'Ahsan Jafri Was Not A Muslim Fanatic'

The ongoing communal carnage in Gujarat has not left the Indian diaspora untouched. Many a Muslim NRI haslost relatives and friends back in India. Mr Najid Hussain, a marine scientist based in the United States, isthe son-in-law of former Member of Parliament Mr Ahsan Jafri. Mr Jafri was killed by a riotous mob along withmany of his family members and neighbors. In this interview with Ayub Khan, Mr Husain talks about the brutalkilling of his father-in-law, his impressions from a visit to India in March, and his vision for the future.

How is your family, both in Gujarat and in US, coping with thistragedy?
Any untimely death in a family is troubling. But when the untimely deathis also vicious, violent and very brutal, it becomes very hard to bearthat, or accept it as a part of destiny. Ahsan Jafri's daughter (mywife) still has difficulty accepting that such a tragedy has occurred andthat her father is brutally killed and burnt alive. Conditions of othersin the family are not very much different. Many of our external woundshave healed, but the internal wounds remain fresh. They may never heal.

Mr. Ahsan Jaffrey was popular among people belonging to all faiths,then why do you think he was targeted?
Ahsan Jafri had worked all his life to bring Hindu and Muslim communitiestogether. Beside the happiness of his family the only other objective ofhis life was "Janaseva"-- not that Hindu-seva, or Muslim-seva, orChristian-seva. Just Jana-seva. In his services to the people, he was blind to race and religion. He never hurt anyone. It is unfortunate thatthose who targeted him and led the mob to kill him, ignored or did notunderstand his message of national unity, integrity and communal harmony.

There have been a lot of reports regarding his last moments. Some claimthat he fired at the mob while others claim that he didn't. Can you pleasedescribe in detail what really happened on that fateful day?
My father-in-law was a kind and a compassionate human being who reveredlife. He never hurt anyone in his life. Although firing in self-defenceis not a crime, we know well that he did not fire any shots. Trying toput the blame on him shows the weakness and culpability of those whofailed to save his life and the lives of thousands of others.

Following the incident, I was in Ahmedabad. There were 20 houses inGulberg Society and more than 100 residents. A few of these succeeded inescaping alive. I met several of these, including my mother-in-law, whotold me about what actually had happened there on that fateful day.

February 28 was Gujarat Bandh day. As communal riots are not uncommon inAhmedabad, following Godhra incident, there was concern about riots inthe region. Around 9 AM the mob started gathering around the Society.That was soon followed up by shouting racial slurs, looting of shops andstoning houses. My father-in-law called the police commissioner, P.C.Pande. Pande came to meet him at the Society and left after assuring my father-in-lawthat it was all under control and that the police was on its way to protectGulberg Society.

Soon the mob started burning shops andproperties. But it did not get entry into the Society because the Societywas surrounded by the compound wall and the residents had closed thegates. The atrocities increased outside. My father-in-law called thepolice again. No response this time. Between the morning until noon, when the mob had torn down the compound wall, entered the Society andchopped off the telephone lines, Ahsan Jafri had made dozens of calls tomany of his friends in high public offices, including the Gujarat CongressPresident Amarsingh Chaudhary and Sonia Gandhi, pleading with them to help him,and those in his house at that time. There were nearly 150 people, mostlywomen and children, who had gathered in his house seeking protection fromthe violent mob. Still no help arrived.

The elements of the mob, many of whom were well known people from thearea, had swords, knives, trishuls and fire bombs. They rapedgirls, chopped off their body parts and burnt them. Most of the housesin the Society were on fire. The air conditioner of our house was pulledout and through the widow the mob threw in fire bombs and gas cylinders.The bedroom was on fire. 

The house was full of people. There was no placefor them to move anywhere. At that time, my father-in-law came out of thehouse and pleaded with his folded hands, "you may take me, but pleasespare the people inside the house". One of the mob elements immediatelyslashed at him with the sword and the rest of them dragged him outside onthe road where they burnt him. They also did not spare anyone inside thehouse. The house was burnt with the people inside it. The police did notcome until evening, when everything was over and the mob hadleft.

How many people of your household were killed during that attack?
The entire society was our family. We lost more than 80% of that family.But as for the immediate family, my father-in-law was the only casualty.Owing to her arthritic knees, Jafri sahib had sent my mother-in-lawupstairs when the ground floor started getting crowded with people fromthe society. That alone saved her and a few others who were with herupstairs and who have seen most of what happened there that day.

What happened to the little Parsi boy who had taken refuge inMr.Jafrey's house along with his mother and couldn't be found afterwards?
Those who were upstairs in our house and got rescued did not knowanything about Azar, the Parsi boy. But two others who succeeded infleeing the Gulberg Society after our house was set afire told me thatwhile he was going upstairs holding the hand of his mother he fell off inthe fire and got burnt. Dozens of severely burnt and non-recognizablebodies, including those of children, were recovered from the water tankas well. These must have been the ones who had jumped into the tank after being set fire to..

Do you believe that there is a direct hand of BJP, VHP and Bajrang Dalbehind this communal holocaust?
From what I have personally seen at the Gulberg Society and the rest ofAhmedabad and heard from thousands of victims staying in various reliefcamps there, it is very hard to reach a conclusion otherwise. Many at therelief camps who came from Meghani Nagar have told me that they had seenPraveen Togadia directing the mob to Gulberg Society. I also do not seehow any one can ignore police connivance in the violence. 

I intend tobring a lawsuit against P.C. Pande who failed to do his duty ofprotecting the lives and properties of Gulberg Society residents. I spoketo a couple of other police commissioners in Ahmedabad who accepted thatthey did not do anything to control the mob, or protect people and theirproperties. They said that they had the orders from "above" to lay low.But they also said that publicly they could not say this.

The death toll reports vary from 800 to over 2000. Which one in youropinion is the right figure?
I have no doubt that the actual death toll is much more than 2000. Evenafter 10 days of the start of the violence, I have personally seen dozensof mutilated, decayed and burnt bodies in open fields and wells in andaround Ahmedabad. I have also spoken to literally hundreds of those97,000 riot affected victims who are living in relief camps. Each one ofthem had a horror story to tell. 

Each one of them had known or seensomeone raped, mutilated, or burnt alive. I have been told that invillages hundreds of families have been completely exterminated leavingno trace behind. There was one family in Gulberg Society which had atotal of 28 members-- parents, their children and their children'schildren as young as 6 months old, all living under a single roof. Threehave survived, one in critical condition. Some estimates of the totalkilled in this pogrom are much higher. I have little to doubtthat.

You have just returned from Gujarat. What is the current situation? Wasthere any semblance of normalcy when you were there?
I was in Gujarat until March 26. I was born and brought up in India. Inmy 30 years of living there and 13 years outside, I had never known anyfear for my life. Freedom and security were taken for granted. But thethree weeks I stayed in Gujarat following February 28, not a single daywent by when I did not think this could be my last day. On the day when Ihad to leave Ahmedabad to go to Surat, I had to ask for Police protectionto go to the railway station. Many of the areas were under curfew. Fromthe news reports and from talking to our relatives in Gujarat we learnthat the situation is still not very much different. Mobs are stillactive. Several regions are still under curfew. Fear and insecurity arestill ruling the region.

What are the urgent needs of the refugees?
I think it would be wrong to call these victims "refugees". They are notoutsiders who have come to India seeking refuge. They are not even peoplefrom outside their state. They have been looted, tortured and renderedhomeless within the state with the help of those very people who werecharged with their safety and protection. They are not refugees. They arethe victims of a state sponsored pogrom.

I have seen women, children, babies and very elderly people living undersubhuman conditions at the camps. While I was there, that was also thetime the state had not taken any responsibility even for their reliefwork. Only humane societies and individuals were doing their best toprovide these victims the much needed relief. The food, the medicine, thesanitation were in short supply. Enormous resources will be required forjust the relief work. 

Rehabilitation is yet another story. Allow me tomake a plea to your readers at this time. I urge the readers of thesecolumns to come forward and help. Please be generous in donating moneyand your time to provide relief and rehabilitation to these innocentpeople. We are working through the Indo-American Association of Delaware,a charitable foundation registered in Delaware to co-ordinate relief workin Gujarat. Please send your contributions to IAAD, 38 Orchid Drive,Bear, DE 19701. Your contributions are tax exempt under the current IRSlaws.

Thousands of Muslim students have boycotted the board exams inGujarat. Being an academic yourself do you think that this was the rightdecision for them?
As an educator, my objective is not just to teach my subjects, but alsoto prepare them for a successful life, build their values, confidence andthe character in an atmosphere of safety and security. It is alsoimportant for me to ensure that none of my students are disadvantaged tosucceed in their lives for no fault of their own.

In today's Gujarat, it is not difficult to see that thousands of studentshave suffered unimaginable atrocities. Thousands of lives are shatteredand destroyed beyond repair. There are many genuine cases where the fearfactor is weighing very heavy on the minds of those students in order toappear for the exams. The partisanship of the police has greatly damagedits reputation as a secular and a protective force. 

The advice to thevictims from several political and communal circles that "if they don'tpress any charges against the culprits, they can be allowed to return totheir homes without further fear for their lives", gives little confidencefor a safe environment where children can appear for the exams. Soalthough I have never advised any students to boycott any exams, underthe present circumstances in Gujarat, I can understand if some studentsare boycotting the board exams. They have already lost so much, theystand to lose much more by appearing for an exam with low morale, lowpreparation, poor confidence, a disturbed and disoriented mind, and a veryhigh fear factor. 

This exam is vital for their career choice, options, andthe future itself. It is not their fault that they have ended up in thisstate of mind, or a mess. I think these students deserve our understandingand help. They need to be given another chance to take their exams at atime when they have reasonably overcome their trauma and can prepare andtake their exams under a safe and secure environment.

Any other message that you would like to give to the Muslim and Indiancommunity at large?
As a 6 year old boy, I used to insist on taking up a window seat duringour train travels. On one such occasion, as the train started, someonefrom the front compartment spit. The spit came on my hands. I got veryangry and without a moment's delay, I spat right back. The idea was topunish the guy who had spat on me. But as the train was moving my spitwent on someone behind me who happened to be an older person that camelooking for me.

It is not right for our leaders of today to behave like a six year old.You can not fix the historical wrongs of the Muslims by punishing theinnocent Indians of today just because they are Muslims. Godhra waswrong. It should never have occurred. The right way to avenge that is tocatch the culprits of that incident and punish them to the fullestpossible extent allowed by the law.

Ahsan Jafri was not a Muslim fanatic or a fundamentalist. He was a strongnationalist who worked all his life teaching the principles of unity,communal harmony, religious tolerance and national pride. His vision forIndia was very much similar to that of Mahatma Gandhi. He lived for ourunity, and now he died for our unity. Let us all recognize the importanceof communal unity. Polarization will lead us all down the path of selfannihilation. 

In today's global markets, safety and security throughsecularism are essential for success of an economy and a country. Gujarathas already lost several billions in terms of businesses and properties.And yet this loss may just be the beginning. Many businesses will sufferfurther losses in reduced productivity, pulled out investments, loweredevaluations and lost opportunities.

In the aftermath of the terrorist attacks of 9/11 in the US, the entiremedia, community leaders and the heads of public offices, including thePresident of the United States, urged everyone not to jump toconclusions, not to target anybody from the middle-east or because of theirlooks. President Bush himself went to several mosques, Gurudwara andtemples to show that all Muslims, Sikhs, or Hindus are not terrorists. 

Not targeting an entire society, or a community for revenge but providingan assurance of security to the people at large including the innocentpeople belonging to those communities where the terrorists came from arethe signs of an intelligent society. Preaching indiscriminate revenge,fomenting hatred against an entire community and targeting innocent peopleincluding women and children, do not show maturity, or intelligence. Ihumbly urge Vajpayeeji to take a principled stand which he has always donerather than succumb to the communal pressures or agenda within his ownparty.

In the name of my father-in-law, Ahsan Jafri, I also urge the Muslimleadership in India to stop spreading anti Hindu sentiments amongst theMuslims and start teaching brotherhood, respect tolerance of other faithsand pride in nationalism. We all know what our ancestors have historicallydone to the Hindus. Let us make the bridge. Let us not put the religion toconfront with our country's interests, or our countrymen. Let us reachacross. Thank you and God bless India.