An Open Letter to Arvind Kejriwal, Chief Minister of Delhi

Dear Mr Arvind Kejriwal,

Salaam!

We have never met. Nor spoken with each other. Nor crossed paths. Of course, I have seen you on the TV. And I must say that till about last fortnight I was impressed by you—by your outspokenness and the promises your speeches held out. I recall the day of your recent election victory. I felt somewhat reassured then, that citizens of the Capital will be able to live safe, secure and with their dignity intact, with you as chief minister.

I was under the impression that you would be able to take on the Hindutva forces and the communally-tainted who seem hell-bent on destroying this country. I recall arguing with those who clubbed you and your Aam Aadmi Party with the RSS. I could not believe the allegations that AAP is the B-team of the BJP and so on, for the simple reason that you do not come across as straightforward, not communal.

Each time you spoke of being religious, I felt all the more reassured, because religion nudges us to respect and value human life.

Sadly, those feelings of security were very short-lived. The violence of Delhi 2020 has left me feeling shattered and pained. As an Indian Muslim, I feel cheated. If only you had hinted that you were not in a position to protect minorities. The Muslims and Dalits and the Christians here would have voted for the Indian National Congress. Instead, they voted for your reassurances that you will treat all citizens equally.

One feels disillusioned and terribly distressed after these well-planned attacks which remind of the 2002 pogrom. What happened to your promises of caring for each citizen of this city, irrespective of caste and creed? Where were you when hundreds of Muslims were being hounded by goons? Where were you and your ministers and party cadres when wounded and distraught Muslims were not even spared by the police? Have you censured those two doctors who are attached to Delhi hospitals who openly threw communal barbs at Muslim victims rescued by activists? Yes the police is not under your jurisdiction—but you could have at least demanded the arrest of those who delivered hate speeches against the community.

Should there not be a distinction between those who deliver hate speeches and those who react in self-defence? Today the hapless victims are being arrested and not the killers and their masterminds. Such are the bizarre, communally-twisted times we are destined to live or die in. Mr Kejriwal, you must be aware of the dismay and anger among the Muslim victims of the North-eastern localities of Delhi who feel that they are being made scapegoats. Yes, they even feel that your party leader Tahir Hussain is one of the scapegoats.

Mr Kejriwal, if you genuinely care about the survivors of North-east Delhi, then reach out to them. Not through well-crafted speeches, for have we not heard enough of them? The immediate and urgent need is for each person devastated in the violence to get a roof over their head and a means to survive—pension or employment, but you also need to find a way to halt the humiliation and hounding of the Muslims, who want to live with dignity in this country—their country.

Today as an Indian Muslim I want no hollow promises. I want my rights as a citizen of this democratic republic, to live with my head held high and not apprehensive of being attacked by criminal gangs and Hindutva-inspired mobs. Surely Mr Kejriwal, you realise how tough it is to live if ones livelihood and shelter are taken away. So, please step out, and see how the victims are faring. They are suffering from emotional, physical, mental, financial distress and they are on the verge of a physical or mental breakdown. And they are wondering who cares about them.

I know the Novel Coronavirus is difficult to control, but the communal virus can certainly be controlled if our political rulers really want to. The communal virus, like Covid-19, can be controlled if you segregate and isolate it by banning all communal outfits. That will put an end to the poisonous propaganda against the Indian Muslims that the right-wing lobbies have been circulating. Try reaching out to the children affected by the recent violence. They are the most vulnerable of the victims of these mob attacks. Many of them stand out for they were being educated in madrasas, for they wear skull caps that mark them out as Muslim. But they are, most of them, just orphans or simply very poor children. Hindutva goons have been attacking them in the Capital and getting away with it. You must step in!

Let me end this letter by telling you what actor-turned-politician Sunil Dutt had told me years ago against the backdrop of civil strife in Somalia. Sadly, Dutt died before he could put this into practise, but you and your colleague, Mr Manish Sisodia, could try it out in the schools under your government.

When I had asked Dutt of a possible solution to halt communal riots in our country, he had said that there is only one way. “Only last night,” he had told me, “I was going through the latest Time magazine and the photographs of the civil war ridden Somalia shocked me so much that I couldn’t eat...Those pictures of human so frail that many couldn’t even walk…Each photo displayed the disasters unfolding because of the ongoing civil strife in Somalia.”

Dutt then told me that those pictures should be displayed all over our country, “...in towns and cities, at all public places, in colleges, schools, universities, offices, libraries. And displayed with this caption: See what internal war or civil strife or unrest can do to you, to your country, to your fellow countrymen.”

Together with the happiness classes offered in Delhi government schools, try and do this unparalleled communication outreach. Ask your government to reach out to the minority students, many of whom have witnessed killings and other violence from close quarters in the recent targeted attacks against themselves and their families. I hope and pray peace prevails, so I am ending my letter with as-salam-aleikum—peace be upon you. After all, are not we are all craving and praying for peace in our country and the world.

Warm regards,

Humra Quraishi

The author is a freelance journalist and commentator. The views are personal.