Interview : Harsh Mander

Harsh Mander || Photo Courtesy: Divya Lad

Mangalore: A fearless article on the Gujarat carnage by an IAS officer, guided by his conscience, shook the country on March 20th, 2002. Harsh Mander, then Deputy Director at IAS academy in Mussoorie, experienced at controlling riots, wrote the article ‘Cry, the beloved country’, which moved many to tears. It was a frank expression of the unjust treatment meted out to many  Muslims in Gujarat based on his visit soon after tragedy struck. Two weeks later, he put down his papers and has been crusading for the cause of the marginalised since then. Recently, Mander visited Mangalore to take a look at the recent communal clashes in the city. In an interview, he talks about Gujarat, his journey so far and the situation in Mangalore.

Q: What stirred you when you visited Gujarat soon after the 2002 riots?

A: I believe the use of the word ‘riot’ stands incorrect when referring to Gujarat. It was clearly a systematically planned attack on a particular community aided by culpable State inaction. After the partition, only Gujarat had such brutal attacks focussed primarily on women and children. The ruthless violence against so many Muslims and listening to their personal tragedies (electrocution of whole families, cutting open a pregnant woman to take out the foetus and then killing it in front of her eyes) shook me. Further, I was appalled at the State’s lack of response – the forced closure of rehabilitation camps, FIRs failing to name the attackers by always referring to them as ‘the mob’, no provision for compensation to victims and clear disinterest in curbing the riots.

Q: Talking of curbing the riots, you were the Deputy collector (under the then Collector Ajit Jogi) in Indore when the anti-Sikh riots broke out. Indore 1984 and Gujarat 2002- what, according to you, demarcated the administrative response during the two tragedies?

A: When the riots broke out in Indore, I realised that the senior most magistrate can take a call during such situations without awaiting any Government orders. I called in for the army and within six hours of the start of the riots, everything was under control. Even if one officer is committed, no riots can sustain for days but this was clearly lacking in Gujarat. Although I came across individual instances where junior inspectors and other low-ranked officers tried their best, the higher strata clearly failed to do its duty. The law required these officials to be fearless and act independent of the Government orders but that didn’t happen.

Q: Was your resignation from services a mark of protest? What difficulties do you have to face while pursuing your individual fight?

A: I was pained to see my peers abdicate their duties. With the sense of shame at fellow bureaucrats and senior police officials supporting the attackers, I could no longer be a part of the system and hence resigned. As for the individual fight, it does get difficult at times to bear constant opposition from strong forces. After the Gujarat carnage we took up the issue of sudden closure of 2000 FIRs without any proper investigation to the Supreme Court and won the case. It was one of the highest points of my life.

Q: What have been the revelations with respect to the communal situation in Mangalore?

A: I’m still in the process of getting to know about the situation here but from what I’ve heard so far, the situation here is quite terrifying. A centre aided role in communal strife is understood but here it’s a decentralised network - a strong network. The fact that informers co-ordinate to their leaders about a Muslim boy and Hindu girl sitting in a bus and within minutes the bus being stopped and the boy attacked, is terrifying. This network of hate is based on division and is efficiently spread. Just like Gujarat, there is dedication to divide. Although it’s not as messy as Gujarat, the consequences are no less grave.

Q: For all your support to the minorities, you’ve often been depicted as anti-Hindu by those who oppose you. How does it affect you?

A: I don’t believe in defending something that doesn’t even deserve it but I think these are just attempts to silence me. After the article was published, there were vicious attacks on a daily basis. The essence of Hinduism is completely lost in the struggle for hindutva. My fight is not against Hinduism but against the system that threatens the fraternity as guaranteed by the constitution.

Q: Finally, almost 10 years down the line, does the beloved country still cry?

A: If the 1984 riots in Delhi had been effectively curbed, maybe Gujarat would have never happened.  Now Gujarat has become a verb from a noun, ‘Phir se Gujarat kar denge..’ (We will do a Gujarat again..). After Gujarat and other communal clashes almost on a regular basis, like Mangalore, there is no end and a very long way to go.

 Sub-edited by: Kerban Billimoria