Gujarati Hindus ask Muslims to return

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Umta's Hindu villagers ask their Muslim neighbours to return

 

UMTA: Nearly a year after the post-Godhra riots, Muslim villagers of

Umta have some reason to cheer. Not only have their burnt houses been

rebuilt by an NGO, the Ahmedabad Study Action Group (ASAG), but their

Hindu neighbours are pleading with them to return.

 

A fact that security advisor to the Chief Minister, K.P.S. Gill, who

handed over the reconstructed houses, lauded and called for emulation.

 

Of the 175-odd houses in the Muslim mohalla of Umta, more than 100

were damaged or burnt on February 28 last in a mob attack.

 

Fortunately, nobody was injured as the residents had vacated the area

just in time and taken shelter at the Kesimpa Relief Camp, located

about 10 km from Umta.

 

Ask any person from the town, belonging to either of the communities,

and he will claim that nobody from the village took part in the

attack.

 

"Never before has there been any problem between the two communities

here. We want our Muslim neighbours to return," says the village

headman, Ranchodbhai Patel.

 

But Muslims were initially reluctant to come back. At this juncture,

the ASAG stepped in to persuade the minority community to return.

 

"What really helped was the fact that Hindu residents here

unanimously wanted the riot victims back. A few of them got in touch

with the victims and told them that people from the minority

community were their responsibility," says a representative of the

NGO, Sanjay Bhavsar.

 

On October 2 last year, a small tree-plantation programme was held in

the village by the ASAG and the residents to signify a new beginning.

Villagers, including the sarpanch, helped clean the damaged houses on

the same day, following which the reconstruction work began.

 

"Each one in the village tried to help us in whatever manner they

could. A few of them, who are daily wage earners, constructed the

houses for us. The ASAG representatives provided us all the raw

material we required. Earlier, we were reluctant, but today we accept

that there is nothing better than returning to our homes," says

Jamiatkhan Mojamkhan, whose house Gill visited.

 

The first house Gill visited was that of Aamir Khan, a freedom

fighter, who died about a month ago. "If he were alive, he would have

loved to see Gill visiting him. As a freedom-fighter, he strongly

opposed communalism," says Gulshanbanu, Aamir Khan's granddaughter.

 

Speaking on the occasion, Gill began with shayri (Urdu poetry) and

grabbed everyone's attention instantly.

 

"It is a fact that people in the country now fear anything and

everything. Yet, there has to be a way out of this. Communal problems

can be solved tactfully and through talks," he said.

 

The handing over of the houses called for a celebration. Gill was

welcomed by colourful buntings, rangolis and gud (jaggery). "It's not

just about rehabilitation but the fact that people from both the

communities can live peacefully and be each other's support. The

villagers have proved that problems between the two communities can

be solved through talks," says the ASAG head Kiritbhai Shah.