What made Gujarat "special?" It is "special" because perhaps for the first time it was established that the state (Gujarat) was responsible for the brutal killings that took place under its rule. For the first time, the highest judiciary body in India, the Supreme Court, ruled that all cases related to the event will be tried outside of Gujarat since they recognized that none of the victims will get justice if their cases were tried by the state's judicial system. And also for many other reasons that are too long to enumerate here.
No, this is not the first case of Hindu-Muslim riots happening in India. So, does that make it OK for the Gujarat riots to occur? And yes, riots such as these occur all the time and all over the world. But aren't we complicit if we do not recognize that these brutal events took place. That if we continue to squabble over the right statistics of those killed or raped and think it is not "special" aren't we to be blamed as well? What is our agency as those who claim to know better? While we espouse certain ideologies, whether in this space or elsewhere, isn't it our responsibility to extend them to those that we think are normal, the everyday and not out of the ordinary?
True, the Congress party is as evil in their machinations. And yes, the murder of those many thousands of Sikhs is deplorable. They have to be accountable and never made to forget the fact. But, Gujarat here is "special" simply because it is happening in our times, while we are still of capable mind and spirit to do something about it. The Chief Minister, Narendra Modi, has been held responsible for the riots but still got voted into power and remains in power. Can't we draw parallels to what is happening here in the US? The politics of power and resistance, in all their muddled glory, are the same anywhere in the world. Why the double standard when it comes to looking at one's own country? I have noticed this constantly over these two years that I have been in the US. It is so much easier for people to point at this country's wrongdoings but it amounts to betrayal of our beloved Bharat Maa (Mother India) if we speak out against any atrocities happening in India. Listen, I love India. Not for romantic glorifications of its land, its people and its smells but because it is home for me.
True, the police in India fire indiscriminately if they are threatened. The politicians incite violence and walk away. We, the 'common' people marvel at the spectacle of it all, shake our heads at it and walk away. Who suffers? The victims and their families. They continue to fight for justice even today. Whether it is the Sikhs or the Muslims. Top officials (police and government) are coming out now to publicly indict the Modi government in the genocide.
Also,
Another case in point*:
Former Commissioner of Police, Ahmedabad , Shri P.C. Pande
(he was CP when the carnage took place)
Nothing illustrates police role better than police commissioner P.C. Pande's statement that, "Police were not insulated from the general social milieu... (When) there's a change in the perception of society, the police are part of it and there's bound to be some contagion effect".
-– The Telegraph, March 2, 2002
Again, why does Gujarat become special? Because here it is not killing based on just the Hindu-Muslim divide but on a much deeper and chilling ideology of race supremacy. The Gaurav Yatras (Pride March) that the RSS and the BJP are so fond of conducting are concentrated efforts to incite violence against the Muslim minority.
Case in point*:
"Relief camps are actually child-making factories. Those who keep on multiplying the population should be taught a lesson.
-Shri Narendra Modi, addressing a rally in Mehsana district during his gaurav yatra, quoted in The Hindu, Sept 10, 2002.
This is why the film is called 'Final Solution.' It is a loaded term, agreed. But look at the parallels. Firstly, the systematic relocation of the Jews and then their murders are similar (although nowhere near that scale) to the relocation of Muslims to 'refugee camps' outside the cities and then the killing of these people, as Modi himself talks about. These baby machines need to be taught a lesson! The ideology of the RSS (Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh), the extreme right-wing nationalist wing of the BJP party is borrowed from Nazi ideology of race supremacy, the pure race. In recent years it has only gotten worse as they continue to gather supporters for their malicious twisted ideologies. Whther it is Bombay riots of 1990 or the Gujarat riots of 2002.
The numbers (2,500) used are 'official' numbers. Independent human rights commissions put it at a much larger figure. As is always the case the 'official' numbers are what are carried in the mainstream media and have been used in this case to avoid unnecessary splitting of hairs. No violence can be condemned. Especially not in these crazy times that we will live in. What Rakesh Sharma is doing with the film is to make sure that it reaches the widest audience possible that something like this not happen again. Sure, it is idealistic but who made that a dirty word anyway? And yes there are films made about all sorts of violence. The spread of cheap, digital technology has just made it easier for filmmakers to actually document such events so as to keep reminding us not to be complicit. We cannot put the onus of talking about all the fucked up events occurring across the world on one person. It is the responsibility of artists to use their art for greater good, however small their audience may be. There has to be real and urgent immediate reactions to any sort of injustice.
Finally, the film does not base itself on a simple reading of the Hindu-Muslim divide. It talks about the rise of right-wing fundamentalism in India. It is important to deconstruct to their binary oppositions the semiotics of their ideologies. The presence of overt stances and doings is just as important as the apparent absence of them.
We have to continue to speak out against all violence in the name of religion, power. It is our responsibility. Isn't it easy to look the other way and pretend these things do not happen because it just makes our lives so much easier?
Some of the websites devoted to the Gujarat riots:
- all quotes in the above passage are from this source :
