Bhagalpur, 18 years later
The law has caught up with some of the perpetrators of the 1989 Bhagalpur riots. Fourteen of the 32 accused have been convicted. While the nightmare may have come to an end for the victims, it could just be starting for the families of the accused...
Witness for the prosecution
BIBI SHAKINA’s 53-year-old eyes have dimmed with age. But she can still see the murderous look on the face of the men who killed her husband 18 years ago. She has tried to erase the traumatic memory of that October day in 1989, but images seared into the psyche are not easy to remove—and she has lived with her nightmares all these years.
She lived a happy life, prosperous in comparison to the poverty of her village Logain—until the communal frenzy of 1989 destroyed much of what she lived for. Her house was the first to be attacked by the marauders in Logain. She saw her husband, father-in-law, brother-in-law and two sisters-in-law being butchered by the mob. She and her five children ran to the paddy fields, hid themselves and held their breath. The mob failed to notice them. She cannot decide now whether she should thank God for saving their lives or it would have been better for them to have perished then.
She should have been triumphant on Monday, therefore, when the Bhagalpur Additional District and Sessions Judge held 14 persons guilty for the massacre of 116 Muslims from Logain. But the smile is not there. All these years she has lived in fear with the killers continuously threatening her. “Don’t identify us in court,” she was told umpteen times. But an inner strength egged her on to remain the key witness in the rioting case. “How could I forget those faces? They haunted me in my dreams. The face of the policeman who kept urging us not to leave Logain, assuring us he would protect us, then himself joining the rioters to butcher my family. I would rather die than keep mum,” says Shakina.
Of the 32 accused, 14 stand convicted. Six died during trial and the rest were acquitted. She wants nothing less than death for those pronounced guilty, among them the renegade policeman. She will find out on June 27 when the court announces the penalties.
Raising five children without support from the government was not an easy task. The riots stuck to her being, even came in the way of her son’s education. “After matriculation, my elder son got admission in Bhagalpur Muslim College. The accused threatened to kill him if I did not turn hostile in court. My son had to discontinue his studies. Today he is unemployed,” she says.
It was a calamitous change of circumstances for Bibi Shakina. From the biggest landed family of Logain, she became a refugee in Babura village, 6 km away. Having evaded the rioters, Shakina and her children had crossed a river and walked for hours to reach the Muslim-dominated Babura.
“My little daughter was just nine months old and the others were aged between 2 and 6 years. I can’t imagine how I mustered the courage to flee with my children with the attackers running amok. For months I remained almost unconscious. The villagers here fed and looked after my children,” she recalls.
Since then Babura has become home. Despite assurances by government agencies, she never mustered the courage to return to Logain. For 18 years now she has not tasted the mango from her orchard. And she yearns for the taste of fish from her pond. She built a house for her family and purchased some farm land by selling a piece of her property in Logain. She has married off two of her three daughters and a son. The community came to her help in the weddings and she did not have to give dowry.
In Logain, there is virtually no trace of her earlier existence. Her two-storey house has been razed to the ground. Her farmland of more than 40 bighas has been forcibly captured by the family of Sadanand Singh, former mukhiya of the neighbouring Damuchak village. The usurper, Shakina swears, was one of those who had led the rioters. Singh was an accused in the case but died a few years ago. But his death has not helped Shakina’s cause—Singh’s sons continue to till the occupied land.
“I ran from pillar to post, petitioned the district magistrate, the police superintendent, many others, but no one has done anything to free my land. Once my son went to claim a portion of crops harvested from my land but Sadanand’s sons said they would kill him if he returned,” she says resignedly.
Land grabbing was the motive of the rioters, according to then DIG Ajit Dutt, the police officer who recovered the bodies buried in a field nearly two months after the massacre. The attack achieved its objective. Most of the Muslims, who owned more land in Logain than Hindus, were either compelled to sell their plots at throwaway prices or were forced to yield their fields to the locals. Brothers Mohammad Amir, Sohail and Samir each owned two bighas of land. A few years after the riots, life had become so difficult in Logain that they sold their land at a price of Rs 25,000 per bigha. Today they have small plots provided by the Imarat-e-Sharia in Pithna village and earn a living as daily-wage labourers.
A few Muslims families refused to turn witnesses and managed to hold on to their land. But they have paid the price for it—people like Shakina Bibi will have nothing to do with them. Sins of the fathers How was 19-year-old Rakesh Mandal to know that intimidation can cut both ways? He has lived a fairly normal life these past years though he knew his father and his uncle were accused of involvement in the rioting that took a toll of 116 lives in his village. But if for the survivors of the bloodbath the nightmare began 18 years ago, for Rakesh it may have just begun. The First Year BCom student, the eldest son of Shivlal Mandal, has rushed home from Bhagalpur town, 25 km away. The Additional District and Sessions Court of Bhagalpur has just convicted his 50-year-old father of massacring Muslims in Logain on October 27, 1989. It is suddenly the Mandals who are the fearful party. Rakesh’s future is uncertain and he may have to abandon his studies since his father is the only earning member of the family. His prospects of financial support from other relatives in the village appear bleak. His uncle Ajablal Mandal and his grand uncle, Ajablal’s father Ramdev Mandal, too have been convicted. What lies ahead will depend to a large extent on the quantum of punishment that will be pronounced by the court on June 27. “I don’t know what will happen? My mother has fallen sick from the day the court held my father guilty and had him remanded in jail. I have to support her and my two young brothers,” says Rakesh. “Being the eldest son, it is my duty to support my family in this hour of crisis. If my father gets a long jail term, then I will have to remain in the village and look after farming. In that case it will be very difficult to pursue studies,” he adds. Rakesh has no memory of the madness of that October day. He was then around a year old. But he has heard stories about it from his father and others. “My father is innocent. His name was not there in the initial FIR. He has told me that he did not kill any Muslim. It was all done by outsiders who came in thousands and attacked the village,” he says. The teenager says he belongs to a family that owns just one bigha of land and earns a living through share-cropping.
“When I reached college, it became necessary to stay in Bhagalpur town to study. It was difficult for my father to bear the cost. So I began to work as a private tutor to meet my expenses. But how can I do that if I am forced to stay in the village?” he wonders. Rakesh may be mature enough to understand the implication of the court’s conclusions. But Sanjeev Kumar, just a 13-year-old like any other, doesn’t know his family’s luck may have turned. His father Kuldip Mandal (40) and grandfather Sukhdev Mandal (87) have been convicted in the case. Ask him about their involvement in the massacre and the boy has a deadpan reply: “I don’t know what happened.” Rakesh and Sanjeev belong to the backward-caste Koiris, dominant in Logain. The Koiris are regarded as a docile community, but the dynamics of agricultural economics can play strange games with people. Most of the Koiris in Logain are petty farmers with very small land holdings. The Muslims had bigger lands and the Koiris used to work their fields as sharecroppers. Their resentment, if any, came to the fore with the riots triggered by the Ram Shila procession in Bhagalpur organised by Vishwa Hindu Parishad leader Kameshwar Yadav. The clashes spread from the urban areas to rural hamlets and among the worst hit was Logain village. There Hindu fanatics incited the Koiris against the Muslims. One villager, who refused to join in the carnage, recalls being taunted by the riot leaders: “You people are a curse on Hinduism. You work as labourers on the fields of Muslims who eat beef. Is this Pakistan?” Soon after the violence, the Congress government fell and Lalu Prasad Yadav rode to power, backed by the backwards and the Muslims who worried about their safety and security. But the way the case has meandered on for almost two decades has a lot of people fuming about vote-bank politics. They say the RJD did not want to risk angering the backwards and so chose the middle path—that while Lalu Yadav talked about empowering backwards, he promised Muslims safety and security by not allowing riots to take place. From that juncture, however, the communally sensitive Bhagalpur has moved ahead. This was evident during the Lok Sabha bypoll in the constituency in November 2006. Annoyed by the RJD’s infructuous promises, Muslims, including those severely affected by the riots, voted for the BJP’s Shahnawaz Hussain, giving him victory by a significant margin. Today, the GenNext of both Hindus and Muslims feels it is time of talk of the future, not of vengeance. “I don’t know what happened then. The communal riot has destroyed both Hindus and Muslims,” says Rakesh. “We should now fight for education and employment.” It is a sentiment echoed by the children from the Muslim families affected by the riots. “For me securing a source of earning is more urgent. The Government must free our land or give me a job so that I can look after my family,” says Mohammad Ansar, Bibi Shakina’s son. Perhaps the past 18 years have taught life’s lessons to a lot of people.
Source : Indian Express
She lived a happy life, prosperous in comparison to the poverty of her village Logain—until the communal frenzy of 1989 destroyed much of what she lived for. Her house was the first to be attacked by the marauders in Logain. She saw her husband, father-in-law, brother-in-law and two sisters-in-law being butchered by the mob. She and her five children ran to the paddy fields, hid themselves and held their breath. The mob failed to notice them. She cannot decide now whether she should thank God for saving their lives or it would have been better for them to have perished then.
She should have been triumphant on Monday, therefore, when the Bhagalpur Additional District and Sessions Judge held 14 persons guilty for the massacre of 116 Muslims from Logain. But the smile is not there. All these years she has lived in fear with the killers continuously threatening her. “Don’t identify us in court,” she was told umpteen times. But an inner strength egged her on to remain the key witness in the rioting case. “How could I forget those faces? They haunted me in my dreams. The face of the policeman who kept urging us not to leave Logain, assuring us he would protect us, then himself joining the rioters to butcher my family. I would rather die than keep mum,” says Shakina.
Of the 32 accused, 14 stand convicted. Six died during trial and the rest were acquitted. She wants nothing less than death for those pronounced guilty, among them the renegade policeman. She will find out on June 27 when the court announces the penalties.
Raising five children without support from the government was not an easy task. The riots stuck to her being, even came in the way of her son’s education. “After matriculation, my elder son got admission in Bhagalpur Muslim College. The accused threatened to kill him if I did not turn hostile in court. My son had to discontinue his studies. Today he is unemployed,” she says.
It was a calamitous change of circumstances for Bibi Shakina. From the biggest landed family of Logain, she became a refugee in Babura village, 6 km away. Having evaded the rioters, Shakina and her children had crossed a river and walked for hours to reach the Muslim-dominated Babura.
“My little daughter was just nine months old and the others were aged between 2 and 6 years. I can’t imagine how I mustered the courage to flee with my children with the attackers running amok. For months I remained almost unconscious. The villagers here fed and looked after my children,” she recalls.
Since then Babura has become home. Despite assurances by government agencies, she never mustered the courage to return to Logain. For 18 years now she has not tasted the mango from her orchard. And she yearns for the taste of fish from her pond. She built a house for her family and purchased some farm land by selling a piece of her property in Logain. She has married off two of her three daughters and a son. The community came to her help in the weddings and she did not have to give dowry.
In Logain, there is virtually no trace of her earlier existence. Her two-storey house has been razed to the ground. Her farmland of more than 40 bighas has been forcibly captured by the family of Sadanand Singh, former mukhiya of the neighbouring Damuchak village. The usurper, Shakina swears, was one of those who had led the rioters. Singh was an accused in the case but died a few years ago. But his death has not helped Shakina’s cause—Singh’s sons continue to till the occupied land.
“I ran from pillar to post, petitioned the district magistrate, the police superintendent, many others, but no one has done anything to free my land. Once my son went to claim a portion of crops harvested from my land but Sadanand’s sons said they would kill him if he returned,” she says resignedly.
Land grabbing was the motive of the rioters, according to then DIG Ajit Dutt, the police officer who recovered the bodies buried in a field nearly two months after the massacre. The attack achieved its objective. Most of the Muslims, who owned more land in Logain than Hindus, were either compelled to sell their plots at throwaway prices or were forced to yield their fields to the locals. Brothers Mohammad Amir, Sohail and Samir each owned two bighas of land. A few years after the riots, life had become so difficult in Logain that they sold their land at a price of Rs 25,000 per bigha. Today they have small plots provided by the Imarat-e-Sharia in Pithna village and earn a living as daily-wage labourers.
A few Muslims families refused to turn witnesses and managed to hold on to their land. But they have paid the price for it—people like Shakina Bibi will have nothing to do with them. Sins of the fathers How was 19-year-old Rakesh Mandal to know that intimidation can cut both ways? He has lived a fairly normal life these past years though he knew his father and his uncle were accused of involvement in the rioting that took a toll of 116 lives in his village. But if for the survivors of the bloodbath the nightmare began 18 years ago, for Rakesh it may have just begun. The First Year BCom student, the eldest son of Shivlal Mandal, has rushed home from Bhagalpur town, 25 km away. The Additional District and Sessions Court of Bhagalpur has just convicted his 50-year-old father of massacring Muslims in Logain on October 27, 1989. It is suddenly the Mandals who are the fearful party. Rakesh’s future is uncertain and he may have to abandon his studies since his father is the only earning member of the family. His prospects of financial support from other relatives in the village appear bleak. His uncle Ajablal Mandal and his grand uncle, Ajablal’s father Ramdev Mandal, too have been convicted. What lies ahead will depend to a large extent on the quantum of punishment that will be pronounced by the court on June 27. “I don’t know what will happen? My mother has fallen sick from the day the court held my father guilty and had him remanded in jail. I have to support her and my two young brothers,” says Rakesh. “Being the eldest son, it is my duty to support my family in this hour of crisis. If my father gets a long jail term, then I will have to remain in the village and look after farming. In that case it will be very difficult to pursue studies,” he adds. Rakesh has no memory of the madness of that October day. He was then around a year old. But he has heard stories about it from his father and others. “My father is innocent. His name was not there in the initial FIR. He has told me that he did not kill any Muslim. It was all done by outsiders who came in thousands and attacked the village,” he says. The teenager says he belongs to a family that owns just one bigha of land and earns a living through share-cropping.
“When I reached college, it became necessary to stay in Bhagalpur town to study. It was difficult for my father to bear the cost. So I began to work as a private tutor to meet my expenses. But how can I do that if I am forced to stay in the village?” he wonders. Rakesh may be mature enough to understand the implication of the court’s conclusions. But Sanjeev Kumar, just a 13-year-old like any other, doesn’t know his family’s luck may have turned. His father Kuldip Mandal (40) and grandfather Sukhdev Mandal (87) have been convicted in the case. Ask him about their involvement in the massacre and the boy has a deadpan reply: “I don’t know what happened.” Rakesh and Sanjeev belong to the backward-caste Koiris, dominant in Logain. The Koiris are regarded as a docile community, but the dynamics of agricultural economics can play strange games with people. Most of the Koiris in Logain are petty farmers with very small land holdings. The Muslims had bigger lands and the Koiris used to work their fields as sharecroppers. Their resentment, if any, came to the fore with the riots triggered by the Ram Shila procession in Bhagalpur organised by Vishwa Hindu Parishad leader Kameshwar Yadav. The clashes spread from the urban areas to rural hamlets and among the worst hit was Logain village. There Hindu fanatics incited the Koiris against the Muslims. One villager, who refused to join in the carnage, recalls being taunted by the riot leaders: “You people are a curse on Hinduism. You work as labourers on the fields of Muslims who eat beef. Is this Pakistan?” Soon after the violence, the Congress government fell and Lalu Prasad Yadav rode to power, backed by the backwards and the Muslims who worried about their safety and security. But the way the case has meandered on for almost two decades has a lot of people fuming about vote-bank politics. They say the RJD did not want to risk angering the backwards and so chose the middle path—that while Lalu Yadav talked about empowering backwards, he promised Muslims safety and security by not allowing riots to take place. From that juncture, however, the communally sensitive Bhagalpur has moved ahead. This was evident during the Lok Sabha bypoll in the constituency in November 2006. Annoyed by the RJD’s infructuous promises, Muslims, including those severely affected by the riots, voted for the BJP’s Shahnawaz Hussain, giving him victory by a significant margin. Today, the GenNext of both Hindus and Muslims feels it is time of talk of the future, not of vengeance. “I don’t know what happened then. The communal riot has destroyed both Hindus and Muslims,” says Rakesh. “We should now fight for education and employment.” It is a sentiment echoed by the children from the Muslim families affected by the riots. “For me securing a source of earning is more urgent. The Government must free our land or give me a job so that I can look after my family,” says Mohammad Ansar, Bibi Shakina’s son. Perhaps the past 18 years have taught life’s lessons to a lot of people.
Source : Indian Express
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