Tainted by Association

Two arrests in connection with 7/11, and a region changed, perhaps forever. By J P Yadav

JUST over a month after Kamal Ansari was arrested in connection with the Mumbai blasts, it8217;s clear that Basopatti market has changed forever. Not only for Shahidunnisa, Ansari8217;s 50-year-old widowed mother, but for all the Muslim families who have lived here for as long as they care to remember.

8220;The looks we get from the Hindus are scary, their comments are provocative,8221; says Mohammad Zahir, Ansari8217;s neighbour. 8220;Some, who mingled freely with us, now say things like Muslims can never be faithful to the country.8221;

Investigating agencies are reported to have got little out of Ansari, but for this village, the act of arrest was enough. Ramchandra Sahu, a young shopkeeper, responds immediately when this reporter seeks directions. 8220;Woh jo atankwadi yahan se pakraya The terrorist who was arrested from here?8221; he asks, and then proceeds to trot out all kinds of tales about Ansari8217;s 8220;links8221; with Pakistani terrorists.

For the five Muslim families who live in Basopatti, it is this readiness to condemn that is the most frightening. 8220;We are completely outnumbered here. Should something happen, we will be wiped out,8221; whispers Shahidunnisa.

The fear factor extends beyond the village, into the region bordering Nepal, where the Muslim population is substantial. In Malmal, eight km from Basopatti, it is accentuated by the memory of the arrest of Khalid Sheikh.

Sheikh was picked up by the Mumbai police8217;s Anti-Terrorist Squad the same day as Ansari. Now Muslim-dominated Malmal wonders if the association will work against its sons, who commonly move to Delhi, Mumbai and Hyderabad in search of jobs as labour.

8220;We8217;re scared no one will employ anyone from here,8221; says Mehdi Imam, former mukhiya of Malmal South. 8220;In the current scenario it doesn8217;t matter that Muslims and Hindus have lived in complete harmony here for generations. We are stigmatised.8221;

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Faiyaz, 28, who earns his living as a driver in Delhi, testifies to the validity of the fear. In Malmal to look after his ailing mother, he walks away sharply when asked if the arrests have impacted his life. 8220;These are bad times. It is dangerous to pass any comment,8221; he says, adding only that he was shocked to learn in Delhi that a local youth had catapulted this village into the headlines.

Zakir Ansari, 20, of Basopatti, has deferred his plans to leave for Mumbai to look for a job. With the train blasts occuring just days before his departure, 8220;I got scared. My father refused to send me,8221; he says.

Zakir8217;s parents eke out a living by making bidis, an occupation that does not earn them enough to sustain their family of seven. Father Mohammad Sohail says he was hoping his eldest son would begin to contribute soon to the family income. But those expectations have now been shelved.

In Madhubani, hundreds of kilometers away from Mumbai, 7/11 is as inescapable a reality as neighbours who must be tolerated and livelihoods that must be earned.