AHMEDABAD: For the last two years, Salimbhai Jamumiya Sindhi has lived in a plastic tent with no running water and only intermittent electricity.
"This is what the Hindus have left us with," says Salimbhai, pointing to rows of homes constructed of little more than tarpaulins and plastic sheets. "We did nothing to deserve this and we cannot live with the Hindus now."
The relief camp on the outskirts of the dusty Gujarati town of Modasa is all that remains of the Muslims of Kidiyad, a sleepy hamlet 150km from the state capital Gandhinagar. Islam and Hinduism had coexisted in harmony here for centuries until a deadly wave of religious violence swept through Gujarat two years ago this week.
Salimbhai, who had been elected the village Sarpanch or headman, lost his wife in the carnage - she was beaten to death - and 70 other Muslims from the village were burnt alive by armed Hindu mobs.
In Kidiyad all that stands of 50 Muslims' homes are their red brick and mud walls. Left untouched are the Hindu houses and cowsheds. In a sign of the growing divide between the two communities, Hindus in Kidiyad made it clear that they regarded Muslims partly as the source, not the victim, of the troubles.
"As long as the Muslims can convince us that there will be no problems then we would welcome them back," said Nadubhai Ujambhai, a local salesman. The Gujarat violence broke out in February 2002 after a train carrying pilgrims on their way back from Ayodhya was set alight.
Many claim the government of the Hindu-nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party in Gujarat looked on as Hindu mobs rampaged through the state. Despite the attacks the BJP, led by Narendra Modi, a hardline preacher turned politician, won a landslide election in the state at the end of 2002.
"The government has not done anything to help us here. The police did not stop anybody. We have had to sell the land we have always lived on and were forced to move to Modasa because it is a Muslim area. We are safe here," says Salimbhai.
The deep reservoir of distrust and fear among Muslims has led many to live apart from their fellow Gujaratis. Salimbhai says that Muslims are choosing to live separate lives and that Muslim children, who used to go to government schools, will now attend a local madressah to get an "Islamic" education. "Nobody wants to work for a Hindu here. But neither are Hindus willing to give a Muslim a job."
Human rights groups say the failure of the Gujarat state authorities to hold those responsible for the deaths to account has made it difficult to reconcile the communities.
More than 4,250 cases relating to the massacre have been registered with the police. Yet in the 24 months since the riots, only 15 Hindus have been convicted. "We have no faith in the government of Gujarat," says Shakeel Ahmad, president of the Islamic relief committee, which is trying to resettle displaced Muslims.
Many trials of Hindus accused of taking part have resulted in acquittals and the Gujarat courts have been criticized by the country's supreme court. India's most important judges will this week decide whether to hand over inquiries to central government investigators. -Dawn-Guardian News Service
