The South Asian: Hating Muslims is a Natural Thing in Gujarat

July 23, 2006

Hating Muslims is a Natural Thing in Gujarat

Dr. GN Devy, A Sahitya Akademi Award winner, and founder-director of the Tribal Academy in Tejgarh, Gujarat speaks with Sankarshan Thakur. This was first published in Tehelka on May 20, 2006

This is probably the only state that has a sizeable number of Muslims but no Urdu paper Gujarat has become an intolerable place; at least that is how I find it. Today, there are very few people I can talk to in Gujarat because they simply do not understand basic things, or don't want to. I can make myself a very comfortable citizen of Vadodara. But the problem is, I cannot talk to the people of this city; it is like walking in the desert. I find the popular myth of Gujaratis being peace-loving people impossible to believe.

How could all the riots, so many of them since 1969, have happened if this were true? I have thought about this deeply and my sense is that violence is an attribute of their acquisitive nature. Gujaratis are extremely acquisitive people. They will do anything to acquire. The most decent people here, people I would other wise respect, would do anything to get a visa to the United States, even resort to cheating and dishonesty. They are hungry to acquire. Even Gujarati devotion is about acquiring. They have an exchange relationship with God - I give you devotion, you give me riches.

The Muslim hatred practiced here is not conscious or learnt. It is just somehow normal, as nature would have meant it to be. There is no bitterness of Partition here, as is the case with Punjab. There is only the deep, almost genetic, knowledge of Somnath and the invasions and an accumulation of prejudices. Then there is a huge void in their memory until Gandhi arrives. Gandhi, I have to say, is not a popular man in
Gujarat; they merely pay him lip service. You do not become a bad man in Gujarat if you hate Muslims; you are normal. Decent people hate Muslims. And it is not a city phenomenon alone; this is true of villages as well. If a Muslim is traumatised, it is a normal thing. Just to give a sense of how Gujarati Hindus relate to Muslims, I will come to the Narmada issue.

Gujarat is extremely pro-dam and, therefore, extremely anti-Medha Patkar. Gujaratis will call all pro-Medha people Muslims. Intolerance in Gujarat is unanimous. If Muslims are hated, entire Gujarat will hate them. If Medha is seen as an 'enemy', all of Gujarat will look at her as an enemy. In that sense, Gujarat has treated Medha as much an 'enemy' or a 'fundamentalist' as Muslims are treated. The minds have got locked here. The culture of disagreement and dissent is pervasively shunned. This is so even when Gujarat is not a feudal state in terms of its economic makeup.

Some years ago, Habib Tanvir wanted to come and stay and work in Vadodara. He did not find a house for six months. Eventually, he went back. Some of us tried to find him a place to stay, but nobody was willing. My own landlord at the time, a perfectly decent man otherwise, refused. Raoof Valiullah, an honest and purposeful Congress MP was killed by gangsters in the centre of Ahmedabad a few years ago. Not even the Congress party made a noise about it. I think because Raoof was a Muslim. There was no sense of loss or outrage when Ehsan Jafri was killed. There is no political or ideological divide in Gujarat on the Muslim question; even the Congress hates Muslims.

I have a young Muslim associate who has been pursuing post-graduate studies. After the 2002 violence, I suddenly noticed that he was having a problem trying to form his sentences while speaking. He used to write clearly but I saw that his writing too was breaking up. In fact, he wasn't able to write. This was a typical case of aphasia, which is a condition of loss of speech and articulation caused by external trauma.

Gujarat is probably the only state that has a sizeable Muslim population but no Urdu paper. I wonder if there is something to it, a state of collective aphasia. I often wonder how it must feel to be a Muslim in Gujarat. I shudder to think what it must require to live at the wrong end of so much hatred, contempt and threat.

Do they have a strategy of reaction? Is something in the process of evolving? I do not know..

This was also published at http://communalism.blogspot.com/2006/05/hating-muslims-is-natural-thing-in.html

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Posted by collective at July 23, 2006 04:23 PM

Comments

Dear Ganesh Devy ji,
i congratulate you for penning such an thought provoking article. I very well understand what you have said in the paper. I have been part of the process of hate and being a minority it does make you feel and breathe day in and day out
Posted by: Gazala Paul on July 26, 2006 01:28 PM

Dear Editor and G Devi,

I read your articles, though not from this website but from 6th Sept 2006, Gujarat Samachar's Satdal supplement, Leader column.

I could not believe that you have written such bold articles.

The reason I am writing is that I am not totally agree with your articles and thoughts.

During my study in University, we have many muslim colleagues, we didn't have any problem, but we enjoy lots going to each other’s house and eating together, even we ate some times in same dishes, we never feel that they are muslim and we are hindu.
This just one example.

As like there are several examples

In my village, we have separate part where all muslim lives, I remember since my childhood I have lots of muslim friends and we play cricket together, we educated together, even today our village builder named Gafur; vegetable vendors named Udiya, Nizam etc and we all respect them, I don't think so, we ever hated person with intense he is muslim.

Even by my near village there is a majority of muslim, the name of village is Dhaniyavi, and there is very good communal harmony, I remember my father had lots of muslim fried from this village, even other also had and have.

I remember one incidents where I was hated as a hindu person in Nazrbaug, near Mandvi, Vadodara, As I was studying in Sardar Vallabhbhai High School, Mandvi, where there is a muslim comunity living along the NazarBaug and one day few muslim young group caught me when I was going to home using narrow street and they start beating me badly, and some one interrupt them and thus I escaped.

I think the detestation is not a problem! but there are few fanatic people in any religion/cast who spread humors and people gathered in crowd, and this crowd is notorious, this crowd is the root of problem. I have seen the initiation of riots in front of me, and some specific unknown people comes from different part of place to where there is some centre point e.g near karoliya pole on MG Road, Vadodara and start to spread humors and become violent other wise in normal days there is no problem. I remember in front of me a unknown crowd on this point caught a cyclist and ask some code language question and thus recognized as a muslim and there after stabbed him with razor. This incident was happened I in early eighties, I think in summer vacation, that time I was only 11- 12 years old.

So from all above occasion I don't think that we all Gujarati people dislike muslims, but I think from both side there is some group of people who dislike each other.

Particularly in village I don't think there is any different between Muslim or Hindu.

I think if you have did more deep study you would find that the muslim community are more rigid, and there is illiteracy in muslim community, which is cause the problem,( I think that is also accepted in developed world now) children don’t go to proper school but goes to Madresa, and Maulvi teach them what he had learned from other Maulvi. The Maulvi him self is very illiterate, so he teach the different qualities and lessons to students.

One more thing is that you should also remember that two muslim cricketers from Gujarat are selected in Indian cricket team, no other state does?

And yes riots is happened every where between community, is not only between Hindu-Muslim but even muslim-muslim( Pakistan army fighting with Baluchi people), shiya-sunni, black-white, and so on.

I think you have to reverse your thoughts about Gujarat and Gujarati.

Gujarati people are not cruel at least!!
Posted by: on September 7, 2006 09:46 AM

i fully agree with the editor.i am from eastern india i went mumbai for professional work with guj i found they are dealing with me very reluctantly.they tried find my alternative.if it is a pure bussiness issue what will hapen in social matters.moreover i was acustomed to this of treatment in my part of the country.
Posted by: asif hasan on August 19, 2007 09:04 AM

Gujarat is extremely pro-dam and, therefore, extremely anti-Medha Patkar.
>>> For all those pro-Medha, anti-Narmada, I will give you a simple fact. my willage used to get water(for all uses) for 1 hour once every 7 days. today due to the narmada canal, we get water for 30 min. daily.

>> Have you tried to know what Medha is doing with the money she receives(from international org.) for aiding the adivasis?

>> Gujarat is the foremost in rehabilitation compared to other states. Why does she and you(SOB) target Gujarat and Gujarati people?

>> Muslims dont support Medha, who told you that? neither do gujaratis(hindus & muslims) believe that supporting medha is being muslim.

>> you are a part of media. behave responsibly and impartially. by giving your big designation, you cant prove that you are right and gujaratis are wrong.
Posted by: Akshay on January 23, 2008 10:03 AM

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