Fifty-seven persons, mostly women and children, were killed and 43 sustained burn injuries when a coach of the Faizabad-Ahmedabad Sabarmati Express carrying `Ram sevaks’ was set afire by a group of people on the outskirts of the Godhra railway station, about 200 km from here, this morning. The `Ram sevaks’ were returning from Ayodhya.
Hindus die in train fire (BBC)
Fifty-seven Hindu pilgrims have died in a fire on a train in India…A gang of Muslims are suspected of causing the fire…it appears this morning’s train fire was started by a gang of Muslims who were angered by pro-Hindu chanting on the train.
News was the same. Sources were dissimilar. And the illustration was very different too. “A group of people” was a clever phrase to masquerade the assailants. But the fact remains that a bunch of cowards attacked a train full of pilgrims. They burned them alive. Women, kids everyone.
Tomorrow news channels will “remember” the Gujarat riots in their own special ways. There will be special programs, a candle protest maybe and screeching journalists will invite “eminent” intellectuals who eat, sleep and fart Pseudo-liberalism to “discuss” the matter. And hence the most publicized and wept upon riot will be remembered again. Modi will be decorated with diverse adjectives – from “Yamraj” to “Maut ka Saudagar”. Remembering 2002 is a mad mad jamboree, a grand feast for all Pseudo-liberals. Compassion will be served on a golden platter. Pictures will be circulated on social media. The Hindu Rakshaks will have verbal duels with Muslim warriors and then next day everything will be normal.
Godhra will go unnoticed again. No one will draw attention to the fact that the town witnessed communal riots in 1947, 1952, 1959, 1961, 1965, 1967, 1972, 1974, 1980, 1983, 1989, 1990 and in 1992 and Congress party was in power back then. No one will shed a tear. No chest beatings, no intellectual discussions. Godhra train burning will again be an orphan. Remember “Kai Po Che”, where the director shows a fifteen second footage of the train burning episode and a full half an hour of angry “Sanghis” torching Muslim colonies.
Our secularism is partial. The elite and progressive news industry in India doesn’t shy away from camouflaging the obvious truth and covers up information by using indirect references. The sad fact about us that our show of grief is selective, mercy is selective, compassion is selective, purpose is selective, and justice is selective. The sad fact about us is that we are a nation full of hypocrites.
