Somewhere between 1984 and 2014, Indians lost that spine: A Kerala woman’s FB post shows India the mirror
- The story is of 1984 when Delhi was tense
- A tale of India of yesterday and that of India
- Which one would you settle for?
FollowWhat memories do you have of your train journeys? For me it was constant chatter, the smell of crisp vadas lingering in the air, the cries of the vendors, the air mixed with smell of diesel and smoke hanging heavily in the air.
For Junaid’s family, the memory is not as pleasant. Trains will only bring to mind the senseless lynching of a young boy. All because we are nation given into herd mentality, bordering on Islamophobia and unable to stand for what is right.
15-year-old Junaid and his family members on that fateful day in June were thinking about the upcoming Eid but by the end of the day, their dreams shattered and a young life lost.
He was stabbed to death and four others were injured on board a Mathura-bound train all because an argument over giving up seats took a religious turn and triggered a mob attack. This is in 2017.
Sam Ish, a Kerala girl, shared an anecdote from her parents train journeys back in 1984 and it works quite well to show the present a mirror. You can find it on Facebook
On November 1st 1984, my parents were travelling to Delhi from Mughalsarai. News hadn't reached them that widespread riots had broken out across the country, post the assassination of Indira Gandhi. They just knew that Delhi was tense.
Mum and dad were one of the two young couples in that carriage. They had celebrated an anniversary. The other was a Sardar couple married barely a month ago. Who were scared and very worried.
A little distance after Banaras the train was stopped by a mob and they started checking each compartment. Like Muslims of today the Sikhs that day were suddenly enemies.
The Sardar boy's wife broke down. But the India of 1984 was not as impotent as the India of 2017. Everyone sprung into action. They closed the compartment door. Since the girl was very nearly hysterical with fear, an old lady, who perhaps had never shown her face in public, took off her burqa in that crowded compartment and quickly hid her. Sikh men are bound by religion to keep their hair long. Those were to be cut. And fast.
Someone handed him scissors.
That is a scene that my father never forgot. As the Sikh boy took off his turban and started to cut his hair- a part of his identity- his hands started shaking so badly, he just couldn't. He froze. Dad and one other man helped cut it. And cut his beard. While tears fell down his set-as-stone face. Mum, the lady who had given her burqa and the now-hidden Sikh girl sat huddled. They were surrounded by the men in the compartment and the Sikh boy sat on the top berth.
When the rioters entered the compartment a few men went ahead and argued with them. Some professed that they'd themselves kill a Sikh had there been one. They lied and argued until the bunch of assholes moved on ahead.
No one, NOT a single person in that compartment, either by word or action betrayed the Sikh couple.
But that was then. And this is now. Somewhere between 1984 and 2014, Indians lost that spine.
Now they bow and scrape and are ready to kill a Muslim, any Muslim, justify rapes of Muslim children and clap and cheer at the horrors Indian citizens face in Kashmir or Chattisgarh, and hack down fig trees if their favourite saffron-clad mob-leader tells them to. It is heartbreaking to see such dimwitted and spineless humans.
#Junaid_Akhlaq_Najeeb_Rohit
