One man's diktat is the last word: even Narendra
Modi acquiesces ......
http://communalism.blogspot.com/2007/02/why-gujarat-banned-parzania.html
A Parsi family lost their only son in the mob
frenzy at the Gulbarg Society in 2002. They
had taken refuge in the home of a prominent
leader, Ehsan Jaffri, confident they would be
safe near this ex-parliamentarian. But the mob
was after Jaffri's blood. Even the police commissioner
refused to intervene. Appeals for his protection
made to the highest levels in New Delhi drew
a blank. Jaffri died a tortuous death. Scores
perished. In the commotion that followed, the
Parsi child got separated from his family and
has not been traced since. For the past five
years, the family has waited for their son to
return.
Rahul Dholakia, an NRI film director and scion
of an eminent Gujarati family, was so moved
by this tragedy that he made a film, Parzania,
based on it. He hoped its screening would help
locate the child. But Dholakia had not reckoned
on Babu Bajrangi—the principal accused
in the Naroda Patiya case where more than a
hundred people were butchered.
In the moral vacuum of post-Godhra Gujarat,
Bajrangi largely decides how Gujaratis should
live their lives. In the last few years, he
has concentrated on two projects—to kidnap
Hindu girls who marry non-Hindus and compel
them to divorce their husbands. His other passion
is to bash up intimate couples on college campuses
or gardens. Police sympathies are very much
with Bajrangi. He is praised for upholding caste,
religious and female purity. Even the all-powerful
Narendra Modi bows to Bajrangi's social dictates.
Unfortunately for Dholakia and the Parsi family,
Bajrangi decided Parzania would hurt the image
of Gujarat, and therefore, must not be screened.
In typical godfather style, he made an offer
to theatre owners which they dared not disobey.
Not a single theatre was ready to screen the
movie. The Baroda PUCL decided to screen it
on its own. But here too, friends pointed out
the likely damage to projector and hall would
be too much for a cash-strapped body of activists.
What has happened to Gujarat that a character
like Bajrangi can be elevated to the status
of a demi-god? Oddly, 50 years ago, the American
civil rights leader, Martin Luther King, while
flying from Delhi to Ahmedabad, told reporters,
"I came to India as a tourist. But I go
to Ahmedabad as a pilgrim." Such a comment
would be laughable today. No one associates
Gujarat with Gandhi. In fact, Gujarat and communal
madness are two sides of the same coin. It's
the only state where the government machinery
took an active part in the butchery of its minority
community. Then, was Gandhi an accident in Gujarat?
In truth, the answer is yes. It's the greatness
of the Mahatma that he could rise above the
prejudices of his own people, to such iconic
heights.
Gujarat is an economic powerhouse. Its people
are dynamic and forward-looking when it comes
to economic matters. But on social indices,
it is most backward. The male-female imbalance
is among the highest in the country. Bride-burning
is rampant, to the extent that many communities
insist on marrying a brother-sister pair to
another sister-brother pair, to prevent such
horrors. Similarly shocking is the treatment
of Dalits and tribals—the small improvements
in their lives are only because of the fear
they will cross over to Christianity. The economically
impoverished and socially weak are discouraged
to assert their rights. It may even be dangerous.
Hence, unlike Maharashtra or Tamil Nadu, no
social revolution has ever occurred here.
Gandhi's impact was much greater outside Gujarat.
There is almost no remorse for the killing of
the innocents in the riots. The justification
is that Muslims had to be taught a lesson. The
example of Godhra and of Kashmiri Pandits is
frequently highlighted. Just last month, Jayaben
Shah, a prominent Gandhian of Rajkot, came out
with a blistering attack on the Muslims.She
was upset with the Sachar report. Her response
would make the RSS proud. Surprisingly, communalism
is the most apparent in the upper strata of
society. And the VHP and Bajrang Dal have their
strongest support among Gujaratis settled in
the US. In contrast, the lower you go down the
social strata, lesser the communal hatred. This
indicates that factors like wealth and education
may actually be contributing to the hatred of
the minorities.
What role can liberal human rights activists
play? I'm convinced there is little we can do
within the state beyond helping to educate Muslims,
Dalits and tribals. Meanwhile, we must learn
to ignore Bajrangi and the forces he represents,
or better still, learn to laugh at them. My
suggestion is simple: Ahmedabad and Gujarat
are too small for the vast talents of Bajrangi.
The BJP would find his special tactics and abilities
invaluable at the national level.
(A physics professor at the Baroda University,
Dr Bandukwala's house was destroyed in the '02
riots.)
