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Society
Looking Ahead in Gujarat
by Manjari Sewak
The news from
Gujarat, four years after the genocide, continues to belie hopes of
justice and reconciliation. Most reports indicate that inter-community
prejudices are deeply entrenched; segregation in schools and
neighborhoods is widespread; the social distance between Hindus and
Muslims has increased; justice is conspicuous by its absence; and there
is an absence of remorse on the part of the perpetrators of the 2002
violence.
Yet, as Raheel Dhattiwala, an Ahmedabad-based journalist writing on
issues of peace and justice, states, "Despite the odds, there is always
a way, if there is a will."
Even as the movement for justice must continue in Gujarat, the time has
perhaps also come to affirm and document the stories of hope and
humanism that have endured in an atmosphere of hate and fear. Largely
eclipsed by the tragic events of 2002 and the growing segregation of
communities since then, are stories of exemplary human courage and
compassion that transcend religious fault-lines. (According to
government figures presented in the Rajya Sabha on May 11, 2005, the
Gujarat pogrom of 2002 left 790 Muslims and 254 Hindus dead, 223 people
missing and another 2,500 injured.) There are stories of coexistence
between religious communities in Gujarat, of Hindus who risked their
lives to save their Muslim neighbors, of police officers who followed
their conscience and performed their duty to protect civilians, of
Hindus and Muslims coming together to resist the violence that engulfed
most of the state.
Take, for instance, the example of the Ram Rahim Nagar slum in
Ahmedabad. This locality stood out for its ability to foreground
coexistence and resist strong external pressures to resort to violence.
The slum's peace committee, comprising elders from the two communities,
was set up in the early 1970s after the first bout of communal violence
in 1969. Since then, it has been successful in preventing the outbreak
of violence during the 1992 riots and the 2002 genocide. That the
committee was set up by the residents of the locality, at their own
initiative, is crucial to its success.
While these positive stories provide succor and hope to survivors of
violence, they also provide a context for the peace building community
to study why certain geographical spaces remain peaceful even as
violence engulfs the surrounding areas. What motivates some individuals
to risk their lives (and face boycott and ostracism in the succeeding
months and years) to preserve a culture of coexistence and communal
harmony?
Economic interdependency has been cited as one reason for the success
with which the slum-dwellers of Ram Rahim Nagar have been able to
prevent the outbreak of communal violence. Social scientist Ashutosh
Varshney draws attention to this factor in his book, 'Ethnic Conflict
and Civic Life: Hindus and Muslims in India'. Using a refreshing
methodology - the study of peaceful cities - Varshney points to a
connection between civil society networks and the prevention of communal
violence. Cities with vibrant inter-community social, political and
economic civil society networks - such as business associations, trade
unions, professional groups, political parties, sports clubs, film
clubs, NGOs - were able to keep the peace even as surrounding areas
erupted in communal clashes.
Inter-community associations have proven to be quite effective in
dispelling inflammatory rumors, in identifying and isolating
rabble-rousers, and in hiding and protecting potential victims. Such
associations also provide pre-established networks of communication
across community lines that can be valuable in the chaotic circumstances
that lead to riots. Varshney notes, "If organizations serving the
economic, cultural and social needs of the two communities exist, the
support for communal peace not only tends to be strong, it can also be
more solidly expressed."
The residential apartments of Khanpur in Ahmedabad - a pocket of
communal harmony - point to another powerful tool for conflict
prevention, namely the multiethnic, multi-religious character of mixed
neighborhoods. In such a neighborhood, where families share meals,
jointly celebrate festivals and allow their children to play together,
rumors (which precede most communal riots) are unable to take root.
This interaction also builds durable relationships that can withstand
and prevent violence. The Khanpur example gives credence to the simple
yet powerful notion that multiethnic communities can create a culture
that embraces diversity, mutual respect and non-violent communication; a
culture that is durable enough to withstand the powerful forces of
communal mobilization.
Peace researchers such as John Paul Lederach and Harold Saunders have
drawn attention to the power of inter-community relationships in
preventing violence. Dialogue groups - which serve to improve
inter-community trust and understanding, and build identities not based
on a negation of 'the Other' - provide a viable methodology. This has
been used to form a powerful women's peace advocacy group called Athwaas.
Initiated by WISCOMP (Women in Security, Conflict Management and Peace),
a South Asian peace building initiative, Athwaas has metamorphosed from
an inter-ethnic, inter-faith women's dialogue group into an initiative
that provides services for building sustainable livelihoods, trauma
healing and conflict resolution.
The case study of Versola, a village in Kheda district, Gujarat, points
to another resource for peace: local leadership. Versola is one of many
examples where local political and religious leaders risked their lives
to transform their personal belief in coexistence and communal harmony
into concrete efforts to save families whose lives were threatened. The
village sarpanch (head of the local village council), Bipinbhai Bhoi,
and other Hindu leaders were able to withstand attempts by outsiders to
unleash communal violence. They informed the outsiders that the Hindus
of Versola would strongly oppose any effort to attack the Muslims of the
village.
The story of an inter-community women's initiative from Himmatnagar in
Sabarkantha district, Gujarat, points to another unique peace
methodology: the use of income-generation activities to create a safe
space for Hindu and Muslim women to address the divisions between their
communities and to build social and economic relationships. The Sadguru
Krupa Mahila Mandal and the Pragati Mahila Mandal were set up to address
the women's immediate needs - primarily those of livelihoods - and to
thereby open up a space where Hindu and Muslim women could intermingle
and address concerns relating to coexistence.
These and several more stories of hope and human courage have been
documented by organizations such as the Centre for Dialogue and
Reconciliation, New Delhi, Sabrang Communications, Mumbai, and Oxfam,
Ahmedabad. In addition to providing a much-needed balm to soothe the
wounds of the 2002 genocide, these stories serve as a compass in our
efforts to search for approaches that can prevent further violence.
The concept of 'positive approaches to social change' is one such
methodology. It works with the assumption that in all human systems,
there are things that work well, or have in the past, and that these can
be identified, analyzed and built upon as the foundation for envisioning
and implementing change. In their book, 'Positive Approaches to Peace
building', Cynthia Sampson, Mohammed Abu-Nimer et al write, "Such
approaches have a forward-looking orientation to producing change,
rather than focusing on analyzing the ills of the past... Attention is
given to that which inspires and gives hope in the human experience."
December 17,
2006
By arrangement with
Women's Feature Service
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Society
The Week of December 17, 2006
India: The Shining, The Suffering and The
Pampered by Dr. Subhash Kapila
Modus Operandi of Empires by Gaurang Bhatt, MD
China: Balancing Power Relations in South and
South-East Asia
by Col. Rahul K. Bhonsle
Special Economic Zones: Boon or Disaster? by
Ramesh Menon
Manmohan Singh's Dangerous Declaration of 2006
by V. Sundaram
Health of Nations by J. Ajithkumar
Is there non-discriminatory Rule of Law in India?
by V. Sundaram
In Their Right Minds by Linda Light
Ethnic Issue Overtakes Nepal's Class War? by
Rita Manchanda
Looking Ahead in Gujarat by Manjari Sewak
Look Who's Talking! by Manisha Parekh
World Brotherhood: Love and Peace through
Poetry by Shernaz Wadia
Science, Arts and Literature for Human Culture
by TA Ramesh
River from the Land of Mystique Spells Doom
by VK Joshi
Keeping Thyroids in Order by Fehmida Zakeer
HIV/AIDS Bill -Pushing the Legal Envelop by
Kajal Bhardwaj
Papiya Ghosh: From JS to an End by Dr. Amitabh
Mitra
Hope for Battered Women by Marlinelza B. de
Oliveira
Homework for Men by Mini Sharma
The Perversity of Periyarana by V. Sundaram
A Shadow from Past Life a Story by Manasi Dutt
Romancing the Desert by Attreyee Roy Chowdhury
A Rebel of Innocence - 3 by Ashwini Ahuja
Roads in Chennai by Glory Sasikala Franklin
My God, What Have You Done! by Dhiraj
Bhimji Raniga
Sensationalism and the Media by Rajesh Talwar
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