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The most alarming aspect was the deep-seated hatred one could witness all around. Father Cedric Prakash, Director of PRASHANT, an Ahmedabad based NGO, took us around. Everywhere we went, all we saw were deserted streets and gutted and haunted houses with piles of household items, books, beds, clothes. We could, it seemed, breathe hate in the air. The stories of violence we heard were so brutal–it was not possible unless an entire people were radicalized with hate. We ourselves did not feel safe and at least on two occasions we had a narrow escape from deeply suspicious mobs. In Naroda Patiya area, my husband Gauhar, and my son Sahir went inside a building to shoot and I stood guard outside. I noticed that a suspicious crowd had started gathering, and suddenly Father Cedric shouted “Ask Gauhar to make a move, we have to leave.” All of us had to run to get into the cab and drive away. In Usman Pura, my son and I were buying something from a shop while Gauhar was at a recording studio. My son asked me, “How much more time will Abba take?” I observed the immediate reaction of the shopkeeper on hearing the word ‘abba’ a seemingly Muslim word. I could soon see him calling a few other people and a crowd started gathering. I rushed upstairs to the studio, dragged my husband out and we left the building. The riots were pre-planned, preparations took place even before the train burning: No Muslim from any class or background was spared. While Naroda Patiya was a lower middle-class area, upper class Muslims, intellectuals were also attacked in different parts such as Paldi. We met Justice Divecha, whose house was burnt down. It was a mixed neighbourhood where both Hindus and Muslims lived but the meticulous planning that went behind the rioting ensured that only his house was burnt while other houses were not touched. This was a pattern across all riot-affected districts. Muslim houses, shops and businesses were identified and marked in advance. We also heard from many eye-witnesses that weapons such as swords, tridents, gas cylinders were being supplied to the remotest parts of Gujarat days in advance, even before the day of the train burning i.e., February 27.
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20 years after Gujarat Riots: Merchants of hate
