Terror in my town!

BHATKAL - A quaint little town of palm-fringed beaches, where a meal without fish is unheard of. A God-blessed stretch of earth, where rains never stop when they pour. A sun-kissed country, whose days are as bright as gold. A tiny maze of alleys and by-lanes where almost every person knows the other.
Yes, this is my town - small, laidback, warm and hospitable.
A town, where coconut is the highest common factor in all things edible, where mushrooms crop up overnight and mangoes ripe in abundance, where men are known for their export quality and women for their reproductive skills. A place where jasmine bloom on women's heads and where women receive, not give dowry. A town, whose image always brought a soothing, surreal effect on me. But, not anymore.
The image that endeared me for years has been shattered into pieces so small that it would nigh be impossible to gather them again. The romantic quiet has been replaced by an eerie silence that follows a storm. A spell of hatred and distrust has cast away the euphoria of compassion and trust. Terror is writ on the faces where joy once claimed residency. A balance of equation that maintained peace and harmony for centuries has been forcefully altered. A prospering tree has been cut down into two branches that now stand as opposing poles. My town, my dear little town has been torn, maligned and terrorised.

Rampant divisions
This is the case of nearly every other town in the subcontinent today. Polarising villages, towns and cities along ethnic, linguistic and religious lines seems to be the most common practice that is shaking the very foundations of our homes today - a rampant fire that is being fueled by a select few for their political and material gains. So what is so different about my town, one might ask.
Many things I would say. Though the players are the same but the settings are different. There are certain factors, which set my town apart from other victims of similar malice. In fact, it is the combination of factors that is getting it undue attention.
An economically and religiously empowered, closely-knit Muslim majority town; which is a rarity not just in India but, if I am allowed to say, across the globe.
The proud patron of these unique characterstics is called Bhatkal, a place 200 kms south of Goa and 150 kms north of Mangalore.
Prosperity, god-consciousness and unity - not just among Muslims but across the board - have been the hallmark of the town since time immemorial. Muslims, Hindus, Christians and Jains - whose famous Basadi (temple) is the jewel of Bhatkal's crown - have lived side-by-side, complimenting each other for centuries without any trouble. Such was the state of harmony that Hindus started their annual festival chariot only after seeking the permission of a prominent Muslim family (See the photo below). Legend has it that when once people tried to pull the chariot without the permission, the chariot didn't budge. Hence, the practice continues till date despite the recent troubled relationship between the communities.
Though, it's a small town of 50,000-odd people half of whom live abroad, many prominent modern as well as historic world figures have graced the land. World famous medieval traveller Ibn Batuta has fondly mentioned Bhatkal in his chronicles. Tipu Sultan shared a special relationship with the town, building a mosque at the heart of the town as a testimony. India's Iron Lady Indira Gandhi landed her chopper in Bhatkal during her 'Garibi Hatao' (Eradicate Poverty) days, handing Muslim-owned farmlands to labourers of other communities and not a single scuffle broke out over the issue. Lately, hero of a billion hearts, India's batting maestro Sachin Tendulkar had graced the place for his friend's wedding, sending the entire town into celebration.

Utopia shattered
One would ask, how did such a Utopian land suddenly turn into a communal minefield as it is today? It didn't happen overnight. Years of concerted efforts and brainwashing of youth by a certain group, which wants to move the nation away from the philosophy of tricolour and paint it in a single hue, have made it possible. The unique situation that existed in the town and the growing prosperity of its people didn't go down well with that section. In fact, it was a big stumbling block in their mission of assimilation.
Fomenting of hatred and polarization began as early as 70's when violence first flared up following the election of a young Muslim leader to state assembly - an initial sign of Muslim political empowerment. From then on sporadic communal violence has continued until recent past and Bhatkali Muslim leaders and youth have faced harassment, wild accusations and in some instances prolonged detention in consequence.
But it all reached a height when for the first time Bhatkal's name was dragged into acts of terrorism, a tag that some people want to force on Muslims all over the world.
National media went into frenzy when Maharashtra Anti Terrorism squad (ATS) 'suspected' hands of three 'alleged' Bhatkalis named Iqbal, Riyaz and Yasin in a series of blasts across India soon after the February 2010 explosion in the western Indian city of Pune that targeted a popular eatery, killing 17 people.
A systematic campaign ensued across all sections of the media, which took every opportunity to take a dig at the town by attaching it to the 'suspects' and other militant organizations. Attempts were even made to link the town with Pakistani militant outfits and its notorious intelligence agency ISI. Suggestions were also made that the poster boy of 'international terror' Osama Bin Laden had sullied the land with a visit.

Irresponsible media
Sensationalized stories alleging involvement of the 'alleged' Bhatkalis in violent activities based merely on loose theories, blank assumptions and pure guess work ran in the media repeatedly, implying that Bhatkal is a den of terroristic and anti-national activities. This finally erupted in a volcano when a brother of one of the three accused was detained by the ATS on May 24 at the Mangalore Airport following his arrival from Dubai.
The biased Indian media lost no time in highlighting the arrested youth, Abdul Samad Siddibapa, as a 'prime suspect' in the pune blast case, when actually he was held in an arms case and was never once questioned about pune blast in his entire period of detention of 40 days. But the irony is that soon after the arrest our honourable Home Minister P. Chidambaram went out of his way in congratulating the ATS team for nabbing 'the pune blast suspect within 100 days of its occurance.' The Home Ministry website till date quotes Abdul Samad as the prime suspect in the pune blast, when in reality the 22-year-old systems engineer has been granted bail even in the illegal arms case for lack of evidence.
The three other 'suspects', who are known in the media as Iqbal Bhatkal, Riyaz Bhatkal and Yasin Bhatkal, are at large. Their real names are Iqbal Shahbandari, Riyaz Shahbandari and Mohammed Ahmed Siddibapa, but for reasons that could be easily guessed, the three along with Abdul Samad were repeatedly addressed by the media with Bhatkal attached to their names. This despite the fact that media organizations were repeatedly informed that all Bhakalis have distinct surnames and none attach Bhatkal to their names.
All three, Iqbal, Riyaz and Mohammed, are originally from Bhatkal but they have hardly been there ever except for Mohammed. As I haved mentioned earlier, Bhatkal being a small and well-knit town, almost every Bhatkali knows the other or can find a common bond between each other, but hardly anyone knows Iqbal and Riaz because they were not brought up nor did they ever stay in Bhatkal.
Mohammed, who is known in the media a s Yasin Bhatkal, is the long missing elder brother of the now released Abdul Samad. Mohammed's family severed all ties with him when he left them in 2006 following an internal dispute.
Even if we agree that the three accused have some ancestral connections to the town, no law allows the implication of an entire town just because a few suspects hail from there. When the notorious fugitive Veerappan held the entire south Indian police force at his gunpoint for over two decades, did the authorities implicate his family and townspeople? No, never. His family was always free, even though the authorities knew they were in close touch with the fugitive. Nobody suspected their involvement. Why? Because they were not Muslims.

Obvious bias
The minister jumping the gun, and the media towing his line and repeatedly implicating the entire town cannot be a mere coincidence. It only adds credibility to the long-standing claims of bias, systematic maligning and persecution of minorities - something which the Muslim-dominated UP town Azamgarh have also been facing for years. For that matter, the Muslim-majority Malabar region hasn't been spared either and a number 'suspects' have been arrested from the region off late.
Hundreds of Muslim youth get mired in false cases, encounters and prolonged detention across India regularly, yet rarely in any case media is seen seeking the veracity of the accusations and questioning the validity of encounters and detentions. Majority of the media blindly tows the government's line and almost entirely takes the authorities' version of the story to be true. This sad state of affairs of Indian journalism, particularly the electronic media, seeks urgent attention by those who genuinely care about freedom of press, human dignity and truth.
It is hard to estimate how many vigourous lives and bright careers are ruined by such acts of irresponsibility by the authorities and media, but the number for sure runs into thousands.
The honourable minister lost no time in patting the backs of the ATS team and falsely implicating Abdul Samad in pune blast case after his arrest. But where is he now when the ATS has given him a clean chit? Why is he not clarifying the ministry's stand? How will the government and media clear the stigma that will be attached with Samad forever?
If the media and the authorities continue their bias towards minorities and insist on seeing them with an eye of suspicion, extremism will gain further ground and whatever chance there is for harmony would be diminished further.

By Shafaath Ahmed

Published in Khaleejtimes dated July 12, 2010

Shafaath Ahmed is a senior reporter with in UAE based KhaleejTimes.

He regularly writes at http://wordsparkle.wordpress.com/

He can be reached by sashabs@gmail.com