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In Rajasthan, where she works, both Muslims and Christians are being attacked. bastard marwadis, they are hated in HYD.

Anti-Muslim ‘poison’ still strong , says Aruna Roy

Thursday, 06 December 2007

Kochi, December 06: Five years after the 2002 communal carnage, the ‘poison’ of anti-Muslim hatred is still very strong in Gujarat which is going to the polls shortly, says renowned social worker and Magsaysay Award winner Aruna Roy.

“The poison stays,” said Ms. Roy, whose campaigns for getting the right to information legislated won international appreciation. “The whole society acts like Hitler.”

She was speaking at a seminar on ‘Human rights and development’ at Rajagiri College, Kalamassery, on Tuesday.

Different

The Gujarat carnage was different from the 1984 Delhi riots (in which nearly 3,000 Sikhs were massacred) in that the situation in Delhi had turned normal soon after the riot, she said. “But in Gujarat, even today, the current thinking is such that people do not listen to reason; the society acts completely without rationality.”

Religious identity was the ‘lowest common denominator’ in Gujarat’s social life. “Are you a Muslim, or are you a Hindu? This Bush-like question determined one’s position in society. One single community has grabbed all debates and the public domain.”

Systematic campaign

She pointed out that this situation was the outcome of 25-30 years of systematic campaign against the Muslims.

Every psychological issue had been used to demonise Muslims. This was the reason why the State flared up in minutes after the Godhra incident.

Such campaigns are going on in many other States too, she cautioned.

In Rajasthan, where she works, both Muslims and Christians are being attacked. In view of such campaigns, the biggest challenge to human rights in India was to keep pluralism alive.

She pointed out that the definition of human rights had expanded enormously. Apart from the traditional rights such as the right to life and security, it also includes, she said, “the right to stay on your property, the right to water, right to send your children to school and your right to work.”

-Agencies