Humanity Prevails
Rathijit Mitra
There are always some very small incidents in life which leave an everlasting impression. 6th
December 1992, the day Babri Masjid was demolished resulting in a communal riot which
claimed many lives and changed many lives forever.
I used to listen to my grandparents’ experiences of communal riots soon after the partition of
India, but this was my first experience of ‘mass’ lunacy.
Few days later things started returning to normalcy. And I was explicitly instructed by my
mother to stay away from any discussions involving anything about religion, communalism
or, the riots. But, in vain!!! That was our hot topic for many days to come. Youth and
adrenaline played their parts.
Around the same time my ‘Mejo Jethu’ was hospitalised with renal failure resulting from our
‘traditional’ family ailment of Diabetes mellitus. He passed away two days later. I saw him
for one last time before he was taken to the Keoratola Crematorium. Thirteen days later the
Shraddha ceremony was being performed at Mejo Jethu’s place.
While the Holy Bhagavat Gita was being recited, I noticed a gentleman with a beard and head
covered by his handkerchief, sitting with his hands folded among the small group of people
gathered during the Shraddha ceremony. He stayed for the whole ceremony and then left
quietly at the end, after having food.
Curiosity got the better of me and I asked my mother as to whether she knew the person.
What I learnt, was very intriguing. Moments before his death, Mejo Jethu wanted somebody
to recite a few verses from The Holy Bhagavat Gita to him. The only person around at that
time, happens to be this man (a Muslim) whose father was being treated in the bed next to
Mejo Jethu’s in the hospital.
This Gentleman was unable to recite The Bhagavat Gita in Sanskrit. But Mejo Jethu was
insistent and asked him to read a few verses with similar messages from the Holy Quran. The
gentleman complied, after he realised that Mejo Jethu had only a few moments to live and it
would be futile trying for somebody else to do it. Hence, his dedicated presence in Mejo
Jethu’s very ‘Hindu’ Shraddha ceremony.
In the midst of the madness around us I found, much to my comfort that humanity,
compassion and mutual respect still prevails over everything else.