An Interview

Miss Naim Siddiqui(39) still has a grim picture, of 10dec 92 communal riots at Bhopal, in her mind. The cruel coincidence was that her birthday happened to be on the same day. Her house was burnt to rags by a mob. “It was god who had given us and it is him who gas taken back from us” consoles her father after Naim saw her brothers and sisters’ books and things burned to ashes.
The harmony of the city was broken by Post Babri riots which lasted for a week.
The city was divided on communal lines for the first time after the gas tragedy.

Miss Naim recalls the day; that day a sadhu came to their house asking for her mother to come out to take blessings .he stayed there for a while and went away from the place before marking the house with a chalk or some thing . later in the evening some of the Hindu confidants of Siddiqui family alerted them about the brewing anger in the Hindu community. But Mr. Siddiqui felt a bit awkward as he was a revered figure in the neighborhood because of his education and stature .any way when they saw the environment of tension and disgust building up they sheltered at Mr Shrivastava’s (house at the back of Siddiqui’s).Naim could actually listen the voices of the mod because of the proximity. They inadvertently went into their neighbor,Mr. david’s house but someone directed the mod towards her house.”They were asking among themselves about the accessories such as hairdryer which they could not make out as it was imported” she says jokingly.
The Siddiqui family was wrecked financially and emotionally because it was their native home and never expected such a reaction from people. But Namim’s father inspired them to carry on and not to hassle over the things. He told them to use this thing as the positive energy which would help them to succeed. He said that education is the biggest tool to fight the evils of the society. ”Khudi ko kar buland itna ki har takdir ke pehle khuda bande se puche bata teri raza kya hai ”he used to say to his children.
As a result Naim’s younger sister who had to take a drop year while preparing for medical exams is now a doctor. Her elder brother is now a computer engineer and works a reputed software firm. She herself went on to pursue masters in computer education.
Her father Mr. Asif Siddiqui retired as AGM, BHEL Bhopal used to get repeated threats from fundamentalists even after the whole thing. He always insured that his kids should get all kinds of comfort. Once it happened that it was a bit hot day and her father scolded them for why was the fan off. But after their house was burned he really didn’t care but used to get sad. This is greatest discomfort Naim feels even now.
She feels that it was all politically motivated.BJP then government had no real issues to win elections engineered riots and also lost the elections. But on the other hand siddiqui family had voted for Shivraj Singh’s BJP govt. because of the good development work it did.
“Hatred takes no one any where “these are the guiding words of her father which has helped them to rise again.
GOVERNMENT’S RESPONSE
· A meager compensation of 10,000 rupees.





















News clippings
Post-Babri Bhopal riots a conspiracy: Report
EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE Posted: Mar 05, 2004 at 0000 hrs IST
BHOPAL, MARCH 4 Twelve years after the riots, and four years after it was submitted, the inquiry report into the post-Babri Masjid demolition riots in Bhopal and Ujjain was tabled in the Madhya Pradesh Assembly today.
The then BJP government in the state was dismissed for failing to maintain law and order during the week-long riots that left 142 dead, 34 of them in police firing. But the report, while a damning indictment of the state administrative, intelligence and police machinery, concludes that it is ‘‘not possible to say whether it was any political party that had hands in engineering riots in Bhopal’’. At the same time, the report also makes the claim that the riots were the result of ‘‘a wholly planned action’’.
The report holds the BJP government responsible for failing to control the law and order and inspire confidence in the Muslims. It concludes: ‘‘At the ministerial level, the BJP government had failed to inspire confidence in the Muslims. The Government had failed to prevent the communal riots and to control them on the 7th and 8th of December 1992.’’ It observes: ‘‘The widespread unprecedented mob violence seen in Bhopal was an eye-opener as to the frail structure of the communal harmony and the far-reaching consequences of use of ethnic issues to serve political ends. The security of life and prosperity which any good government had to provide had disappeared.’’
But on the more specific charge of engineering the riots, it concludes, ‘‘Various latches in the action of the administration in taking preventive measures and not taking timely action was not deliberate, but as said earlier, the result of complacency that nothing will happen at Bhopal and failure of local intelligence to give them proper information about the growing trouble. It cannot be said that the Government desired or engineered the riot.’’
The report adds: ‘‘The Commission made an attempt to seek the CBI’s help to find out as to who engineered the riots. The CBI also gave up the investigation and search because after some time they were unable to get any clues as to who was behind these riots. The riots were the result of a well-planned conspiracy...the place where the conspiracy was planned could have been either inside Madhya Pradesh or more likely that it was not in Madhya Pradesh and therefore the local intelligence had not the opportunity of sensing a remote whisper.’’
The report is, however, far more specific about administrative, intelligence and police failures. The then District Magistrate, DIG, IGP and DGP have been held responsible for the inadequacy of the police force in Bhopal. The then DM has also been held responsible for belatedly seeking the Army’s help. The DM, the then Home Secretary, the Chief Secretary have been held responsible for not placing the town under prohibitory orders from December 6, 1992.
The MP administration which had accepted the report under the Digvijay regime, while agreeing with the broad thrust of the report, has disagreed with the conclusion over some vital issues.
The then Home Secretary while submitting the report to the Assembly in Sept 2003, has disagreed with the conclusion that there was no concrete evidence to connect any political party with riots. While accepting the failure of the then DM, the then SP and intelligence setup, the Home Secretary has disagreed with the conclusion that the then Chief Secretary, Home Secretary, IGP and Commissioner were also accountable for the lapses.



Amarnath row singes Indore, four killed
Four persons were killed and over two dozen including a policeman were injured in violence in Indore as saffron activists unleashed a reign of error across the BJP-ruled Madhya Pradesh
during the VHP-sponsored Bharat bandh on Thursday.
Tension prevailed in several communally sensitive areas of Bhopal too as Bajrang Dal men forced closure of shops, damaged vehicles and beat up commuters.
Jabalpur, Jhabua, Dhar, Dewas, Hoshangabad, Satna and several other towns also witnessed vandalism. Jeweller Hiralal in Satna set himself afire as VHP workers forced him to close his shop. He sustained 90 per cent burns. In Indore, curfew was imposed in four areas following violence.
RK Choudhry, Indore SP, said three persons were killed and several others injured in clashes between two communities. An injured person succumbed to his injuries later.
The collector and the SP confirmed the four deaths but refused to disclose the identities of the deceased, saying it would increase tension. They said two of the deceased died of bullet injuries while two others were killed by miscreants.The Congress and the Left parties said the violence was a well-planned BJP conspiracy to whip up communal passions ahead of the assembly elections and sought dismissal of the Shivraj Singh Chouhan Government.
“The Shivraj government has completely surrendered before the saffron terrorists. There is enough proof of the BJP’s involvement in today’s violence and therefore, the Governor should recommend President’s Rule in Madhya Pradesh,” said Leader of the Opposition Jamuna Devi.
In other states
Bandh remained largely peaceful in other parts of the country. It was naturally successful in BJP-ruled states or in those where the party is sharing power.
Surprisingly in Gujarat, normal life was almost uninterrupted as the ruling BJP had dissociated itself from the VHP-sponsored protest action.
This was done to prevent communal tension from arising on the eve of the Rath Yatra beginning on Friday. But political observers saw it as Narendra Modi’s subtle message to the VHP — on how limited its influence is without the BJP’s backing.(With inputs from state bureaux)