Case Study 2 - Violence in India
The day after fifty-eight Hindus died in a train fire, violence flared in the nearby city of Ahmedabad, where mobs formed throughout the city. Here's what a few people had to say.
Why the Violence?
Afsana-Yesterday a Muslim mob torched a train carrying Hindus. Today a Hindu mob come into this district and burned a house to the ground. The Muslim family inside was burned alive. Tomorrow there will be a retaliation. This is just the way things go. It's been like this for years. The violence never stops.
Sarmast - The story is more complicated than you think. The people who were on that train supported the Vishwa Hindu Parishad. In 1992 that group tore down an ancient Moslem Mosque. It was built in the 16th century and was a place of prayer for many of my ancestors. The people on the train wanted to build a Hindu temple overtop the ruins of our Mosque. They had just spent the day visiting the site - they even brought their carvings, ready to install. When they got on the train to go home they began to chant Hindu slogans. Their behaviour was outrageous and disrespectful-a recipe for violence.
Dholka, a medium-sized town 40 km southwest of Ahmedabad, has a history of rioting, but following the train fire there were no major incidents of violence. A few citizens explain why.
Why the Peace?
I am Champakal, a furniture maker and citizen of Dholka. We avoided the rioting because we understand how these things begin. When people start throwing stones at each other, it is only a matter of time before mobs form, and we all know where that leads. On the day that news of the train fire began to spread, we had a meeting of Hindu and Muslim leaders. Both sides agreed that if stone throwing began in their regions, they would not react and call the police. We avoided the formation of mobs, and this is how we kept the peace.
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I am Chudasama, a local town leader. It was mostly the work of the peace committees that kept the riots at bay. A few days after the train fire, a rumour spread through town that a Hindu leader had been killed. Within a few hours, 5000 Hindus rushed through the town center, burning many Muslim shops. One boy was killed. Of course no Hindu leader had been killed-rumours spread easily here. But the peace committees quickly organized a rally that went from temple to mosque. Hindus and Muslims walked across the city together, from one place of prayer to the other. It was a touching moment. After that, those who wanted to start riots knew that people would not support them.
Canadian Context
While the riots in India reflect a degree of violence that is hard for many Canadians to imagine, Canadians are not immune to the mob mentality that sparks such violence. The murder of Reena Virk in Victoria, B.C. involved eight teenagers. They kicked and punched Reena eighteen times in the head before dumping her in the ocean, where she drowned. The murder was not planned. One of the girls involved said that things just got out of control. "It all happened so fast. It was like I was involved before I even thought about it," she said. During the trial, Warren Glowatski-who was eventually was convicted of murder-could not tell the court why he assaulted a girl who he did not even know.
Today, many concerned students and teachers see peace education as the best way to prevent future violence and conflict. Peace education teaches youth to live well together. Hetty van Gurp, a former Halifax school teacher who heads an organization called Peaceful Schools International, says that schools are the place to teach future generations about respect and understanding. "It's all about education," she says.
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