INDIA BEATS
Hope floats
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A committee of Dalits and Muslims in Ahmedabad spreads the message of communal harmony.
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Despite the odds, if they have come together, it is because they feel that the area's reputation as a trouble spot holds little promise for their children's future.
Citizens' initiative: Members try to bridge the chasm between the two communities.
MUCH like a grandfather who peeps eagerly into a cobwebbed past to scoop up sepia-tinted memories of his children's first steps, Rehmanbhai Shaikh unwraps, at the slightest prodding, a boxful of stories about the neighbourhood that has been his home for 67 years.
A resident of the Saiyed Riyaz Hussain ki Chaali in Saraspur, Ahmedabad, the 72-year-old remembers a time when the now-locked textile mills provided employment and stability to locals, and religion wasn't the watermark that it is today, defining personal and public spaces. "Everything changed after the toofan of 2002," he says, referring to the riots. "There were some problems after the riots in the 1990s certainly, but now, everything is completely broken."
Today, neither community trusts the other, though Dalit and Muslim households are spread across the various chaalis (or chawls), in this locality of Ahmedabad's walled city area. Skirmishes with communal overtones are so common that a mother sending her children to school does so with a prayer that they won't be caught in the crossfire.
Difficult task
Nostalgia for a more peaceful and harmonious time is, perhaps, the main reason why Shaikh is sitting across the table with 30-odd like-minded people, both Hindus and Muslims, from the area. They have come together to form the Saraspur-Potalia Ward Ekta Samiti, which has the difficult task of ensuring that people from the two communities don't come to blows. Set up last November with the support of Aman Samuday, an arm of the non-government organisation Action Aid, the Samiti's members plan to be out in the streets in case of trouble and personally appeal to their neighbours' better sense. Or, as Shaikh explains succinctly, "If there's a toofan, we will try to stop it."
By no means do the samiti members imagine that this is an easy, or even straightforward, task. They have lived here for most of their lives, packing their bags to leave for safer places at the slightest whiff of trouble, and charting out escape routes with the precision of fire safety drills.
Some watched helplessly as their houses were looted and burnt in the 2002 riots and sought refuge in relief camps. They, possibly more than anyone else, understand the enormity of their mission statement. Despite the odds, if they have come together, it is because they feel that the area's reputation as a trouble spot holds little promise for their children's future.
Harishbhai Solanki, a social worker and Samiti member, says, "There is stone-pelting every month and the children worry about it all the time. Women are scared that their husbands, who have gone out to work, won't return. We would like the area to be developed and that can only happen if there is peace."
Created violence
The Samiti members also understand that most communal violence is "created" and is seldom the "spontaneous outburst" it is touted to be. In their ward, fights usually start when drunkards come to buy the food sold at the laris (pushcarts), many of which are owned by Muslims.
"It starts with abuses, then they fight, someone will get beaten up, and one group will organise a mob," says Solanki, a narrative that is clearly the chronicle of a riot foretold. Shaikh adds, "It is under the influence of liquor that people throw stones and fight. In our area, alcoholism is the biggest problem."
Though prohibition is in force in Gujarat, illicit brewing and sale of liquor is widespread in the state. As one of its first initiatives, the Samiti hopes to enlist the community's help in stopping bootlegging in the locality. They also plan to approach the police if anyone creates trouble, even if it is someone from their own families.
This is the beginning that Aman Samuday, which started as a citizen's initiative during the riots, has been hoping for. Its members try to fight communal forces at two levels, says programme co-ordinator Md. Imran Ali. "We fight the cases legally, that is, in the courts. Second, we help in building an alliance of Dalits and Muslims. They form a sizeable population in Ahmedabad and can't be ignored."
The events of 2002 created a chasm between Dalits and Muslims. "Dalits were prodded to attack Muslims during the riots," says Nattwar Desai, an Aman Pathik, as volunteers working for peace with Aman Samuday are called. "Those who influenced them, tempting them with alcohol and money, were mostly from the upper castes."
Reconciliation
To bridge the divide, Aman Pathiks have adopted various techniques. Ali says, "We first take up issues that concern both Dalits and Muslims, like slum demolitions. After this we bring up the subjects of reconciliation and peace."
They also encourage both the communities to celebrate each other's festivals. At Saraspur and Potalia, Dalit women tied rakhis on Muslim men, and both groups celebrated Id and Deepavali together, says Hozafa Ujjaini, an Aman Pathik. These initial moves for communal harmony finally crystallised as the Ekta Samiti.
At some point, Samiti members hope that they will be able to address issues such as poor sanitation and literacy levels. "We want to get gutters and electricity, and empower people with skills for work," says Shaikh. Solanki interrupts, "But first, we have to see there's peace in the area. That in itself will be a big achievement."
(The report arises out of a study on the impact of communal violence on education, funded by the Prabha Dutt Fellowship for Journalism)
India Beats features stories of the unusual, the exotic and the extraordinary.
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