How arid is my Gujarat

It is this utter lack of conscience and insensitivity that tugs at the heartstrings. It is not a just a stray incident. Riot witnesses are living in such fear they have asked CISF jawans, specially deputed by the Centre on a Supreme Court directive, not to visit them too often. They say it makes them easy targets for intimidation. Concerned, a CISF deputy inspector general from Mumbai rushed to Ahmedabad to allay their fears and assure them safety — something their own neighbours could not do till now.

A bull gores a young college student to death in the middle of the road and people throw stones and beat up those who come to catch stray cattle on the roads. Why? Gau raksha. A poor tractor driver is kicked in the ribs to death by middle and upper class residents because he knocked down a woman on a two-wheeler who was unscathed and drove away, leaving the driver to his fate. A man is stabbed to death in front of his son by a vegetable vendor after an argument over prices. A cricket ball lands at the wrong place and the riot police do the rest of the batting.

Gujarat was not like this before. This bountiful state is my home and the Gujaratis and their culture influenced me very much. They are enterprising and deeply religious. But now I often wonder, of what good can such deep faith and devotion and philanthropy be when it has ceased to sensitise one towards fellow human beings in distress? What is happening to Gujarat? Why do people seem to have become so insensitive? Is this intolerance the result of being used as a Hindutva laboratory? Have we reached a point of no return? Many people keep asking themselves these questions but, like me, I think, they have no answers.