People's Democracy

Ganapathi Reddy From London

THE protracted communal carnage allegedly sponsored by the BJP’s Narendra Modi government in Gujarat and executed by the right-wing elements, the VHP and RSS, drove the people of Indian origin in the UK to spit venom against them, more so against the union home minister L K Advani for being lackadaisical in dealing with the situation while the killings of Muslims continued unabated. The union government’s approach to the entire development in Gujarat was seen here as being supportive of the state government. Master Ibrahim, a first-generation settler in UK from Gujarat, squarely blamed the home minister for being a silent spectator. In fact he went to the extent of calling his office in India to express severest of scorn directly. It made the Muslims believe that what happened in Gujarat was a nothing but genocide, in which more than 2000 Muslims were killed.

A special meeting was held in London on the third Sunday of May (May 19), under the aegis of Indian Muslim Federation, wherein it was resolved to campaign against the RSS, VHP and BJP. They believe them as perpetrators of fascist trends in India. In the meeting various representatives of Muslim organisations in the UK, and some Hindus, participated. At this meeting, Dr Gautam Appa, a lecturer at the London School of Economics, gave a graphic detail of what had happened in Gujarat. He was there when the communal conflict flared up. He said the anti-Muslim terror in Gujarat was a state-sponsored massacre of Muslims and misuse of political power by the BJP-led state government. He said the situation in India was not just a matter of concern for the Muslims of India; it was a pre-mediated and engineered catastrophe that concerned all Indians and the international community. He observed that a number of conscientious members of the Hindu communities were battling against a growing state of fascism and were raising their voice against injustice in Gujarat, in unison with other communities all over the world. At this meeting a documentary film "Hey Ram! Genocide in the Land of Gandhi" was screened to the audience. It features the victims’ and survivors’ versions of the communal frenzy, from both Muslim and Hindu communities, who were helpless and subjected to be the mute spectators to the violence. The film was produced by Indian documentary filmmaker, Gopal Menon.

A delegation of the Indian Muslim Federation is scheduled to attend a meeting of the UN’s Minority Rights Group in Geneva to complain against the Gujarat government. The delegation will make a presentation to the committee and submit a memorandum to investigate the Gujarat carnage.

Whenever communal tensions flare up in India, it leads to unease between the expatriate Muslims and Hindus who live in amity. There are about 1.2 million people of Indian origin in the UK, predominantly from Gujarat. Such developments only fuel a sort of schism amongst them. Shri Ranghan, a broadcaster at Sunrise Radio in London, said, "Generally, things happening in South Asia do have repercussions on Asian communities, but fortunately that didn’t happen. I had a fear it would have affected us here. Whenever something happens in South Asia, it affects the communities of South Asia. Hinduism is known for tolerance but the recent happening is a regrettable one." Tarun Patel, a public relations officer at the Swami Narayan Temple in London, said, "Irrespective of the happenings in India, communities there (Gujarat) should learn from the people who live here in amity. I don’t think there is a problem between Hindus and Muslims, particularly in London. I think we tried to diffuse the situation."

Asian Voice, one of the widely read weeklies in UK, reported that the communal carnage could have been avoided if the Godhra incident would not have taken place in the first place. It asked the Indian government to find a solution to the Ayodhya imbroglio. In an editorial it said the incident in Gujarat fuelled a wedge between both the communities and increased the polarisation as never before.

In the communal carnage three British Muslims were killed; they were in Gujarat at that time on a holiday visit. They were from Batley, West Yorkshire. This prompted the representatives of their families to press for a trial of the Indian establishment at the International Court of Justice, including the prime minister Atal Behari Vajpayee. There have been concerted efforts from some Indians settled here for the UK government’s intervention in this whole incident, in the form of support to their demand for a UN fact-finding team to Gujarat. A delegation has already met the British foreign secretary Jack Straw to press for the government’s direct involvement for action against the Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi through the International Court of Justice. But the British government is unlikely to take any proactive action in the Gujarat incident, as it would have international complications, though the report of the British High Commission’s fact-finding team was done at the behest of Foreign Office, which was described by the BBC as a damning report. Though the Muslim groups are trying that the UK government take up the matter against the Narendra Modi government, it is unlikely to get support from the British government because of the sensitive relations between the two countries. A spokesperson at the Indian High Commission said a case in the International Court of Justice can be filed only by a state, which is unlikely to happen now, given the sensitive relations between the two countries.

Irrespective of the legal battles that the expatriate communities may decide to take up, the whole gamut of happenings in Gujarat have dented the image of India, under the BJP government, and also fuelled conclusions that are disturbing. John Dawyer, a theologian and priest from India, residing in UK, said, "The Gujarat incident makes me believe that it is the beginning of the VHP and RSS to systematically eliminate the minority groups. To this effect, the first experiment they have done is in Gujarat where they had the support of hardcore right-wing chief minister Narendra Modi, who aided the communal forces. And it appears they have succeeded in their plans to terrorise the minority community. They may carry it ahead if it goes unchecked and the way the RSS is growing and spreading in every nook and corner of India."

As there were reports of some Muslims from Gujarat fleeing to Bangladesh, one solicitor from Pakistan thus reacted to the Gujarat incidents: "Thanks to Mohammed Ali Jinnah, we are in Pakistan."