan Jafriwas killed.

I had been warned that taxis were not safe. Just two days earlier, two boys who had giventheir names as Ashish and Rajesh, had been pulled out of a taxi and killed when somebody in the crowdrecognized Rajesh as Shabbir, the software consultant, who had been working in Hyderabad.

Taxis at the airport refused to take the 20 km drive with me to Gandhinagar. I had to waitfor six hours before arrangements were made by my friends at Gandhinagar to get me picked up with a policeescort.

Having lived in Gujarat for several years during my studies and having known Gujaratipeople for their generosity, commerce, custom, kindness, compassion and humor, what I saw that day wasunbelievable, even frightening. As we drove through the city, I saw dozens of burnt and destroyed shops,houses and mosques. A few were still burning.

Three weeks that I spent in Gujarat in March 2002 have been the most troubling days of mylife. Everyday, I felt, could be my last day.

Where has this land of Mahatma Gandhi gone wrong in just ten years of my leaving Gujarat?At the risk of trivializing the apparent deviation of Gujarat and the Gujaratis from those Gandhian values,one may say that it is the vote bank politics of today that is mostly responsible for the communalpolarization of the state.

Politicians in their passion for power are playing the game of "divideand rule"- a legacy of the British Raj which we passionately condemn and yet continue to practice. Thatdivide and rule mantra seems to have assumed new proportions and significance in Gujarat.

I remember Gandhiji’s teachings where he had laid down seven mistakes those invariablylead to violence - wealth without work, pleasure without conscience, knowledge without character, commercewithout morality, science without humanity, worship without sacrifice and politics without principles. What wesee today in Gujarat is a naked display of such unprincipled politics.

Gujarat tragedy was not a result of religious intolerance between Hindus and Muslims, butof extremism, which is a religion in itself. When extremists control the government, tragedies like theHolocaust, Rwanda, Bosnia and Gujarat occur.

However, mere criticism of a political ideology or the opportunity that exists inexploiting the religious sentiments of the people for power, however repugnant, however hurtful and harmfulfor the nation, is not going to stop those who will continue to use it for their narrow interests and pettygains. We will have to do much more than just criticize.

Indian intellectuals will have to start a serious campaign at the grassroots in educatingour people. Hindus and Muslims and all other races will have to work together to save our country from fallinginto the hands of extremists who may rapidly take it down into the abyss of irrelevancy in today'scompetitive world which otherwise can offer global markets, global opportunities and global reach in returnfor peace, security and democracy.

Gujarat has already lost more than 10,000 crores rupees worth of businesses and properties.Further loss in terms of time, lost opportunities, destroyed businesses and pulled out investments will addthousands of crores more. Anyone who thinks all this loss can be easily made up while communal polarizationremains, is under a delusion.

I hope Advaniji is listening. And as for taking the initiative to build the bridge and aproposal to work together, I personally feel it would be better if it came from the Muslim leadership.

Dietrich Bonhoeffer says, "If you board the wrong train, it’s no use running along thecorridor in the opposite direction". Before second World War, Japan was not just arrogant but also extremelypowerful. But in the aftermath of Pearl Harbor and the USA dropping nuclear bomb on Japan, its leadershipquickly realized that running along the corridor in the opposite direction will not work for Japan’s furtherinterests.

So going against the Japanese sentiments and the feelings of pride, Hirohito, the head ofthe Japanese Royal Family, unilaterally declared on August 14, 1945, "Wehave resolved to pave the way for a ground peace for all the generations to come by enduring the unendurableand suffering what is insufferable." That admission led Japan put its bitterness of the war and defeatbehind it and helped Japanese move forward.

Today, Japan is the world powerhouse, not militarily because it does not need that, buteconomically. There is a lesson here for our Hindu and Muslim leadership. Bite the bullet, put the past behindand move forward as a union, with strength. In this world only those succeed who instead of railing againstdefeats show magnanimity and accept it with a view to do something positive.

Our unique social mix and talent pool, diverse cultural value system, and the worldrecognized ancient wisdom provide us a powerful pedigree and the apparatus to succeed. Now let us put that towork for us.

Stating an important psychological reality derived from the Biblical story of Abel and Cain- the two sons of Adam - Maulana Wahiduddin Khan says, "Whenrevenge crosses all limits, it transforms itself into regret; when anger is given a full play, it ultimatelyturns to acknowledgment; after showing its most cruel face, animality reverts to humanity".

In Gujarat we have seen one of the worst human tragedies in terms of revenge, anger andultimate animality. It is time not just to acknowledge and regret those acts and behavior, but come togetherto pledge and more importantly work together never to let that tragedy repeat again.

Only then we will realize the vision of our forefathers and the dreams of our children.