Two Fathers Who Lost Their Sons, Send a Message to India

Despite their heart-rending anguish, fathers of two young men who were murdered in separate incidents in the recent past, have held up a mirror to the country. One is Yashpal in Delhi whose son Ankit Saxena was killed by the family of his beloved on February 1. The other is Maulana Imdadul Rashidi, of Asansol, West Bengal, whose son Sibtulla’s was killed in on March 27 during communal clashes.

The two murders were weeks apart and unconnected. In Delhi, Ankit was killed by the family of his beloved because they were opposed to the relationship and the young couple’s desire to get married. The girl was Muslim. Her family slit Ankit’s throat in a public quarrel. In Asansol, Sibtulla went missing from a mosque where his father is the Imam during communal violence after a Ramnavami procession.

Yet, the grief stricken fathers revealed a flame of humanity and wisdom that most people in India have, and which is largely ignored by ruling politicians and the intelligentsia. Engulfed in sorrow that is unimaginable and suffering from a personal loss that could easily explode as misdirected anger, the two fathers nevertheless display a sagacity that is breathtaking as much as moving.

After Ankit’s murder, the BJP sought to communalise the murder with the Delhi BJP chief Manoj Tiwari saying that Ankit’s family has been given less compensation because they are Hindu’s and had he been Muslim they would have got Rs.1 crore. The mainstream media too portrayed the murder as a Hindu-Muslim issue.

But here is what Ankit’s father Yashpal told Tiwari: “I had one son. If I get justice, it’s good. If not, even then I don’t have hatred against any community. I have no such (communal) thinking. I am unable to understand why the media is showing this issue in that way,”

You might point out that after all, the girl’s family did object to the relationship because the boy was Hindu. So, isn’t it a Hindu-Muslim issue? This is where you will need to relook at Ankit’s father’s statement. He doesn’t think like that, he doesn’t feel hatred or vengeful towards the Muslim community. In fact, as Harsh Mander has pointed out, many of Ankit’s friends were Muslim and the family’s neighbours, who have been looking after them since the tragic day, are also Muslim. Despite what the girl’s family may think, a better, progressive and more human thought has prevailed.

The Asansol incident is in a different league altogether – and yet the same humanity prevailed. Sibtulla was a class 10 student. On March 27, Asansol had been driven into bloodshed and chaos as a Ramnavami procession organized by the Sangh Parivar triggered off communal riots. Sibtulla went out of the Noorani Mosque in Chetladanga, Nadi Par where his father is the Imam. He was reportedly ambushed by a mob and dragged away. His brother reported him missing to the police but nothing happened. His body was recovered late night of the next day and identified on March 29.

Here there is no question – it was a communal clash, that is, mobs of two communities clashed. It started off because of provocation from the procession but it rapidly turned into violent clashes. The father, it can easily be imagined, would want revenge. But here is what he has to say.

“I want peace. My boy has been taken away. I don’t want any more families to lose their loved ones. I don’t want any more houses to burn. I have already told the gathering that I will leave Asansol if there is any kind of retaliation. I told them that if you love me, you will not raise a finger,” said Rashidi.

Remember, he is the Imam. One indication from him and the violence would have ratcheted up several notches. But, at this crucial point, Imam Rashidi displayed the sagacity that was also there in Delhi’s Yashpal. He had the same flame of humanity in him.

Both fathers refused to accept the oft repeated narrative that the crimes of one should be expanded and applied to whole communities. They did not think that injustice has to be responded to by revenge. They also demolished the theory, popular with armchair analysts, that the poison of religious fanaticism and hatred has irretrievably spread amongst common Indians. Yes, it is being propagated by zealots and stormtroopers of all kinds, but no, it’s flames have not yet consumed everyone.

Both fathers also held up a mirror to all of India. They sent a message  – you don’t have to go down that path, there is another way, more natural, more human and far more noble.