Memories unspooled

Rahul Dholakia8217;s film raises an important question that demands an answer

The man who made Parzania, Rahul Dholakia, figured in your 8216;Idea Exchange8217; The Sunday Express, February 18. Many interesting questions were put to him but, for me, the most important one of all that the film raises does not have to do with the film directly: why has justice proved largely elusive for the victims of the riots?

In any other country in the world, such state-sponsored terror would have resulted in a ban on the political outfits that had perpetuated such an open dance of death and destruction. But in the case of Gujarat, identifiable criminals of the carnage roam its streets freely, even as the victims who dared to testify against them remain in fear. What8217;s more, Narendra Modi 8212; the man who failed in his responsibility to maintain law and order 8212; remains the most popular figure for a large majority of Gujaratis.

One had hoped that once the UPA government came to power, justice would finally be done. Indeed, at least for the minorities, that was the primary reason for voting for the UPA. It is another matter that this, in itself, is a sad commentary when the minorities vote for certain parties not because they hope to get better jobs, health facilities or education opportunities, but simply because they promise security of life and property.

Three years into its term, and the UPA government has done very little to improve the justice delivery process in Gujarat. But ask the citizens of Gujarat and the victims of the 2002 riots 8212; the change of guard at the Centre has made practically no difference. Parzania reminds us of the frustration and disgust of the Gujarat victims who are coping to live with unfairness and injustice. It reminds us also that there is a major crisis of accountability of governance in our system. And that crisis runs through all the colours of politics. What prevents the UPA government from setting in motion a high-powered probe on a simple issue of breakdown of law and order and the failure of the state to protect its citizens? Quite independent of the caste, creed and religious dimensions of those who suffered, the collapse of constitutional rule in the state should be the point of intervention of those who uphold the rule of law 8212; at least at the Centre.

Parzania powerfully depicts the collapse of the state machinery in carrying out its basic duties. The audience in a packed hall in south Delhi sat spell-bound 8212; angry and sobbing. It is not that the Gujarat carnage and the subsequent apathy of the Modi government was some kind of a revelation. But the impact was immense because Parzania very cleverly pulls us out of our amnesia and inertia by re-telling the story of Gujarat through the agony of a Parsi family. That has a greater impact on our collective and individual conscience, which has been somewhat numbed by seeing the death and destruction of Muslim lives over and over again.

Gujarat theatres may not screen Parzania. They can draw the curtains over the film. But they cannot put a lid on the truth.