Water heals riot wounds in this Gujarat village

In Pandarwada, an obscure village deep inside the Panchmahals, at least 32 Muslims were killed and 500 had to run for their lives post-Godhr...

In Pandarwada, an obscure village deep inside the Panchmahals, at least 32 Muslims were killed and 500 had to run for their lives post-Godhra. A year later, it’s water from a borewell that’s bringing the two communities together again.

In Kasba mohalla of Pandarwada, ravaged by drought three consecutive years, the Islamic Relief Committee of Gujarat (IRCG) dug a 210-feet borewell last July, ahead of the construction of 100 pucca houses for those rendered homeless in the riots. The borewell was dug outside the village mosque, equidistant from two Muslim mohallas of the village.

Around the same time, the government hand-pump, the only source of water for residents of Kasba mohalla and adjoining Hindu houses, also dried up. Their relationship with Muslims strained, the only option before the 50-odd poor Hindu families was to cough up Rs 50 per month for water, says village talati Pankaj Parikh.

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It was then that the IRCG stepped in and persuaded local Muslims to allow Hindus to fetch water from the borewell. With this, the freeze that had set in the relationship began to thaw.

Seventy-year-old widow Lakhuben Maganbhai Panchal says the borewell’s been a lifeline for her.

‘‘They used to charge us Rs 50 for water but these mosquewallahs gave us water for free.’’ So far, a total of 58 Muslim families have returned from the relief camps in Lunawada and they are living in tents. Another 47 families are also expected to return once the houses, under construction, are allotted to them.

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