Friday 11 April 2014

My Memories of Communal Riots/Curfew at Old Delhi

A couple of days back, my friends were sitting and discussing the elections (2014!). The conversation then moved to our childhood memories of the Ayodhya related riots in Delhi in 1990s, then the 1984 riots, etc.  We all feared that BJP coming to power would also vitiate the atmosphere and everything would just boil down to religious politics.  People were not as afraid during the last BJP government, as Atal Behari Vajpayee was seen as a moderate figure, but Modi with Amit Shah is a different ball game altogether, and hence the concern.

I remember, my mother telling me about the 1975 time during Emergency (esp about the excesses government committed at Turkman Gate). Our house had a big iron gate and it was a little inside towards the end of the street, my mother told me that many women came to hide in our house as they feared being raped by the security forces, and men were also looking for a hiding place as there was forced sterilization going on as well. So, women tried to hide in nearby homes and men ran from one rooftop to another to far away areas. Some men were captured and also faced arrest, without any charges. 

 My father' s best friend from his office was a Sikh, Teji Uncle, and he lived near Bengali market, not very far from our place. In 1984, when the anti Sikh riots broke out, my father asked him to come and stay in Old Delhi with us with his family(in a majorly Muslim mohalla) as he would be safe with us. But, he preferred staying with his relatives and hiding, thankfully, he lived, but later on he shifted to a Sikh dominated locality. (Religious segregation as a result of riots for minorities, insecurity is a big factor). 

My earliest memories as a child, were of 1989 riots, in the run up to Ayodhya movement by the right wingers. I remember, hearing people shout on the streets, and suddenly, we were told that we could not go out of the house and to stay inside, we could not even peep out of the windows, or balconies. Police forces were out on the streets. My mother was worried as my father had not come back from office, and we did not have enough supplies of food in the house. My father was a government official and came back home safely in the evening. Everybody shared essentials, neighbors jumped walls and rooftops to exchange cooked food, milk, fruits etc. till curfew was relaxed after a day. I was very confused about everything and since we were told not to go out, I wanted to go out all the more to see what was happening outside. The next morning, when my mother woke up, I also got up. I saw her put on her burqa, as she wanted to go out to fetch milk, bread, etc. as curfew was relaxed for some hours. I stubbornly insisted on following her to the market and started crying. It was early morning, she did not want to wake up the rest of the family, so she took me along with her. Streets looked completely deserted. Policemen were sitting on the main road. I had never seen so many policemen in my entire short life! Only a couple of shops were open, there were no kids, only some grown ups. I had never seen my neighborhood deserted, even late at night there is always 'raunaq/ chehel-pehel' at Old Delhi. I was scared suddenly and wanted to go back to the safety of my home, as I clinched my mother's fingers tightly.  Curfew was relaxed in the mornings and evenings for a couple of hours which went on for three days, then they lifted the curfew during days and only night curfew remained for some more time before it was fully lifted . 

 Post- Babri Masjid demolition, there was preventive curfew in Old Delhi the next day to keep people indoors. We heard people were marching up to Jama Masjid on Shahi Imam's call, taking out processions to express grief and anger against the demolition. By that time at the street entrances, people had put up big gates, so at least people could move around inside the tertiary streets, if not on the main streets/ bazar roads. All the residents of the street pooled in money to get the strong iron gates fixed, to keep police out. It somehow gave people a sense of security against the forces (sadly, it should have been the other way round, but Turkman Gate walas did not trust the people in uniform! History!!). All the mohalla streets had these gates now.

Some young enthusiasts wanted to go but most did not attend the 'juloos/ procession' for the fear of trouble. My father was at his office, and we were again worried for his safety. They had closed the gates of our street. My grandmother was chanting prayers on her tasbeeh. My mother was being practical and checking food supplies. She had bought some stuff in advance, as we all knew that things were going to get difficult, in the days up to the demolition. Late in the evening, my father came back home safely but through our terrace from the back side of the house. He told us, that he had shown his office ID to the police and had knocked at the street gate. Some young men were guarding the door, my father knocked and these boys got afraid thinking that it was the police and ran away, no one opened the door! He went to the next street, shouted out his name loud (he had an imposing personality everybody knew him in the neighborhood) and they opened the door for him. So, from the other gali, he came jumping terraces, climbing walls back to his own house. And the first thing, he did when he came back was go out and gave a huge dressing down to the boys guarding our street gate!

Since people could not go out so they came to our terrace for some 'taaza hawa', and it became a "chaupal/adda" for discussion, rumors, etc. The TV was not 24*7 then, as it is now. In fact, sometimes there was no power too. No work, no power, people just chatted to pass their time. We saw some smoke at a distance from our terrace and everybody guessed a showdown, maybe crowd clashing with police and police burning some place down, it was all conjecture. Police had used tear gas to disperse the crowds probably, everybody's eyes were burning. We heard somebody had got shot as well. Only, positive thing I remember from those troubled times is the solidarity and concern that neighbors showed for each other. 

 Thankfully, I have never seen any real riots ever in my life and wish it continues like that Inshallah. But, these are still bad memories which I had forgotten. My friends (all non- Muslims) were unanimous that we all do not want to go back to those times of religious frenzy of early 1990s. The gates at the street entrance at Shahjahanabad still stand but are in bad shape due to neglect and lack of upkeep. They have not been used since those times of 1990s, and I hope and pray, they are never used again!

Wednesday 2 April 2014

The Promised Hope of AAP

Aam Aadmi Party came into public domain in a big way late last year, we were all very hopeful and saw it as this big ray of hope beyond the dirty politics of BJP/Congress. I have a friend who is a social worker, fights for women's rights, child education and runs a small NGO on her own. She joined AAP and told me how it is such a different party, full of ideals and principles. She gave me the inside story about how democratic the party is run, how it is less about the money and more about creating a serious social change in society. I believed her more than the media which made Arvind Kejriwal a poster boy for change in Indian politics.It gave serious challenge to BJP / Congress even almost won them an election on their debut in Delhi. The sudden rise of AAP even gave its leader Arvind Kejriwal ideas that he could become the PM of India, even before he could properly even become the CM of Delhi. Media created AAP, and helped in its downfall from grace!

Post- Kejriwal's Rajdeep Sardesai interview, where he came across as arrogant and a man in hurry, we were a little surprised, but a couple of days back, when my activist friend called and told me how the party has changed, her  bubble had burst. She always gave me the inside story, this time she was in shock and depression at being duped and let down by 'the party'. Money was changing hands, women were being given a short shrift, and normally what happens in Indian politics was happening to AAP. We had seen how Somnath Bharti had treated women, and a party which does not respect women (irrespective of caste/ race/ religion) cannot be seen as 'party with a difference', sadly, this was also said about the BJP, but we all know how it turned out! 
 Lets hope that we will have more Aam Aadmis/ common folks, who will join politics, but will also be able to rise above it. Until then its  back to the old debate of Congress vs. BJP! Communal vs. Secular, Change vs. Old guard, etc. etc. But, just for the promise AAP offered, it became a party which gave middle class, academicians optimism about the future of Indian state and society! Maybe it will give a more serious challenge to the main two political parties in future, but right now, they seem to have lost some sheen. 

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