E-Paper
Tale of Guj polarisation
Farida Shaikh in Vadodara voted to protest the massacre of minorities, in Godhra Sejal Mehta voted to ensure Muslims don't gain power.
Two women defied their families to vote on Tuesday in Gujarat. But their reasons couldn't have been more different.
Farida Bano Shaikh, her face veiled, said the vote was a way to express her anger over the killings of Muslims. To Sejal Mehta, though, the balloting was part of a campaign to ensure Muslims don't gain political power.
"We should prove through democratic means that Hindus will govern the country, not Muslims," said Mehta. The families of Mehta and Shaikh stayed away, fearing renewed violence.
With some 1,65,000 police and paramilitary soldiers on guard, polling was largely peaceful.
But there were exceptions .
Clashes broke out in Borsad, 85 kms from Ahmedabad, when groups of Hindus and Muslims accused each other of trying to take over the polling station. After the dispute escalated to stone throwing, police dispersed the crowds. The violence is only one sign that religious divisions are as deep as ever in Gujarat.
Shaikh of Vadodara lives a few kilometers from Best Bakery, where 22 Muslims were burned to death during the riots. "I came to vote to protest the massacre, though I was told by my family members not to vote. They feared there would be violence," Shaikh said as she stood in a line with her two young children.
The Supreme Court decision (to order retrial of the case), Shaikh said, "has given me the courage to come out."
In Godhra, Mehta also ignored her family’s plea not to vote. "This is a fight against atrocities by Muslims. I can still recall the day when Hindus were burned to death two km from my house," she said.
More than 10,000 of the state's 36,800 polling booths were designated as "hyper-sensitive". Riot police in blue uniforms patrolled Godhra. But there were hardly any crowds to control. Temperatures hovered around 43 degrees, discouraging voters from showing up. Party officials were disappointed to find some booths virtually empty.
