If only Gujarat too had a Dev

When communal riots convulsed India in the aftermath of the Babri demolition in December 8217;92, Bihar8217;s Sitamarhi too saw some skirm...

When communal riots convulsed India in the aftermath of the Babri demolition in December 8217;92, Bihar8217;s Sitamarhi too saw some skirmishes. Within hours of getting reports of disturbances, the then chief minister, Laloo Prasad Yadav, was in Sitamarhi, quelling rumours. 8220;DMs and SPs will be responsible if riots break out,8221; he warned sternly. Bihar remained eerily calm.

I remembered that episode as I watched Govind Nihalani8217;s Dev, depicting how administrative lapses could worsen a communally charged situation. That8217;s what happened in Gujarat 2002. Though Nihalani denies Dev is inspired by the Gujarat genocide, the parallels are unmistakable. A chief minister Amrish Puri colluding with a vengeful, anti-Muslim cop, Tejinder Khosla Om Puri, to teach 8220;anti-nationals8221; a lesson. The CM8217;s sidekick leading the mobs to selectively target Muslim bastis. The only absentee in those terrible times, alas, was a Dev 8212; an upright officer who could have challenged the villainy of his political master. He, like Dev, would have told his colleagues: 8220;We die when we watch the city burn but can8217;t do anything about it.8221;

While cops during the Gujarat riots buckled under pressure, Nihalani8217;s Dev meets the devils. Though he acts quite late in the day, he succeeds in restoring an utterly aggrieved Farhan8217;s Fardeen Khan faith in the police. By giving shelter to a victim, Aaliya Kareena Kapoor, and Farhan in his home, Dev sends a strong message: bullets cannot win hearts. Show a little compassion and you can turn the tide.

That8217;s where Narendra Modi failed. For electoral gains, he let Gujarat burn, polarising society completely. The government8217;s bias in handling the cases of arson and rape only deepened the chasm between the two communities. The film also touches a disturbing myth about Urdu. On his travel from Vadodra to Mumbai, Farhan undergoes a humiliating search. The only 8220;offensive8221; good recovered from him is a letter in Urdu from his father. 8220;Has this letter come from Pakistan?8221; asks a police officer, showing his ignorance about a language which symbolises India8217;s famed Ganga-Jamna tehzeeb.

Some are agonised over Dev8217;s 8220;anti-Muslim slant8221;. 8220;Fardeen is a misguided youth who undergoes terrorism training, but there is no trace of any sword/trishul distribution, to balance the issue,8221; protested a letter writer recently. This is unfair. Nihalani has ably focused on the mind, and the method, in the madness, rather than the tools of mass destruction. And Dev says that even one honest cop in a communalised force can make a difference.