Tag: humra quraishi

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Enough said

When scenes of strife sicken

Images of riots make us yearn for human suffering to stop. But what about those who actively manufacture that suffering?
Humra QuraishiHumra  Quraishi

I realise that I am talking about the Muzzaffarnagar riots for the third consecutive week through this column. And I also realise that it is futile to keep harping on the patterns of riot and how similar they were to those witnessed during the Partition.

In this connection, I remember interviewing Sunil Dutt soon after the Mumbai riots of the 90s. I asked him if there was any solution to the civil strife and the rioting. And he’d nodded and said, “Yes, there can be a solution. Last night I was going through the latest issue of Time magazine, and the horrifying photographs of war-ridden Somalia shocked me so much that I couldn’t eat. It was dinner time but I couldn’t touch a morsel. Those pictures of people dying, injured and ill, rendered so helpless that most couldn’t even walk.

“And now I am going to suggest that those pictures and others be displayed all over our towns and cities, at all public places and sunil_dutteducational institutions of our country. They should be displayed with this caption, ‘See what war can do to you, your country, your fellow human beings.’”

I had probed him on allegations that he was working only for the minorities during the Hindu-Muslim riots. Looking suitably pained, he’d said, “These are filthy allegations. These are things I can’t even dream of – like people calling me a Pakistani agent or a desh drohi married to a Muslim! Why this propaganda that I’ve worked only for Muslims? When I undertook a padyatra from Mumbai to Amritsar, it was for no Muslim cause, it was for Hindus and Sikhs!

“Even during the Bombay riots, I helped whoever was affected. Obviously I couldn’t first ask them their religion and then help them. Though I have been a victim of the Partition myself, I have suffered tremendously, but my mother taught us never to hate another human being. I have passed this on to my children. It’s important to spread this message because once there is anarchy, it ruins everything.”

And while the tension abates somewhat over Muzaffarnagar (or that is what we believe, safe in our homes elsewhere), I am wondering about former army chief General VK Singh’s recent revelations. Sitting on his safe perch, assured of a strong political career with Narendra Modi as his chief, with an adequate monthly pension to boot, the General has only now spoken about money being given to certain politicians in the Kashmir Valley.

VK singhTwo things: one, if General VK Singh was aware of this, why didn’t he speak out earlier? Why now? Also, if what he is saying is true, is it really as shocking as all that? Don’t we all know that it is an ongoing trend to have money pumped from one location to another – to silence many voices and to keep one’s rule intact?

Little wonder, then, that in each and every conflict zone of this country, a certain section of society thrives. It’s this section – comprising politicians, informers, suppliers, sometimes even the police – that gets rich and flourishes. No wonder, also, that so many conflicts take place in the country fairly regularly.

Humra Quraishi is a senior political journalist based in Gurgaon. She is the author of Kashmir: The Untold Story and co-author of Simply Khushwant.

(Pictures courtesy www.the-south-asian.com, www.firstpost.com, www.topnews.in)

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Campaign

When I lost my father to Alzheimer’s

The disorder can wreak havoc with a person’s life, and he or she can wither away before your eyes.

 

Humra Quraishiby Humra Quraishi

Those affected by the Alzheimer’s disorder change drastically, beyond recognition. Their memory becomes ‘polka dotted’, with only little islands of memory remaining. With pathological changes in the brain beginning to take place, the affected person’s lifestyle and personality, and everything else connected with them undergo a sharp transformation. The affected person may get into a shell or turn aggressive, or could sit looking lost and forlorn. And as the memory cells deteriorate and decline, the affected person finds it difficult to recognise his or her children.

My family didn’t have the slightest clue about the Alzheimer’s Disorder (AD) until it struck home. My father, Iqtidar Ali Khan, started displaying symptoms soon after his retirement. He began forgetting mundane things and started slipping into depression. At times, he would sit all by himself, looking lost and forlorn, or else sit sobbing. When we would sit beside him and hold his hand, or hug him, he would feel reassured. We didn’t realise that there was something more to the apparent bouts of depression and forgetfulness.

Then, one day, my father got lost in the park. More such incidents followed. Though he had been driving for decades, he suddenly couldn’t drive with the same confidence. Then he lost the sense of roads and familiar settings.

Within weeks, my handsome and well-dressed father had changed. Earlier, he had been very particular about going to the club alzheimersfor tennis or going on long drives, but within a short period of time, all that changed. He seemed lost, shutting himself into a shell…his memory shrank with each passing day. In effect, this is what Alzheimer’s roughly all about: shrinkage of the memory cells and the consequent degeneration.

My father passed away in 1996, but a couple of years before that, he couldn’t recognise us. He just stopped recognising us. His eyes conveyed restlessness, as though he wanted to say much or as if he was trying his utmost to connect with us and reach out. Sometimes he would murmur sentences and recall some incident, long gone by; something from his childhood or young life, maybe. Occasionally he would burst into tears, sob like a baby, and even go looking for his dead mother or his siblings.

One incident, in particular, shattered us. We saw him looking for something he seemed to have lost. He moved about restlessly, peering under beds, behind sofas and doors. When we asked him what the matter was, he spoke with restless impatience, “Where are my children? I’m looking for them. They’re lost! Find my children…are they lost or what!”

We were standing right there, staring at him in utter disbelief, but he couldn’t recognise us.  He had been a doting father, helping us not just with our homework but even during the emotional turmoils of our lives. Always a family man, he would wait at the dining table and not eat before all of us had assembled for dinner or any meal. An engineer by profession, he would take us on his tours when he would supervise the construction of the various dams around Jhansi town.

I cannot describe how difficult and traumatic it is to see these painful changes. It is important to mention here that the role of the immediate family is crucial. The only time my father would look a bit peaceful was when we sat close by, holding his hand, clasping him as if to reassure him. Human bonding takes care of much of the pain that an AD-affected goes through.

(Pictures courtesy thinkprogress.org, www.cnn.com. Images are used for representational purpose only) 

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Enough said

Why the silence on ‘those’ rapes?

Several women were reportedly raped and molested during the recent Muzaffarnagar riots in UP. Why is nobody talking about them?
Humra Quraishiby Humra Quraishi

Last week saw two crucial announcements taking place – one, death for the four Delhi rapists of Nirbhaya, and two, the official appointment of Narendra Modi as the BJP’s Prime Ministerial candidate for the General Elections next year.

Both these announcements put to mind a certain fact – hundreds of women were raped in the 2002 Gujarat pogrom, and more recently, there were reports of rape and sexual harassment of women from the ‘weaker sections’ during the Muzaffarnagar riots.

I cannot fathom the silence about these atrocities. Why were these victims not allowed to lodge formal complaints? Who are these rapists? Why are there no arrests? Why were no death sentences passed against them? Why are the criminals allowed to go untouched, or even allowed to escape?

What is the establishment saying: that rapes taking place during a pogrom or a communal riot can be forgotten or bypassed? That they are modi not important enough to merit investigation? Except for certain sections of the national media, not one political party in the country has spoken about this extremely disturbing news; that women were harassed and raped and molested during the recent rioting in West Uttar Pradesh. And that they and their families have not dared to file a formal complaint, perhaps out of fear of the aftermath.

So many women sit bruised and broken…

It is this acceptance of such grave injustice that worries me the most. And it has been happening right from the 2002 pogrom. I have been meeting Muslims affected in Gujarat on and off since 2002, and they have been saying over and over that they have learnt to live like second class citizens, with third class living conditions. They dare not speak out against the powers that be, for that could mean doom. If they have to survive, they have no choice but be silent spectators to their own pain and humiliation.

Some of them, I fear, could even be lured towards Modi’s political party, a party that wears a multitude of masks! The BJP is a party that believes in multiplying through an array of shrewd strategies amidst a conspiracy of silence and clever attacks.

Even more worrying is the feeling of doom in the air…much before the elections of 2014 come about, there have been very worrying developments in the country. A very militant sort of communalism is rearing its ugly head bit by bit. Are we to sit and quietly await developments, even as injustices are meted out every day?

Humra Quraishi is a senior political journalist based in Gurgaon. She is the author of Kashmir: The Untold Story and co-author of Simply Khushwant.

(Pictures courtesy daily.bhaskar.com, www.sandeepweb.com)

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Enough said

In memory of Muzaffarnagar

A peaceful town in its earlier years is currently the battleground for communal hatred. What caused this change and why?
Humra Quraishiby Humra Quraishi

I was born in Uttar Pradesh and I spent my childhood and my carefree teenage years in that State. I travelled to several remote villages and locales there because my father was particular about his family – my amma and his children – tagging along in our open jeep or in our Baby Hindustan car.

We had travelled through Western UP’s Muzaffarnagar and the adjoining belt on several occasions. I can still recall the sights: sprawling sugarcane fields, dozens of workers on the fields, several zamindars and farmers walking about. There was never a bit of tension among communities and never any question raised about caste or creed, and certainly no communal hatred. We’d spent hours initially roaming about, even travelled late at night and it seemed so perfect. Not once did we hear any mention of so-and-so being a Yadav or a Jat or a Musalmaan or a Brahmin.

All of those idyllic images from my childhood were rudely shattered from the early 90s onwards, with worsening communal tensions over the years. The hatred spread all over, furious and uncontrolled. In 2007 or 2008, at a SAARC writers meet in Agra, I’d asked the New Delhi-based historian Rifaqat Ali details about the ground situation in and around that belt. His observations were particularly relevant because he hails from rural Aligarh.

He said, “The fact is this: only a Jat or a Yadav can have the confidence to write his name atop his vehicle. For a Musalmaan it will spell death or doom. He dare not flaunt his name, Muzaffarnagar picks up gunsespecially in an unknown area.” On another occasion, an academic who belongs to Western Uttar Pradesh told me that though his wife wears a burqa or a hijab, he finds the practice unsafe when they travel homewards. “It is prudent not to ‘look’ like a Musalmaan, for your vehicle could be stopped and damaged, and you could be attacked…anything could happen.”

If you ask about the cops and what they do to save or salvage the mounting tensions, the answers you receive reveal a complexity beyond the expected corruption in the ranks. Apparently, at the constable level, they are recruited as per their caste and creed, so when a situation arises, they act or attack based on whether their community is involved. A Yadav minister or Chief Minister would be more than tempted to enroll as many Yadavs in the force as possible. A Jat minister would do likewise, and this pattern continues across several castes. It would be interesting to know the exact percentage of cops vis-a-vis the community ruling at that moment.

And this communal hatred has spread to the nearby villages and qasbas and towns of Western Uttar Pradesh. Right-wing goons have turned the area into a cesspool. Till date, the BJP MLA from that particular area, Sangeet Som, has not been arrested and thrown into prison, despite uploading the fake video that started the recent mess and which will affect generations of people forever. Nor have other politicians involved in the issue.

Ironical, isn’t it, that the same belt of Western Uttar Pradesh, which had seen the start of the ouster of the British from our land with the Mutiny of 1857 is today embroiled in anarchy? But what happens next? Obviously, a thick-skinned politician or an absolute fool might appear on TV and say, “All is coming back to normal! Only 37 are dead and another 100 are injured, and several others have fled. But the situation is under control!”

What about the four BJP men accused on inciting violence and who have gone underground? What was the police doing? Where were the inputs from IB? What about the role of the Akhilesh Yadav Government? Even if the father-son duo of Mulayam and Akhilesh cry themselves hoarse with the “It’s a Right-wing conspiracy!” refrain, the question they are still not answering is: Why didn’t their police force act?

Humra Quraishi is a senior journalist based in Gurgaon. She is the author of Kashmir: The Untold Story and co-author of Simply Khushwant.

(Pictures courtesy www.thehindu.com, www.hindustantimes.com)

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Enough said

Saluting a young girl’s courage

It isn’t easy to stand up to a politically well-connected Indian godman, but Asaram Bapu’s victim has shown tremendous grit.
Humra Quraishiby Humra Quraishi

What a lot of news has been capturing our attention in the last few days! Narendra Modi being nailed by his own men. Zubin Mehta’s concert in Kashmir in jeopardy. The Indian Rupee bouncing back a bit after the appointment of a new RBI Governor. And of course, other items of interest, such as daily rising inflation, scams and yet more rapes…

But what has gripped the nation the most is the recent arrest of self-styled godman Asaram Bapu, who is facing charges of sexual assault of a 15-year-old girl. And though he evaded arrest for a while and was later caught, what remained constant throughout was how tenaciously the victim stuck to her story.

Initial details of the case have revealed strong traces of perversion and an almost sickening level of lust in Asaram’s several alleged sexual encounters. As well-connected as he is, it took sustained media pressure and queries from the general public about the delay in his arrest to finally get the Government machinery to act against him. And this is why it is important to applaud his teenaged victim, the girl who had the grit to not just give details of his misdeeds with her.

It is not easy to go to a police station and give a written complaint of this nature. Such a complaint is accompanied by the most intrusive and insensitive of questions – ‘Who raped/molested? How? When? How much? Where are the injuries? Who are you? What does your family do? What is your private life like?’

And so on.

It must be utterly traumatic, after already having undergone a severe trauma, to then be asked to narrate details about one’s own rape, then undergo medical tests and face severe media speak out against sex offencesfocus. But this girl and her family have gone through all this bravely, without the slightest trace of fear. I hope that the Government deems it fit to provide her and her family with protection, because who knows what might happen next?

After Asaram’s arrest, it seems worthwhile to once again believe in the adage, ‘Truth does prevail’. There will be several obstacles till the girl finally gets justice, but the truth does hold out.

Humra Quraishi is a senior political journalist based in Gurgaon. She is the author of Kashmir: The Untold Story and co-author of Simply Khushwant.

(Pictures courtesy indiatoday.intoday.in, www.rediff.com) 

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Enough said

Come September…

A word to the wise as World Alzheimer’s Day approaches this month. But how much do we know about Alzheimer’s?
Humra Quraishiby Humra Quraishi

World Alzheimer’s Day is weeks away – it falls on September 21 every year. But days and weeks before that day, I sit introspecting on this baffling disorder, Alzheimer’s. Ever since my father was struck down by this disorder, (he died in the winter of 1996), I have been trying to focus attention on this disorder, together with ways to cope with and handle the patient. Today, with life spans on the rise, the numbers of Alzheimer’s-affected are on the rise.

Yet, there is little awareness of the disease.

Alzheimer’s is a progressive, degenerative disease that attacks the brain and results in impaired memory, thinking and behaviour. With memory cells shrinking fast, there is a gradual loss of memory, decline in the ability to perform routine tasks, disorientation with regard to time, personality changes and a difficulty to express and communicate. An estimated 26.6 million people worldwide were afflicted with Alzheimer’s in 2006; and this number may quadruple by 2050. There could be hundreds and thousands more affected by it, as the symptoms of this disorder are often mistaken to be age-related, or manifestations of stress or some form of ‘madness’.

Perhaps the biggest tragedy is that till date, there is little remedy in terms of a cure. There is no medical breakthrough yet in terms of Alzheimer'sharnessing memory cells. In the disorder, the memory reservoir becomes ‘polka dotted’, and the patient may remember his present and past life in fits and starts, or not at all.

With this in the backdrop, the role of caregivers and family members is of the utmost significance. The affected person needs to be handled with love and sensitivity. The caregiver must try to keep the patient in her or his familiar surroundings and preferably in the home environs, listen to them and try to talk to them, make them feel wanted. That  bonding helps even if the patient has reached the very last stage of the disease – when he or she is unable to recognise even close family members or children.

My own father was somewhat comfortable and happy if we’d clasp his hand and hug him. He would talk of his childhood, of his mother. Often, he would sob like a child, going from room to room looking for his mother, as though she was still alive…

I could write volumes on Alzheimer’s, but I must emphasise this: if there is an Alzheimer’s afflicted person you know, handle him or her as you would handle a baby, with a lot of love and care and sensitivity. There’s no substitute for human warmth. A great majority of diseases could be alleviated by just a touch of warmth and a bit of bonding. Clasping the person’s hand or giving them a gentle hug could provide them the comfort they need as they battle their confused thoughts.

Humra Quraishi is a senior journalist based in Gurgaon. She is the author of Kashmir: The Untold Story and co-author of Simply Khushwant. ‘Enough Said’ is her weekly column on current affairs, social issues and other musings.

(Pictures courtesy www.indianexpress.com, www.ekantipur.com)

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