[Reader-list] Jogeshwari Past and Present

[meena menon]

Hi all,
This is the fourth posting of  my Sarai independent fellowship on Recovering
Lost Histories where I am meeting the riot victims of Mumbai and looking at
how the city has changed after 1992-93. This posting is on Jogeshwari. I' d
also like to thank people on this list who have sent in many useful
suggestions.

Cheers
Meena
meenamenon at gmail.com

Jogeshwari Past and Present

Jogeshwari East saw some of the worst rioting during the 1992-93 riots.
Those were not the first riots in the area which has a long history of
communal strife. But what happened in January 1993 changed the way people
would live in that area forever. A lot of changing over happened which has
been documented by YUVA in their report titled Planned Segregation by Miloon
Kothari and Nasreen Contractor. Wounds are deep and time has been a healer
in many ways. There is no political exigency now to kill and gain votes.
Till that greed resurfaces, Jogeshwari enjoys its communal harmony, however
fragile.


THE BORDER

>From Jogeshwari suburban station east you have to share an autorickshaw into
Meghwadi. As you sit crushed in the back seat, the rickshaw careers through
the narrow roads, past the large stinking nallah where some egrets search
for food and down the slope into Meghwadi. The centre of the storm during
the riots of January 1993, today "the border" as it's still called is
relatively peaceful. The bloody riots only intensified that separation
though bridges have been built over the years. As you get off the auto, the
local Shiv Sena shakha greets you with giant posters of Uddhav Thackeray and
saffron flags. Shops and vegetable vendors cram the "border" which splits
the Hindu and Muslim dominated localities of this western suburb.



It was in Gandhi chawl on Jogeshwari east that four persons  were burnt
alive,  two died later on January 7, 1993. This led to the worst episode of
rioting all over Mumbai. Today Gandhi chawl has been rebuilt and is the
office of the NGO YUVA which bought it over since no one was willing to live
here. Jogeshwari has witnessed repeated riots since 1964 in varying
intensities and for the people who live there it is an uneasy backdrop to
their existence. Yet things are changing and some efforts are being made to
forge links among communities in the area.

 AAGAZ, SAHAR, AKANKSHA

 It's a Sunday morning and I am going to attend the inaugural function of a
youth group called Aagaz. Sitaram Shelar from YUVA which has done extensive
work in the area is there to meet me and make sure I don't get lost. We
climb the trademark narrow staircase into the loft above a medical clinic
and there is a large group of young people already gathered. The walls of
the room are freshly painted and plastered with posters defining Aagaz.
There is an expectant buzz before the formal inauguration and everyone looks
justifiably proud.

Sitaram, who also grew up in Jogeshwari and is a field convenor with YUVA,
says that its work with the affected communities in the area and since 1998
with the youth has made a big difference. "We focus on some core issues like
gender justice, civic issues, and livelihoods," says Sitaram. Many youth
groups have sprung up in the area and are extremely active.

Shaali Abdul Sheikh, one of the youngsters who has set up Aagaz says they
started a year ago with a handful of members. "We wanted to do something for
the youth and we have organised medical camps and after the serial train
blasts on July 11, 2006, we had peace rallies. Aagaz means beginning," he
points out with a smile. Shaali lives in Janata colony which is in Bandra
plot,  a predominantly Muslim dominated settlement.  Now 22, Shaali was a
kid when the riots broke out. "There was a feeling that Hindus and Muslims
are separate entities. We lived in a ghetto surrounded by non Muslims, I had
very few interactions with other  communities," he says.  His association
with YUVA helped him meet many people and dispel a lot of his misgivings. "I
used to worry about religion. We lived near the border and we had to shift
inside for safety. We were kept at home as kids and rarely could we move
out. Our parents used to worry," he said.

After his association with YUVA he says he looked at people not as belonging
to a particular religion but as human beings. "In Aagaz we have about 20
members from all communities. We run by private contributions and we want to
bring a lot of changes. We don't want any more riots here," Shaali says
firmly.



Another organisation which has been working for a while in Jogeshwari is
SAHAR(Society for awareness harmony and equal rights) in Jogeshwari run by
Sheikh Masood Akhtar. The repeated riots in Jogeshwari already ensured the
process of ghettoisation. After 1992-93 that process was complete and about
five per cent of Hindus are left in this area, he said.  The riots left a
deep impact on those growing up seeing it. Again Akhtar was driven by the
need to do something. "We had street plays on communal harmony, we began
helping students with their school books and we also were part of the
mohalla committee. Meetings were initiated between police and people as
there was a lot of distrust." SAHAR held programmes like Diwali Milan to
bring youth and police together. Another idea was to host sports meets so
that children of Urdu and English medium schools would get a chance to
compete with each and later even become friends. Now lack of funds is
hampering this event.  SAHAR has also held  workshops to break down
stereotypes with the help of International Association for Religious Freedom
and also responds to various civic needs.



Walking down the road from Aagaz you come to where the tenements end and a
group of apartments have sprung up. Just before the end, is a large
square  building
with Akanksha Seva Sangh painted across it. Set up by Shiv Sena corporator
Ravindra Waikar  14 years ago, Akanksha functions as a Balwadi and has now
branched out into working with women and helping them with credit and
savings groups.  Vasant Ambore of Akanksha says that the organisation also
hosts melas, works with handicapped in the western suburbs and also with the
youth. Though it worked mainly with Hindu communities in the area, for two
years as part of another venture Samaj Sanshodhan Kendra, they interacted
with other communities. "This started an exchange and  after that if there
is some problem we do get in touch and we sit together and sort out
problems. Initially the police also had mohalla committees but that did not
work," he said.



Ambore says that since those riots many things have changed. He has also
worked with Muslim youth in the area and mobilized them to form groups.  There
are some seven or eight groups now. "We understand the politics behind the
riots and both sides feel this should not happen," he says. He was quite
proud that Aagaz was set up with some of the youth he had worked with. It
has members of different communities and the atmosphere is quite different
now.  Akanksha was set up in 1982 and since 1999 it functions as a balwadi.

YUVA'S Community Resource Centre (CRC) worked in the area to bring together
youth. Ambore used to stay on the border and though his house was damaged he
did not move from there. He came across CRC and started attending their
programmes. "I was attracted to the political meetings (called by the Sena)
but I also went for meetings by YUVA and Salokha, which worked on communal
harmony. I feel now I have a realistic picture of what happens. The Sena is
not as radical as it used to be," he feels. Youth groups try to keep a
balance between all parties instead of adhering to any single ideology.



Both communities have found many common causes and the July 26 floods in
2005 was a case in point. "We come together on common issues and we have
good relations in that sense," he says.  Communal issues occupy very little
time now maybe about 25 per cent of our work, he adds. There are some
staunch Hindutva wadis but the earlier fervour has gone down, he feels.
However politically people are divided and geographically too in many ways.
Despite this there is an atmosphere of cooperation. At least for the moment.

RABIA BI

Communities who live there know fragile this peace can be. And the memories
of those riots are very fresh for those who lost their loved ones. Rabia Apa
or Rabiabi Ahmed Naik recalls the fear and terror of those times.  She was
among those actively involved in the peace efforts after the riots.  Rabia
came from a village in Deogad on the Konkan coast. She married her husband
and has been living in Pascal colony since 1975. A housewife, Rabiabi was
forced to come out of her house after her daughter's marriage broke up.  "I
started helping other people and during the riots I was among those who
tried to broker peace and help the affected," she said.



She remembers the eerie silence that fell over the slum after much of the
violence had abated. "We had a Maharashtrian living in our lane- we did not
let anything happen to that family," she said. However, many families left
after the riots, making Pascal colony more of a Muslim pocket.  Many Muslim
families moved into the area and there was a lot of changing over.  Rabia
was among those who testified to police inaction and Sena's role in the
riots before Justice Srikrishna. "I agree the attacks were on both sides but
police sided with them" she said.  "So many businesses were hit and it took
so long for people to come back and get their lives on track. Now people can
roam freely and there is no fear. The common person today understands that
riots are not for them," she added.

 THE PAST AND PRESENT

The riots are not something that Sadiqa Sheikh will ever forget. A few rooms
away from Rabia's house, Sadiqa sits on the floor cutting vegetables. She
earns a living by selling lunches and dinners to a few people. Her son
Mohammed has appeared for the tenth standard and is waiting for his results.
He stares at the television set.

Mohammed was six months old when the riots broke. "I managed to educate him
…sometimes I don't know how, At times some others paid my fees and once his
school teachers saw me on TV and then they did not take any fees from me,"
Sadiqa said.  "For a few years I did get money for school fees. Once I got
Rs 2600 and then Rs 3500 but after that nothing. I had to run around so much
making affidavits after my husband died."

She was married in 1991 and her husband was a tailor who used to work in a
factory.  "I can never forgive the police, they shot my husband
deliberately- he was just standing outside." Behind where she lives is
Shankarwadi- the police aimed their guns through broken toilet windows.  "I
don't want to spoil my son s life by making him work. I want to educate him
and make something out of him," she said.

Her husband was among the four men shot dead in that area. Sadiqa has spent
her life after the riots working from home to make ends meet. She used to
deliver milk early morning, do odd jobs and now she makes tiffins which her
son delivers. She stays with her husband's brothers who want to throw her
out of house. Her mother- in- law was good to her and she kept pleading to
be allowed to stay on till her son did his schooling. Now that has come to
an end.  "They say I got Rs two lakhs as compensation and now I should get
out of this house and live some where else. Where will I go," she asked.

Looking at Sadiqa in her early thirties, and the way she has managed to put
her life back on track, well almost, I think she will come up with a new
survival strategy.

Ends/

-- 
Meena
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: http://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/reader-list/attachments/20070613/a3e96b85/attachment.html