Fear and Forgiveness

by Harsh Mander

‘Human history is not just a history of cruelty, but also of compassion, sacrifice, courage, [and] kindness. What we choose to emphasise in this complex history will define our lives…’—Howard Zinn In February 2002, a violent storm of engineered sectarian hatred broke out and raged for many months in Gujarat; blood flowed freely on the streets and tens of thousands of homes were razed to the ground. An estimated 2000 men, women and children, mostly from the Muslim community, were raped and murdered, and more than two hundred thousand people fled in terror as their homes and livelihoods were systematically destroyed. However, Gujarat abounds with thousands of untold stories of faith and courage that endured amidst the fear and hate—Dhuraji and Babuben Thakur who sheltered 110 Muslims for ten days in their home; of Rambhai Adivasi who restored his Muslim neighbour’s roof in the face of local opposition, Rabiya of Ratanpur who waits in the hope that the people from her village will call her back one day and then every thing will be all right, Bilkis Bano and Niyaz Bibi whose perseverance and determination have made them symbols of courage in the face of adversity. Harsh Mander’s Fear and Forgiveness: The Aftermath of Massacre, written over the past six years, is not just about the grim events of 2002, of the state’s lack of accountability and the failure of justice, of the numerous commissions and their reports, of the indiscriminate use of the draconian Prevention of Terrorism Act 2002, of police brutality and the trauma of relief camps. It is about the acts of compassion and courage, of the hundreds who risked their own lives and those of their families and their homes to save innocent men, women and children, and even today help the betrayed and shattered minority heal and rebuild. The book compels us to acknowledge the flaws in our judicial, social and rehabilitative structures while showing that the way forward must be one of sympathy, understanding and forgiveness.

Genres: Nonfiction

185 pages, Kindle Edition

First published March 1, 2009

Reviews

[Zulfiqar · Rating 5 out of 5]

“It is instructive to remember that Adolf Hitler was also democratically elected. The textbooks in Gujarat rewritten in Modi's regime, incidentally, celebrate Hitler as a leader who revived the sagging economy of post-war Germany and restored its nationalist pride. The textbooks are entirely silent about the Holocaust, as they are about Gandhi's assassination. It is this same silence that Modi adopted for much of his election rhetoric in 2007 the silence of the unchallenged victor who has broken the spirit of the internal treacherous enemy which was even more deafening and chilling than his open celebration of the massacre in 2002.”
(Mander, Harsh. “Fear and Forgiveness: The Aftermath of Massacre.”)
#ModiTerrorist
#Gujarat
#Beefban
#AzadKashmir
#AntiBJP
#AntiShivSena
#AntiRSS
#NepalBlockade

[Ubah Khasimuddin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Searing book of the Gujarat 2002 riots. I had actually picked it up hoping for more stories of people doing good acts, but that is far and few between in this book. Almost 80% of the book leaves one with despair, how justice has been subverted, how the Gujarat government and police were complacent and active in the destruction, its all just so depressing.
Only the last two chapters provide some hope, as Mander recounts a few stories of light in all of this darkness, of neighbors helping each other and his initiative of Nyayagrah, justice for healing and reconciliation.
The book is more a snapshot of time, about two years after the riots, what has or has not happened. I appreciated that he considers Truth and Reconciliation commissions as the South Africans did and he brings great perspective to this idea, of course the first being that the culprits are willing to genuinely apologize for what they did. The older I get, the more I believe this is the only way to truly healing and I see over and over again how the aggressors are unable to do this and thus leave in place this trauma and who knows setting the stage for the future and revenge by the other side. Its just not healthy. But Mander rightly points out that doing this reconciliation without financial recompose keeps people in the same spots as they were before.
What is striking after 2 years is how little has been done for the victims. Instead the State keeps working to beat them down, not assisting in return to their homes, closing down relief camps, it reminds me so much of what one would hear of the Rohingya in Burma, down to the approval by the State and everyday people.
Often reading this all I could think is was the best bet for these Gujarati Muslims is to leave. And once they leave, I always want to ask the haters, "Is it better now?" "Is your life better now, everything fixed?" I imagine hate can never find happiness, once the Muslims are gone, who will be the next victim?
This is a book not for the feint of heart, probably best read for young idealists in India who want to save their country from the hate that seems to be engulfing it and also for scholars of society rehabilitation and communal violence in India.

[abhishek Dawn · Rating 3 out of 5]

The book maybe good for some, but this was not what I was looking for. I don't want to read data compilation and interpretation. I wanted to read the narrative. This was okayish for me.