A tear for the fading glory of forgiveness
I have just swallowed a warm stream of tears uncontrollably oozing and soaking my face. When the correspondent on India Today tv channel reported that Yakoob Abdul Razzak Memon didn't sleep all night and when the jail authorities went to him at 5:00 am he was offering his Fajr prayer - there was some connection I could identity. If I knew I was to die at 7 am this is what I would be doing at 5 am.
Further it was told that everyone in the Nagpur jail reported him to be a very nice and decent person. He spoke very little and was well behaved all the time. His English was very good. He had earned two MA degrees from IGNOU while in prison and also helped other inmates study and pass SSC exams through distance mode. They also said he will be remembered as an inmate who spent all his time reading and writing. Gandhi ji and Nehru ji too spent their time writing letters and books. I remember the preface of Discovery of India written from Ahmednagar Jail.
I can not question the country's judiciary which pronounced him guilty and uphold pride in the fact that all options for mercy took recourse for this accused. The judges always know better than me hence there is no contest to the verdict. However this strengthens my sanguine hopes that all perpetrators of crime against humanity or collusion in the same will see similar fate in my life time in my country. That includes rioters of 1984, 1991, 1992 and 2002 also. Yakub's case has proven that the days of justice may be delayed but not denied are gone. First time in the history of our nation the highest court was reopened at 2:30 am and a verdict was passed at 3:30 am. Wishing such speedy redress to all the cases of poor peasants and common men pending. Now we know what is super fast track court. Its preposterous.
Nevertheless my pride in India, its polity, constitution and judiciary is challenged by the embarrassing behaviour of the media and the mob baying for blood. As an Indian my head is hung in shame at the unfortunate spectacle that is being made of a man's death. Of the vituperation on social media trying to flare up communal passions. And of the mainstream media focusing cameras on jubilant crowds sloganeering Bharat Mata ki Jai outside the jail!
Technically I should also be cheering with the crowds at the final riddance from a terrorist. But being an Indian I have a moral conscious too that I draw from growing up with story books based on Indian folklore. The saints and founding fathers of India underscored the greatness of our ancient culture from the 'tit for tat attitude' of the west. They upheld forgiving against vengeful killing. I am reminded of a short story in Urdu by Maulana Azad which ends with the line 'maafi ki ek raat saza ki ek taweel umr pe bhari hui' (One night of forgiveness was heavy over a long age of punishment).
Yakub was guilty of colluding with the Bombay blasts. I will not justify the blasts as a fallout to the 1992 riots. But when he surrendered with family in 1994 he cooperated with the investigation agencies to nab the terror network in Pakistan like never before. He did all this because he wanted to be forgiven. Until a few hours before he was hanged he was beseeching the Court for mercy. After keeping a man for 22 years in jail when he had admitted his crime how could a nation with a glorious history of extolling the virtues of magnanimity, not forgive its own citizen?
I would personally forgive any such convict for the sake of his 25 day old daughter with whom he walked in to his country and surrendered. Even if i was not the judge or the President. Even if someone close to me had died in the blasts. Even if it was the Islamic Shariah and I had the right to behead or accept his apology.
As I write this a primary school in the neighborhood is gathered in its grounds for the morning assembly. The proceedings are blared out through the window to my living room. (They seem to be in need of more funds to replace their awful PA system) The Jamia Urdu Public School on the Medical road in Aligarh has 90% Muslim children. I can hear a teenage boy's just cracked voice leading the school crowd in prayer. They sang Allama Iqbal's 'Lab pe aati hai dua......' in which the great poet of the east implores to Allah to make him the source of beauty in his nation - ho mere dam se yun hi mere watan ki zeenat.
The school cheers. News is read in English. The heavily loaded desi accent lurks in the air and all students are called to stand in attention. Jan gan man ......... Jai hay....bharat bhagya vidhata.... the lines by Guru Dev (On my 10 day visit to Vishwa Bharti for a National Integration Camp through NSS, I found no one in Shanti Niketan refers to him as Rabindra Nath Tagore) are sung by all children. Wish he penned in Gitanjali some anthem of 'collective conscious' that embodied his philosophy of practicing restraint before making a God out of nationalism! We would have sung that too without knowing its meaning like we sing the National Anthem without appreciating the diversity of India.
It fills my ears.
I close my eyes.
No I am not back to my school.
I am nauseated untangling the theories of us educationists in Sir Syed's Chaman who shout from rooftops that education is the panacea for all the plights of the decimated Muslim community? Yakub must have gone to a good school. He was a CA. He wrote his petitions in flawless English and fairly well articulated his point in the last interview he gave. He too must have sang the national anthem some time. Then Babri masjid demolition and its aftermath happened.
Those who originated the controversy are still reaping political gains to the optimum. From 2 LS seats in 1984 they rose to 84 suddenly and the continued ploy of divisive politics has accrued overwhelming victories for them. Probably in their intoxication with power they do not sense the diminishing faith of the Muslim community in the government.
Oh yes, another simile between Yakub and a great man. Its his 53rd birthday. Didn't the Prophet Muhammad die the same day as his birthday? Only he was not executed for owning a car that belonged to his brother who aided and abetted a series of blasts that were a repercussion to a nation wide killing of Muslims because a mosque was razed to ground by supporters of a mainstream political party in a Democratic country proclaiming religious freedom, equal rights and secularism.
I think the President failed to sign Mr. Memon's mercy petitions because some entity Mightier than him had accepted his repentance. 22 years of good behavior and repentance in prison ended in a peaceful death for Yakub of Mumbai in his home land with the name of Allah on his lips. He was bathed and clothed in clean new simple clothes. He had said a last good bye to his friends in jail and some of them had refused a meal grieving for him.
His lungs were filled with the moist air of the rain forests Maharashtra's western ghat's. The last sight his eyes were set upon before closing for ever were the lush evergreen landscapes rising to a monsoon morning. Finally resting for eternity at a low key, somber funeral enacted by family. That may be a Muslim's reward for realizing the love for his country and its people. He had more than atoned for his sin. What more for expiation.
All the best to the children who just sang Jan gan man after lab pe aati hai dua at school and are now learning in math and English classes. All the best to their parents dreaming for their bright future. You may not always get what you worked for. Wait for the original balance to be restored. Spend your evening in play grounds kids.
This world is ephemeral. Tomorrow the playgrounds may be usurped by real estate. India has moved from its spiritual past to cheap consumerism. My prayer for today is Nida Fazli's doha sung by Jagjit Singh:
Soch samajh walon ko thori nadani de Maula
(Give some ignorance My Lord to those who think and understand)
30 July 2015
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