It146;s not always for the best

First the burning of live human beings at that once-upon-a-time bakery tucked away in Gujarat which for reasons best known to the proprietor...

First the burning of live human beings at that once-upon-a-time bakery tucked away in Gujarat which for reasons best known to the proprietors was called 8220;Best8221;. And now the acquittal of the culprits 8212; all those who actually charred to death not one but several human beings, a majority of them with Muslim names.

Though I am not from Gujarat, the incident and the verdict have left yet another scar on my psyche. I am a middle-aged Indian Muslim and the communal frenzy and the divide and rule misrule? policy of the establishment has begun to strike a nerve as never before. It is not anger that I feel, but acute helplessness and insecurity.

There8217;s a bakery where I often stop by to pick up a fresh loaf of bread. Just yesterday as I walked past their huge oven, I couldn8217;t suppress a shudder. What if?

I know 8212; and perhaps we all know 8212; that there are biases at play. The divide and rule policy is bringing about divisions not just in psyches but in people8217;s very attitudes. Even textbooks are rewritten to this end, dulling the senses and desensitising us to hideous crimes. Human carnage and the sidelining of the minorities, it seems, do not matter.

In fact, last fortnight I interviewed Ahmedabad8217;s mayor, Aneesa Mirza. When I asked her about the effect of the Gujarat riots on her, she simply closed her eyes and said: 8220;Please don8217;t mention those riots8230; most gruesome where live human beings were burnt alive8230; though I8217;d witnessed several riots, nothing was so gruesome as these 2003 riots of Gujarat.8221;

What8217;s scary is that as a people we are not reacting. As though the Muslim8217;s or Christian8217;s flesh and blood is different, as though they can8217;t feel pain and torture and discrimination. And again, what upsets are the dual policies and double-speak of all the politicians.

It8217;s not just a matter of the Best Bakery verdict but the overwhelming sense of insecurity and humiliation that the average man and woman from any of the minority groups has begun to feel. As though he or she has to give an explanation for every act, as though he or she has to sound apologetic or go about proving himself or herself. I cannot forget the trauma I underwent when just after the hijack of an Indian Airlines plane to Kandahar, I had gone to interview a senior officer at the civil aviation ministry. I had a prior appointment. To my query about what security measures the government was taking to prevent further hijacks, he said: 8220;We have several such security measures but8230; er, your name is Muslim.8221;

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Perhaps he is to be pardoned for this, for the entire political apparatus is aimed at portraying the minorities as outsiders.