[Reader-list] Recovering Lost Histories -Naupada and Behrampada

[rochelle pinto]

I think an interesting focus for the study would be the continuing loss of those caught in the centre of violence during riots, and the shifts in memory that occur with this incremental loss. With regard to the Hindu families that moved out of areas where mostly Muslims lived, it might be useful to look up YUVA, a bombay-based ngo.  I recall that over a decade ago they had conducted a study where they had mapped various neighbourhoods in bombay to try and prove that with each riot, hindus and muslims had been further segregated, and that the municipality then gradually realigned the boundaries of each ward, so that these segregated areas acquired political definition. I don't know what eventually happened to the study, but it's worth checking out. 
   

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Today's Topics:

1. Recovering Lost Histories -Naupada and Behrampada (meena menon)
2. GLASGOW UNIVERSITY CAMPUS CLOSURE – PLEASE SHOW YOUR
SUPPORT (Rowan Wilson)


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Message: 1
Date: Thu, 12 Apr 2007 15:39:28 +0530
From: "meena menon" 
Subject: [Reader-list] Recovering Lost Histories -Naupada and
Behrampada
To: reader-list at sarai.net
Message-ID:
<57ad49a60704120309i3c7fcf9elc66d7c1572e67ab7 at mail.gmail.com>
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Hi All

This is my second posting of the Sarai Independent Fellowship on victims of
the 1992-93 riots in Mumbai.

Best
Meena
meenamenon at gmail.com

Recovering Lost Histories
NAUPADA AND BEHRAMPADA

Naupada and Behrampada are two sprawling settlements near Bandra suburban
railway station in west Mumbai. The report of the Srikrishna Commission,
appointed to inquire into the 1992-93 riots, after the demolition of the
Babri Masjid, has extensively documented the events in Behrampada and
surrounding areas. There were many riots sparked off by a temple being
desecrated and the violent incidents continued well into January.
>From Bandra suburban station as you cross the railway bridge, on your left
is a mass of shanties. If you look down on the side of the disused railway
tracks you can see that it's full of life -- children playing, barbers
shaving customers, people shopping. The homes are built on top of one
another so much so that some are on the level with the bridge and through
the tiny windows you can see people sitting around or cooking.


Ayub Mohammed Sheikh, or Ayub bhai, a social worker who lives in Naupada
says that it was an old village or a gaothan with a 200-year-old history.
Today it is home to hundreds of Muslim families. The settlement of Naupada
hugs the railway tracks and narrow dark lanes divide the houses. It was in
the news last year, when many of its residents helped retrieve the bodies
when a bomb exploded in a railway train as part of the serial blasts on July
11, 2006. One of them, a railway employee was killed in the serial blasts.
The road outside Bandra station on the east side divides Naupada and
Behrampada. Behrampada is surrounded by tall apartment blocks. Concrete
walls separating the slum from the apartment blocks grew higher after the
riots of December 1992- January 93. Over a decade ago, children from both
sides went to school together and played cricket. All that has changed.

BEHRAMPADA
Both settlements buzz with activity and the narrow lanes are full of people
at all hours. It is not easy to get people to go back to a time when for
months on end, terror ruled. On the surface things are forgotten and life
seems to go on as usual. But underneath there is anguish and the memories of
those days are fresh. In the riots of 1992-93, Behrampada was targeted by
mobs and many houses were burnt there. People were killed and injured in
firing and riots and many of them lost their homes and livelihoods.
Behrampada has always been portrayed as a hotbed of crime and many people at
that time including filmmaker Madhushree Datta in her film, tried to dispel
those myths. However, the Shiv Sena, led by the local MLA Madhukar Sarpotdar
campaigned against Behrampada saying it harboured illegal Pakistanis who
were indulging in terror tactics. None of this was borne out with facts and
while raids in Behrampada did yield crude bombs and some people were
arrested, the police could find no evidence of organised criminal activity.
Sarpotdar himself was detained by the army with guns and other weapons,
travelling in a vehicle along with his son but he was let off. According to
the Srikrishna report, he was not even charge sheeted for an offence as
serious as this.

CHANGES OVER THE YEARS
Over the years, there have been changes and people seemed to moved have in
and out of both Behrampada and Naupada. I met families in both Naupada and
Behrampada to look at how they have coped with their lives after the riots.
I find that people have moved to these places for reasons of security or
because they had relatives already living there. Many of the Hindu families
have moved out after the riots. That is also something which I will
investigate.
Families have had to cope with loss of life, homes and livelihoods but the
most disturbing finding is that there seem to be a lot of mental trauma
which has not been addressed. There is no support structure in place for
these affected families in terms of medical care or legal aid.

THE STORY OF KHATUNBI
Khatunbi is one of those who was forced to come to Naupada when the riots
took place. She must be over 65, her legs are stiff and she has high blood
pressure. She is unsure why I want to talk to her. Khatunbi now lives with
her daughter, Shakila, the only one who is as yet not married. Her strongest
memory of the 1992 -93 riots was that she had to hide almost neck deep in a
filthy gutter all night. "Mahaul bahut kharab tha (the situation was very
bad)," she begins. The rest of her story comes out in a rush. "A temple in
our area was damaged. When the riots started, I sent my children away first
while I stayed behind. I hid in the gutter and the police found me there-
they called to me in Marathi and then they took me to the police station at
Nirmal Nagar. My clothes were dirty and then the police brought me to a
relief camp in Naupada. I wanted to see if my children were there. I was so
glad to see my girls-they all thought I was dead. My son Sajjid, was full of
blood, he was unconscious."
She is full of praise for her Hindu neighbours who gave her a "maxi" to wear
and helped her hide. "My younger son Ramzan had bought gold for my
daughter's wedding. Like me he was scared of leaving it behind. Ramzan was a
master tailor; he was a specialist in chaniya cholis (long skirts and
blouses, heavily embroidered). He lost so much in the riots, and all those
expensive clothes he tailored were burnt."
After the riots Sajjid refused to work and he died a few years later of
jaundice. Ramzan too became a silent, withdrawn person. Those who knew him a
little in Naupada say he used to sit under a tree all day reading a
newspaper. He contracted tuberculosis (TB) but could not get proper
treatment and he died two or three years ago. His friend Taukeer Khan
remembers that he spoke very little. Taukeer says, "We did not ask him
anything, he suffered on his own." Both of them could not return to normal.
Khatunbi has no hesitation in saying that the riots killed her sons. She
finds it difficult to sleep at night. "When I think about all these things I
feel very bad."
She kept repeating that no one helped her. "I used to live in Khar, nearby,
for over 40 years. We were the only Muslim family in the chawl (a group of
houses) and I did not fight with any one as I had four daughters. I still
remember the people who attacked our houses -they were from Shantilal
Compound."
Her father- in- law owned six rooms in the chawl but people occupied them
without paying the rent even before the riots took place. She has rented her
old house to a family for Rs 2000 per month. She never wants to go back and
live there again. Now, apart from the rent, she and her daughter earn daily
wages by fixing sequins on dupattas. She is also very upset that her
daughter Shakila's marriage was called off after the riots. "They had so
many demands," she says, her eyes full of tears. "I had nothing to give
her."
Khatunbi is used to fending for herself. Her husband used to work for the
Bombay Port Trust. He died many years ago and she was one who raised her
family by doing embroidery. Her daughters chipped in by making jewellery.
However, despite the bad memories, Khatunbi still goes back to her old home.
"When I go there I get scared, people drink and fight. Here it is not like
that. I go back and think of the old days." Her account is a bit confused
about the exact status of her property but Shakila, her daughter, says her
uncle usurped it. They have no one to turn for legal aid to help them sort
out this mess.

REVISITING OLD MEMORIES
Khatunbi was keen that I visit her old place and cordially invited me to
accompany her. From Naupada it is a short ride by auto rickshaw. On the way
she points to the railway over bridge and said this is the bridge her son
Sajjid took to escape from the mob. Her other son Ramzan swore he worked for
an Udipi hotel in the vicinity and was spared. We go to Shantilal Compound
from where she claims the mobs attacked her chawl. There is a man sitting
near the Sai Baba temple- "All these people were involved," she said.
Looking around she tells me the shops are all new.
Suddenly we turn into a small opening next to a shop. Before us is a cluster
of cemented rooms. We go into the house Khatunbi had lived for 40 years.
"They destroyed all this," she said in the manner of an expert guide. "My
son rebuilt my house it to some extent. Now the tenants are Marwaris-they
run a catering business." The tenants are away but there are two cooks
frying puris in the hot airless room. But the room is far more spacious than
Khatunbi's present home. She looks around with pride at the grimy pink walls
stacked with steel vessels. Like a good landlady she goes up one floor to
ask if her tenants there have paid the water bill. She asks the cooks for
some puris and vegetable and finds a plastic bag to take it away. We leave
and on the way back she offers me the puris for lunch.
Khatunbi's present home is a small one room tenement- it's not even painted
and the walls are uneven-there is a single bare bulb which lights the room.
She is desperate to get her property back but with few papers it looks
difficult.
END





-- 
Meena
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Message: 2
Date: Thu, 12 Apr 2007 12:56:14 +0000 (GMT)
From: Rowan Wilson 
Subject: [Reader-list] GLASGOW UNIVERSITY CAMPUS CLOSURE – PLEASE
SHOW YOUR SUPPORT
To: reader-list at sarai.net
Message-ID: <458857.26160.qm at web25108.mail.ukl.yahoo.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="windows-1252"

GLASGOW UNIVERSITY CAMPUS CLOSURE – PLEASE SHOW YOUR SUPPORT

On February 14th Glasgow University Court voted to close down the University's Crichton Campus (UGCC) 80 miles away in Dumfries. UGCC is Southwest Scotland's only provider of HE courses in the Humanities, Arts, Environmental Sustainability and Community Learning. The decision if implemented would not only deny vital educational opportunities for an already deprived and marginalised area but also put 40+ members of staff at risk of compulsory redundancy.

A friend asked me to forward the message below:


Dear All,

I am writing to request support. On Wednesday 17th January at 6pm, the Principal of Glasgow University (GU) announced that he would be closing down the GU part of the Crichton Campus in Dumfries in South West Scotland.

Because the situation is somewhat complicated, I should fill in some background information.

The Crichton Campus is based in Dumfries. It opened less than ten years ago, to provide Higher Education opportunities for a region which, until then, had no Higher Education institution. This caused demographic, cultural, economic and social problems for the area as large numbers of young people left the area for HE not to return. Also because of lack of provision, Dumfries and Galloway had a far lower than thge national average of uptake of Higher education.

The Crichton Campus is made up predominantly of three institutions, each of which has its main organisational centre outwith the area. The three institutions are Bell College, who provide nurse training (whose centre is in Hamilton); Paisley University who provide predominantly computing and management courses and Glasgow University who provide predominantly Arts and Humanities courses and post-grad provision. There was a prior agreement by the institutions to avoid replication, so each institution concentrates on particular sections of the curriculum.

The campus lacks most of the basic elements required. There are few sports facilities (bar green fields), no students union, no refectory so there is nowhere for staff and students to have a hot meal. However it does have committed staff and students, who provide in these less than ideal circumstances, by all current accepted measures, educational experiences of very high quality.

On Wednesday 16th January at 6pm the Principal of the University of Glasgow (based in Glasgow), announced that he was closing Glasgow University's part of the Crichton Campus. A decision ratified by University Court on 14th February.
What this means for staff and students is still fairly vague, but it is not good: redundancies for staff, truncated academic careers for students, and lack of educational opportunities for future students in the region, and the ending of a significant cultural resource for the region as a whole.

Because of the complicated structure of the Campus, with many institutional partners, the land being owned by the council and an incredibly labyrinthine funding arrangement from the Scottish Funding Council, everyone responsible has the possibility to blame someone else for closing the campus down. The UG Principal, Sir Muir Russell is blaming the Funding Council, the Funding Council is blaming the Principal; the Scottish Executive also bear some responsibility for under-resourcing, as do the local council for not providing basic infrastructure on the site.

There is no economic argument for closing the Crichton. Glasgow University is in surplus, the Arts Faculty to which the campus belongs is in surplus, and the monies which are planned to be redistributed up from the impoverished Dumfries site to the relatively well-off Glasgow Campus if UGCC closes are earmarked not for student services, but as the Principal indicated at a public meeting in March 2007 in Dumfries, for hiring a couple of 'star' academic researchers.

Students and staff are not taking the threatened closure lying down. UCU the biggest union on campus has already met and there was unanimity to oppose the closure (there are also 3 members of the IWW who are work there and are active in the campaign). There have been a number of demonstrations in Dumfries, up on the main campus in Glasgow and outside the SFC and Scottish parliament in Edinburgh. The next protests are planned for GLASGOW UNIVERSITY MAIN CAMPUS (IN GLASGOW nearest tube Hillhead) WEDNESDAY APRIL 18th at 1pm. Meet at Flagpole behind the quads.

Crichton protestors will be joining the DUMFRIES MAYDAY MARCH - SATURDAY APRIL 28th, 12 Noon, BURNS STATUE, DUMFRIES TOWN CENTRE.

Crichton campaigners would welcome your participation and advice.

Please attend if possible and/or write to following, asking them to reverse the decision with regards to funding for the University of Glasgow Crichton Campus:

Sir Muir Russell,
The Principal
University of Glasgow
Glasgow
G12

principal at gla.ac.uk


Roger McClure
Chief Executive
Scottish Funding Council
Donaldson House
97 Haymarket Terrace
Edinburgh
EH12 5HD

rmcclure at sfc.ac.uk

Further information about the campaigns are available from http://www.geocities.com/glasgow_at_crichton/ (General Campaign Website) http://www.cucsa.org.uk/ (Students Representative Council and campaign website) http://www.gla.ac.uk/Staff/GAUT/Crichton/index.html (UCU Union campaign website) http://iwwscotland.wordpress.com/crichton-struggle/ (IWW campaign website)

More details from glasgow_at_crichton at yahoo.co.uk


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