[Reader-list] Massacres - Part 3

[Shuddhabrata Sengupta]

Pawan,

For every one instance of assaults on Hindus by Muslims that you  
post, someone else may be able to find one, two, three, four  
instances of assaults on Muslims by Hindus. And none would be false,  
neither your claims, nor theirs. And then you would find more, and  
then they would find more, and life on this list would continue to  
spiral on to a vulgar exhibitionism of everybody's agony and mutual  
hatred. We've been down that road before. Who, after all, has not had  
a hard time in the twentieth century? Which identity cannot claim for  
itself the mantle of the victim?

All this would only demonstrate what we know only too well, that  
human beings are vile, that religions (all religions, without  
exception, and modern ideologies, offer rationalizations for  
gratuitous acts of violence). So, what does that achieve ? I think  
nothing.

Can we move on from this, and explore things that are new, that are  
surprising, that are discoveries, that extend our appreciation of our  
histories instead of trading the same monotonous charges, can we  
sometimes locate the occasional highlights that still continue to  
shine in the fragile house of the human spirit?

Or must we remain forever trapped in this cycle of proving who had a  
worse twentieth century than whom? Speaking for myself, I have better  
things to do than be caught being a spectator to this kind of sado- 
masochism of the spirit. I hope I am not the only one who feels this  
way.

Shuddha

On 27-May-09, at 10:07 AM, Pawan Durani wrote:

> Sanity and Madness on 13th July, 1931
>
> The communal pogrom against Kashmiri Hindus and Khatri traders was a
> pre-planned move by the leaders of 13th July agitation and their
> sponsors - the British Political Department.
>
> Hindus became victims of the mad frenzy in Vicharnag, Maharajganj,
> Khankah Mohalla, in Srinagar city and at Shopian and Anantnag towns.
>
> The events which took place in Khankah mohalla reveal an interesting
> pattern. While the members of the majority community displayed strong
> communal passions when they came to attack Pandits, the immediate
> neighbours played a positive role.
>
> Five Pandit families lived in Khankah mohalla, opposite the Kali
> Shrine. These families included three families of Kouls - Ram Nath,
> Nilakanth and Rughnath. They were all cousins. The other two families
> - Niranjan Nath Wali and Dina Nath Wali lived jointly.
>
> Soon after looting Khatri shops in Maharajgunj the big mob turned to
> Khankah Mohalla to attack Kashmiri Hindus. The neighbours of the
> Pandit families - Gh. Mohammad Qalinbaf and Ahad Sakka (water carrier)
> rose to the occasion and decided not to betray their neighbours with
> whom they had been living through generations. At the suggestion of
> these neighbours the Kouls hid themselves in attic storey (Brer Kani)
> of the house. Sakka had asked Kouls to throw some household refuse on
> the verandah and keep windows and doors open to mislead the rioters.
> The Pandits, on hearing about the atrocities in other parts of the
> city were gripped with fear. Ram Nath recalls, "we tied our womenfolk
> with rope lest they escape out of fear. We had also decided to poison
> them to death in case an eventuality of kidnapping/molestation arose".
>
> When looters came, the families of Ahad Sakka and Qalinbaff told them
> that Pandits fled from their home on learning that the mob was on way
> to attack them. To keep rioters in good humour, Sakka and Qalinbaff
> mockingly abused Pandits and succeeded in turning the mob away. The
> mob stood for 25-30 minutes at Kaul's house.
>
> Neighbours of Walis also tried to save Walis but the mob had its way.
> Niranjan Nath Wali was an affluent person. Some people in the mob owed
> him money. They succeeded in instigating the frenzied mob to attack
> Niranjan and loot his property.
>
> After the looters left, Kouls shifted to the house of Ahad Sakka and
> stayed there for three days. This was the fortnight when Hindus
> observe shraddas of their departed near and dear ones. Members of the
> Koul family would stealthily during the night go to their home,
> prepare food and come back. At Sakka's home they took only pears and
> water.
>
> 3 days later Kouls shifted to Chinkral mohalla first and later to
> Sathu Barbarshah where Ramnath's aunt lived. Nilakanth Koul served in
> Police Department.
>
> He shifted his family to police lines. Such was the terror that
> Ramnath's family was brought back to Chinkral Mohalla in a special
> police van, nicknamed by locals as 'Rat Trap'. The Kouls never went
> back to live in the Mohalla where they had lived for centuries. They
> sold their house to Gh. Mohammad Qalinbaf in 1932. This in itself is
> an indicator of the terror created by the events of 13th July. Kashmir
> Sentinel
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Shuddhabrata Sengupta
The Sarai Programme at CSDS
Raqs Media Collective
shuddha at sarai.net
www.sarai.net
www.raqsmediacollective.net