On September 29 the terror revisited the textile town of Malegaon in the Holy month of Ramadan. The outcome was unending chaotic developments that overpowered the restraint of the people. Many present on the post-blast site took to violence and attacked the police, as preliminarily, the cops reportedly declared that a cylinder had exploded.
But violence can never be the answer to any violent perpetration. People can’t justify it when they resort to it if they don’t find a solution to their problems.
Located in north Maharashtra in Nasik, the city is a distinct example of a ghetto.
Here a river, Mausam nadi, divides Hindus and Muslims into two separate ideological entities. Rivers are considered as uniting force as they flow into different cultures and demography. In India few of them have religious connectivity attached to them. They have no boundaries.
The five bridges over Mausam nadi act as frontiers when it comes to the communal conflagration. People from two sides are held back to cross over the bridge during religious strife.
It is a common phenomenon whenever a riot breaks out that the anti-violence government forces take a centre stage and occupy the entry and exit points at these bridges, on Mausam nadi.
In a city that has a population of more than seven lakh, the segregating forces somewhat have succeeded in poisoning young minds. These immature minds could have been fed with constructive ideas. The father of Indian nuke-bomb A P J Abdul Kalam, who likes to mingle with young minds, has written a book called Ignited Minds. But, being in oblivion, he might not be aware that there is a continuous campaign across the country that feeds these ignited minds with misinformation. Those who remember the pattern behind riot after riot don’t need any further explanation.
Even a small sparkle can snowball into a massive fire at any point of time.
Many believe that the blast that claimed at least six innocent lives and seriously injured as many as 80, was part of a larger conspiracy to polarize the pluralistic Indian social structure. The culprits wanted to trigger a communal flare up as they detonated it in the Holy month of Ramadan.
This is what Hindus and Muslims equally believe.
But hats off to the sagacity of Hindus and Muslims that, the tragedy did not turn into a gruesome wave of violence.
The majority of the Indian populace believes that the series of blasts in the country are nothing more than a gimmick to divide the society on communal lines. Earlier it used to be riot after riot, now the blast after blast. It has damaged the already frail social structure. It has left the bleeding country bandage-less and deprived it of the necessary treatment.
History tells us that the polarization of communities never happened overnight. People attacked each other. The savage, irrespective of the religion they believed in, chased men, women and children to their death only to vent their unfounded anger.
Communities especially the religious minorities live in ghettos. The most common quality of a living organism is to find a safer place to be in, even the ants rush to their havens before the onset of rains.
Previous studies suggest that religious minorities like Dalits, Sikhs or Parsis prefer to live in ghettos. Here their natural characteristic of self-protection and retaining their identities overpowers their desire to be in mainstream.
With a history of a series of communal confrontations Malegaon was always looked down upon, it was always branded as haven for the anti-socials. Many used derogatory languages against Muslims and called Malegaon as Mini-Pakistan.
Successive dispensations overlooked the town which fell further deep into the chaos. Many blame the people themselves for the poor state of the town.
The writer once happened to speak to a man probably in his seventies. When asked about the deplorable conditions under which Muslims live he replied immediately. To the writer’s shock the answer was quite unexpected.
“KHUDA NE AAJ TAK USS QAUM KI HAALAT NAHI BADLI
NA HO JIS KO KHAYAL AAP APNI HAALAT KE BADALNE KA”
He quoted a popular verse from Quran which was paraphrased into lines by the scholar-cum- poet Mohammed Iqbal that means, “The god never changes the (abysmal) state of any community (nation) until or unless the community (nation) itself contemplates to improve that (abysmal) state.”
Nothing exists in this world without a reason. Smoke does not billow out without a fire.
The poor standard of living because of lowest level of income deviated many to the world of crime. The crime once used to be at its height in Malegaon has died its own death. These ruthless anti-social elements wer once on the rampage and butchered each other mercilessly. The most unpopular murder was committed on the day of Eid. The writer who was not born at the time has heard the story many times since his childhood. After saying Eid prayers Bhoorya Dada as he was known cut the throat of his rival Moosa Dada when both of them confronted each other after EID Namaz. These horrible accounts are unending and would require reams of papers to write.
It is bitter fact that to end the menace no body came forward with a concrete formula. Everybody practiced the rhetoric.
The town once considered as the Manchester of Maharashtra has been neglected on many counts. Muslims depend upon their sole source of bread and butter, the powerlooms. They weave cotton and now polyester fabrics. Malegaon boasts more than one lakh sets of these cloth-weaving machines which are the mainstay of the community. Powerful rich Marwaris buy these weaved clothes from the Muslims in the common gathering place of Taanba Kaanta.
The city came into existence as a result of mass exodus of Muslims from now Uttar Pradesh. A caravan came at the banks of the river Mausam in the late nineteenth century. Most of who migrated where weaver or Julaha Muslims which is a caste granted OBC status by the government of India.
Change is the integral part of the world. Change happens everywhere. It happened in Malegaon. After the communal riots blasts brought change. This time it came in the form of people becoming alert about their rights.
After the blasts it was time to put the ointment to the wounds. Sonia Gandhi visited the textile town with an entourage of ministers and officials to hand out the compensation checks. To astonishment of many, the families of few of those who died in the blasts refused to accept them. They only wanted the acts of terror crushed. They demanded a thorough and fair probe into it.
Never in the history of communal violence or acts of terror, was witnessed that people refused the government aids.
There is nothing more dangerous than the powerful tool of propaganda. It has become quite tougher now to dig into the ground realities. People don’t bother about it. They are spoon-fed with biased information. They practice persecution.
Two blasts one on September 8 2006 and the other in the Holy month of Ramadan this year have failed to make Hindus and Muslims turn their backs towards each other. Hindus have donated their bloods to save the lives of Muslims. They have helped rush the wounded to hospitals in one way or the other.
For reasons unknown to many, Malegaon has witnessed many communal flare ups since independence. It is unnecessary to write “since independence” as it was the point where the mass polarization of communities happened. Millions ended homeless and hundreds were butchered in the name of religion as a result of partition. The legacy of the hatred continues. The blasts which have replaced the riots also continue. But the need of the hour is to stop propaganda. It divides the minds. And minds are the biggest building blocks of any country. It is up to those who are at the power corridors how to prevent the building blocks from turning into stumbling blocks. As someone said minds can easily be ignited. So why not ignite them for turning the century into ours, century of the people of India.
But violence can never be the answer to any violent perpetration. People can’t justify it when they resort to it if they don’t find a solution to their problems.
Located in north Maharashtra in Nasik, the city is a distinct example of a ghetto.
Here a river, Mausam nadi, divides Hindus and Muslims into two separate ideological entities. Rivers are considered as uniting force as they flow into different cultures and demography. In India few of them have religious connectivity attached to them. They have no boundaries.
The five bridges over Mausam nadi act as frontiers when it comes to the communal conflagration. People from two sides are held back to cross over the bridge during religious strife.
It is a common phenomenon whenever a riot breaks out that the anti-violence government forces take a centre stage and occupy the entry and exit points at these bridges, on Mausam nadi.
In a city that has a population of more than seven lakh, the segregating forces somewhat have succeeded in poisoning young minds. These immature minds could have been fed with constructive ideas. The father of Indian nuke-bomb A P J Abdul Kalam, who likes to mingle with young minds, has written a book called Ignited Minds. But, being in oblivion, he might not be aware that there is a continuous campaign across the country that feeds these ignited minds with misinformation. Those who remember the pattern behind riot after riot don’t need any further explanation.
Even a small sparkle can snowball into a massive fire at any point of time.
Many believe that the blast that claimed at least six innocent lives and seriously injured as many as 80, was part of a larger conspiracy to polarize the pluralistic Indian social structure. The culprits wanted to trigger a communal flare up as they detonated it in the Holy month of Ramadan.
This is what Hindus and Muslims equally believe.
But hats off to the sagacity of Hindus and Muslims that, the tragedy did not turn into a gruesome wave of violence.
The majority of the Indian populace believes that the series of blasts in the country are nothing more than a gimmick to divide the society on communal lines. Earlier it used to be riot after riot, now the blast after blast. It has damaged the already frail social structure. It has left the bleeding country bandage-less and deprived it of the necessary treatment.
History tells us that the polarization of communities never happened overnight. People attacked each other. The savage, irrespective of the religion they believed in, chased men, women and children to their death only to vent their unfounded anger.
Communities especially the religious minorities live in ghettos. The most common quality of a living organism is to find a safer place to be in, even the ants rush to their havens before the onset of rains.
Previous studies suggest that religious minorities like Dalits, Sikhs or Parsis prefer to live in ghettos. Here their natural characteristic of self-protection and retaining their identities overpowers their desire to be in mainstream.
With a history of a series of communal confrontations Malegaon was always looked down upon, it was always branded as haven for the anti-socials. Many used derogatory languages against Muslims and called Malegaon as Mini-Pakistan.
Successive dispensations overlooked the town which fell further deep into the chaos. Many blame the people themselves for the poor state of the town.
The writer once happened to speak to a man probably in his seventies. When asked about the deplorable conditions under which Muslims live he replied immediately. To the writer’s shock the answer was quite unexpected.
“KHUDA NE AAJ TAK USS QAUM KI HAALAT NAHI BADLI
NA HO JIS KO KHAYAL AAP APNI HAALAT KE BADALNE KA”
He quoted a popular verse from Quran which was paraphrased into lines by the scholar-cum- poet Mohammed Iqbal that means, “The god never changes the (abysmal) state of any community (nation) until or unless the community (nation) itself contemplates to improve that (abysmal) state.”
Nothing exists in this world without a reason. Smoke does not billow out without a fire.
The poor standard of living because of lowest level of income deviated many to the world of crime. The crime once used to be at its height in Malegaon has died its own death. These ruthless anti-social elements wer once on the rampage and butchered each other mercilessly. The most unpopular murder was committed on the day of Eid. The writer who was not born at the time has heard the story many times since his childhood. After saying Eid prayers Bhoorya Dada as he was known cut the throat of his rival Moosa Dada when both of them confronted each other after EID Namaz. These horrible accounts are unending and would require reams of papers to write.
It is bitter fact that to end the menace no body came forward with a concrete formula. Everybody practiced the rhetoric.
The town once considered as the Manchester of Maharashtra has been neglected on many counts. Muslims depend upon their sole source of bread and butter, the powerlooms. They weave cotton and now polyester fabrics. Malegaon boasts more than one lakh sets of these cloth-weaving machines which are the mainstay of the community. Powerful rich Marwaris buy these weaved clothes from the Muslims in the common gathering place of Taanba Kaanta.
The city came into existence as a result of mass exodus of Muslims from now Uttar Pradesh. A caravan came at the banks of the river Mausam in the late nineteenth century. Most of who migrated where weaver or Julaha Muslims which is a caste granted OBC status by the government of India.
Change is the integral part of the world. Change happens everywhere. It happened in Malegaon. After the communal riots blasts brought change. This time it came in the form of people becoming alert about their rights.
After the blasts it was time to put the ointment to the wounds. Sonia Gandhi visited the textile town with an entourage of ministers and officials to hand out the compensation checks. To astonishment of many, the families of few of those who died in the blasts refused to accept them. They only wanted the acts of terror crushed. They demanded a thorough and fair probe into it.
Never in the history of communal violence or acts of terror, was witnessed that people refused the government aids.
There is nothing more dangerous than the powerful tool of propaganda. It has become quite tougher now to dig into the ground realities. People don’t bother about it. They are spoon-fed with biased information. They practice persecution.
Two blasts one on September 8 2006 and the other in the Holy month of Ramadan this year have failed to make Hindus and Muslims turn their backs towards each other. Hindus have donated their bloods to save the lives of Muslims. They have helped rush the wounded to hospitals in one way or the other.
For reasons unknown to many, Malegaon has witnessed many communal flare ups since independence. It is unnecessary to write “since independence” as it was the point where the mass polarization of communities happened. Millions ended homeless and hundreds were butchered in the name of religion as a result of partition. The legacy of the hatred continues. The blasts which have replaced the riots also continue. But the need of the hour is to stop propaganda. It divides the minds. And minds are the biggest building blocks of any country. It is up to those who are at the power corridors how to prevent the building blocks from turning into stumbling blocks. As someone said minds can easily be ignited. So why not ignite them for turning the century into ours, century of the people of India.
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