After Delhi鈥檚 burst of violence, a Muslim artist takes stock
| New Delhi
In just one day, Rehan lost his home, his art, and his faith.聽
Not his faith in God, he says. But his beliefs about what it means to be one of India鈥檚 200 million Muslim citizens聽鈥� and the government鈥檚 willingness to protect them.
鈥淓verything has changed now,鈥� he says.聽
Why We Wrote This
Some Indian Muslims have looked to the secular constitution as a badge for their protection, even as rhetoric and violence from Hindu nationalists rise. But faith that its promises are more than words is weakening.
Tension had been building in New Delhi for weeks, amid India鈥檚 largest demonstrations in decades. Hundreds of thousands of people had taken to the streets since December, when legislators passed the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), opening a path to citizenship for non-Muslims from nearby Bangladesh, Afghanistan, and Pakistan.聽
The government defended the law as a means of protecting religious minorities in those countries. Critics at home and abroad, however, assailed it as discriminating on the basis of religion, in a violation of India鈥檚 secular constitution. Where were the protections, they asked, for groups like Muslim Rohingya from Myanmar, one of the world鈥檚 largest refugee crises? Many viewed it as one more step in the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party鈥檚 (BJP) Hindu nationalist agenda. For years, critics of Prime Minister Narendra Modi have said his government is pushing Muslims to the sidelines of the world鈥檚 largest democracy.
Thousands of demonstrators had been arrested, and two dozen killed. Counterprotesters and officials labeled the protesters 鈥渁nti-nationals鈥� and 鈥渢raitors of the nation鈥澛犫�� and one junior minister to 鈥渟hoot the traitors.鈥�
Rehan, five years out of art school, sports a trimmed beard and short hair. (His last name has been omitted for his safety.) Coming from a family of skilled workers, he says his forefathers were his inspiration for becoming an artist.
鈥淟ike war in our neighborhood鈥�
Last Monday, he was teaching an art class when he started to see the news: communal tensions erupting in northeast Delhi, where he lives. But still, he says, nobody expected disaster. He didn鈥檛, either, until his wife called him at work.聽
Mobs were gathering in their neighborhood, she said, and his mother instructed him to stay away. Over and over that night, he called his wife. But the situation had only grown worse by morning.
Mobs were searching for Muslim houses, mosques, and shops to loot and burn, and beating and shooting Muslims in the streets and their own homes. Collect my documents and your jewelry, he told his wife. Get ready to leave. I鈥檓 coming home.
鈥淚t was my responsibility to bring my family out safely,鈥� he says. 鈥淚t was like war in our neighborhood, but I still went ahead. Hindus were looking at us as if something major was coming. We only came out with the clothes we wore 鈥� my wife hadn鈥檛 collected the documents, either.鈥�
He had to force his parents to leave, and abandon all the art in his studio. They fled on foot toward his brother鈥檚 rented house near the Al Hind hospital in Mustafabad聽鈥� a Muslim-majority area聽鈥� where many frightened residents have taken refuge.
For four days, the riots continued, 聽鈥� mostly Muslim聽鈥� and injuring more than 350. Hindu mobs attacked Muslims, and Muslims retaliated. Video that Rehan received from a neighbor shows a cloud of smoke coming out of a house, burnt by mobs, and a blast, perhaps from cooking gas. In another video, Rehan points out a damaged mosque, saying, 鈥淚 offer prayers at this mosque every day.鈥�
But where the attackers were Hindu, many Muslim residents allege, police turned a blind eye, or even facilitated the violence. of Delhi police beating a group of men, forcing them to sing the national anthem and mocking them with the word 鈥淎zadi,鈥� or 鈥渇reedom鈥澛犫�� the slogan of the separatist movement in Muslim-majority Kashmir.聽
Delhi police are directly under control of the federal government, and many were tasked last week with security for President Donald Trump鈥檚 state visit. On the first day of attacks, Prime Minister Modi responded to the riots on Twitter, saying police were working to restore calm.
鈥淧eace and harmony are central to our ethos,鈥� he wrote in a separate tweet. 鈥淚 appeal to my sisters and brothers of Delhi to maintain peace and brotherhood at all times.鈥�
Days later, however, at a march in Delhi, there were reports of BJP supporters chanting, 鈥淪hoot the traitors of the nation!鈥�
History repeating?
Ghayur ul Hassan, a local resident and doctor who has been volunteering at the Al Hind hospital, says the violence recalls the Gujarat riots of 2002: three days of interreligious attacks that killed 1,000 people, mostly Muslim. Mr. Modi, then chief minister of the state, was barred from the United States over accusations that he failed to stop the killings.
Last week, Dr. Hassan wondered if history would repeat itself. 鈥淲e didn鈥檛 receive any immediate help from the government,鈥� he says. 鈥淲e asked local medical stores for medicines, and doctors, paramedics came to volunteer as the situation escalated.鈥�
For now, Rehan is staying at his brother鈥檚 rented apartment near the hospital, a small, private institution now hosting people who lost their homes. As an artist, he wants to return to his work. But his family, feeling traumatized, hasn鈥檛 let him venture out. A neighbor told him the house was looted and partly burned last Thursday, ruining several paintings in his studio.
Patriotism runs through Rehan鈥檚 work. His paintings show themes about communal harmony and nationalism: children standing next to the national flag, a mural of a yoga pose. In one of his classes, the children are drawing Hindu gods.
鈥淚 have read the constitution of India, understood it,鈥� he says. 鈥淚 also understood the value of justice and courts, but nothing is left anymore. The current rulers are not following it in the same form. People are so angry and hateful 鈥� if you go back to your house, even the police will not help you.鈥�
Many who were displaced from northeast Delhi say they will not go back, including Rehan鈥檚 family, which hopes to sell its house and rent space in a Muslim-majority area. He feels increasingly pessimistic about the future, for him and all Indian Muslims. But he has not given up on his skill.聽
鈥淎rt is a way to bring my emotions out,鈥� Rehan says. 鈥淚 used to be quiet about religion or communal issues. Religion is a way of living in peace, but in India it has become a reason to fight. Now, I want to express what people felt in these riots, what I felt.鈥�
Already, he is brainstorming a project about the riots and residents鈥� suffering, sketching out what he has witnessed. He shows one picture he鈥檚 been drawing in the past few days, of a crying house.
鈥淧eople have hesitation and fear,鈥� he says. 鈥淚 want to make an art installation around this. ... I want to display it somewhere.鈥澛�
