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June 27, 2004
REVIEWS: Islands of hope
On October 31, 1984, when Mumbai-born Sushobha Bharve boarded a train from her hometown to Barabanki, along with a friend, not even in her worst nightmare had she witnessed such a blood-curdling event — the lynching and burning to near-death of two fellow Sikh passengers by rioters, who were incensed by Mrs Indira Gandhi’s assassination by her Sikh bodyguards. This gory event transformed her into a totally anti-communal activist — her mission in life being “conflict prevention and reconciliation”.
After a few days she went in search of the Sikhs and was relieved to find that they were not dead. But the lives that they were to lead (as she discovered when she visited them again, years later) were tormenting — for them and their family members alike.
When the trouble in Indian Punjab ended, Bharve was concerned about the rehabilitation of the militants. This was despite the fact that the Sikh extremists had, in retaliation to the attack on the Golden Temple, murdered many innocent Hindu men, women and children. Later, Bharve was personally involved in the rehabilitation of Muslim families in Logain village in Bihar, where 120 Muslims had been massacred.
Bharve motivated many people to join her in the work. Women, belonging to both Hindu and Muslim communities, were more often willing to help her as she was to see in the great job that was done in Dharavi, the slums in Bombay, during the riots of December 1992 and January 1993. Men somehow were less forthcoming. She and her colleagues were often misread, more by Hindus than Muslims, when they worked for rapprochement between the two communities.
“They bombarded us with questions. They were suspicious of us as ‘outsiders’. They thought we were taking the side of the Muslims. They wanted to know what caste we belonged to. They were not satisfied with our answer that we were Hindus who did not believe in the caste system but were firm believers of humanism,” writes Sushobha Bharve in the book under review, Healing Streams.
That Bharve was fair in her words and deeds goes without saying. She maintains, “One cannot alter certain facts of history. Yes, without doubt Muslim invaders and kings have desecrated temples in India. And Hindus have desecrated Buddhist monasteries. But there are also numerous examples of Muslim rulers either having built temples or given land for building temples. One cannot be selective about remembering history.”
More than anything else, Bharve risked her own life quite often when she worked in riot-stricken areas, sometimes even spending a night or two there, particularly in Dharavi, which is billed as the largest slum in Asia. When asked if she was not afraid of the goons of Shiv Sena, she says, “No, I did not fear Shiv Sena then nor do so today. I do not think one should give in to a bully.” This reviewer feels that she broke the shackles of fear after she and her friend had gone through the nightmarish experience of being branded as Sardarnis, when she tried to save the two Sikhs. Her friend lost all her belongings. Nothing new, for in all riots one of the prime motives of the rioters is to loot the property of their victims. Then there are scavengers waiting for their turn.
This happened time and again, particularly in the Punjab of 1947 and Gujarat of 2002. “In every riot often the main issue that triggers off the violence gets brushed aside and the secondary motive of arson, looting, land and property grabbing, and settling personal scores takes over.”
Bharve rightly points out that most riots erupt as a result of rumours or misunderstandings. For instance, in Dharavi when the Muslims went on a peace march, soon after the Ayodhya tragedy, the police misread it as an attack on them and firing ensued. Bharve conveys the common feeling of both Muslims and Hindus that the police often became a party in the riots. But she also refers to occasions when some police officers helped Bharve and her colleagues in restoring peace.
One such occasion was when a dargah was desecrated. With monetary help from some donors, the police, some peace activists and some members of the two communities quietly removed the debris, whitewashed the dargah and brought back copies of the Holy Quran. Helping them were four journalists, who refrained from publishing the news of the desecration and restoration to avoid further inflaming passions.
Some NGOs, involved in restoration, were more often than not helped by the government departments during the riots in Mumbai. Then there were many individuals too who extended a helping hand. One Dr R.K. Anand manned the clinic of a Dr Khan, who couldn’t come to Dharavi from another locality because of the curfew. Anand treated patients from Indiranagar and Muslimnagar alike. Then there were some celebrities like Dilip Kumar, Sunil Dutt, Shabana Azmi, Javed Akhtar and Farooq Shaikh who worked indefatiguably towards restoring peace and helping the victims.
At one stage, after the serial bombs exploded in Mumbai in March 1993, Bharve almost gave up. At about 11 pm her phone rang and it was Dilip Kumar at the other end of the line. “Suddenly I found myself saying, ‘Ab bahar jakar madad karne ki himmat nahi hai.’ He sounded alarmed and replied, ‘If you say this, what will happen to the rest of us?’ I don’t know how long Dilip Kumar spoke, pleading with me not to give up courage. I promised not to give up.” He spent the night to help organize volunteers to donate blood needed urgently in the hospitals for the hundreds of individuals, adds Bharve, who never fails in giving credit where credit is due.
All said, Healing Streams is the story of a tireless woman, who as an individual and as a member of peace committees and muhalla committees, worked with dedication and demonic energy to reconcile and restore two combating communal groups. The slim volume is a must-read for all those who value peace and harmony.
Healing Streams
By Sushoba Bharve
Penguin Books. For more information log on to
www.penguinbooksindia.com
Available with Liberty Books (Pvt) Ltd, 3 Rafiq Plaza, M.R. Kayani Road, Saddar, Karachi. Tel: 021-5683026
Email:
libooks@cyber.net.pk
Website:
www.libertybooks.com
ISBN 014302962-2
240pp. Rs450
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