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The Day After Mumbai: Nothing Changed
Today's guest blogger is Dan Morrison. Dan is the founder of 1Well, an organization that connects socially conscious individuals and groups with communities in need of small but critical infrastructure projects. He is a graduate of the University of Notre Dame and received a Masters in Middle Eastern Studies from the University of Chicago.
It is the day before Thanksgiving: a beautiful brisk afternoon in Boston. I had just landed at Logan Airport after three weeks in India and concerned calls, texts and emails start pouring in. The violence in Mumbai had just hit CNN.
Friends and family asked, "Are you and your colleagues safe... Is India now part of the war on terror...I thought India was Hindu... Are we going to bomb Pakistan?"
The question that struck me most was if this was India's 9/11 and if India was now changed forever.
Through 1Well, I have been working with the Self Employed Women's Association (SEWA) for two years in the poorest of the poor villages in the Indian states of Gujarat and Rajasthan. For hundreds of millions of Indians, nothing changed the day after Mumbai. While they lived in the shadows of the economic boom in Mumbai, Bangalore and Delhi, they still needed to walk hours a day for water. They still struggle to meet their most basic human needs and lack the basic conveniences we take for granted. And they have been the victims of communal violence before.
In 2002, Gujarat, India was rocked by communal riots that killed over 1,000 people, left behind hundreds of widows and orphans, and traumatized a public. Jaidaben, a Muslim woman, was walking with her children to visit her mother-in-law, when she witnessed the stabbing death of her husband. She refused to leave the house for months, and her children refused to go to school.
Shahinben, a Muslim mother of three daughters, also lost her husband. Like many women in Gujarat, her husband was the family's only source of income. Her job used to consist of managing the affairs of her family. Her new responsibility of earning an income and taking on a more public life was immensely difficult, especially during a time of communal strife and the loss of a loved one.
These are but two stories of many in which families lost their loved one and their only wage-earner.
Enter SEWA. After the 2002 riots, the government approached SEWA about reengaging and supporting widows ("shantabens") and orphans. SEWA established peace centers where women of all religions could come to talk about their problems and learn about interfaith collaboration and healing. They also established a children's program, Hamara Bachche ("Our Children"), which placed children in schools, provided trauma counseling, and ran after-school programs and summer camps.
Shaminaben, the shantaben and SEWA's Hamare Bache ("Our Children") coordinator says, "Our message is that this is our community. We are all Muslim, Hindu, Sikh, Christian, etc., and we are all brothers and sisters. Only as one can we be a community. Only as one can we get through this tragedy and prevent it in the future."
SEWA has a difficult task. Immediately after the riots, many children and women refused to leave their homes for fear of violence and personal attack. However, many had no choice. Their main wage earner was gone. Children began working, which pulled them out of school. Many Muslim women, like Shahinben and Jaidaben, faced the challenge of finding a job and taking on more public roles for the first time in their lives.
SEWA blanketed the most troubled neighborhoods - Banilinfa, Gomtipur, Bapunagar, Vatwa, and Idgah - with "life security teachers" to discuss alternative employment opportunities for women, and "hand holders" to counsel the women and children in transitioning to a self-reliant life without their fathers and husbands.
Shahinben, who had lost her husband, told me that when SEWA came to her, she knew she had to work but could not stop crying or muster the courage to step outside. SEWA helped her manage her grief. Now, life is hard, but she is managing and supporting her family through her stitching work. Her daughter is a young, attractive, bright woman that wants to get her MBA. Her name is Nigarben.
Nigarben's idea is to set up a student exchange where American students come to India and Hamare Bachche students go to study in America. She asked if she studied hard and improved her English, would such an exchange be possible? With SEWA's help, it may be.
The million members of SEWA, all poor women of all religions, are an important voice of experience following this latest outbreak in violence. Their message is of dialogue and inclusion, of community and respect. And they are raising bright young women like Nigarben who despite loosing her father and growing up in poverty, aspire to continue her education and see the hope in life.
The Mumbai violence is off the headlines and replaced by raves for Slumdog Millionaire (mine included). But hundreds of millions of poor in India and around the world live their own 9/11 everyday as they struggle for life's basic needs. SEWA's message of interfaith inclusion and self-reliance is helping bring communities together and move many out of poverty. It is about time we invite SEWA and the poor to the table when discussing terrorism and violence. They have practical experience and tested solutions we can all learn from.
The content of this blog reflects the views of its author and does not necessarily reflect the views of either Eboo Patel or the Interfaith Youth Core.
By
Eboo Patel
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December 17, 2008; 10:58 AM ET
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Religion & Leadership
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Religion & Politics
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Spirituality
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Posted by: politicallyincorrectworldcitizen1 | December 19, 2008 1:04 AM
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Thank you for doing great work. BJP, RSS, Bajrang Dal are black marks on India and her democracy.
Gujarat is the most communal state in India. The 2002 Gujarat riots killed at least 2,000 Muslims. That state is run by BJP and the butcher of Gujarat is still untouched. No charges have been brought against him.
Posted by: hsnkhwj | December 18, 2008 9:59 PM
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Wonderfully written, and a perfect snapshot of the current and (unfortunately) ongoing social situation in India.
SEWA is indeed a powerhouse in their scope of programmatic initiatives, outreach, and successes.
Posted by: EverythingInBetween | December 18, 2008 1:23 PM
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Vishwa Hindu Parishad of India (Bharat) looks upon VHP of America as its branch.
Posted by: politicallyincorrectworldcitizen1 | December 18, 2008 5:30 AM
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Posted by: politicallyincorrectworldcitizen1 | December 18, 2008 5:23 AM
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SEWA in Gujrat, including SEWA International is supposedly one arm of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad. It runs service projects such as alleviating poverty-stricken Hindus, opening schools and hospitals, spreading religious and cultural awareness, and allegedly works actively against the proselytizing efforts of Christians and Muslims.
Is this true?
Posted by: politicallyincorrectworldcitizen1 | December 18, 2008 2:47 AM
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testing
Posted by: politicallyincorrectworldcitizen1 | December 18, 2008 2:43 AM
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There are 14% Muslims in Gujrat. So any organization that calls itself multifaith must have a representation of 14% Muslims (and higher in states where the percentage of Muslims is higher) and at least one Christian to represent the Christian presence in the state (or in proportion with the percentage of Christians in the state).
Posted by: politicallyincorrectworldcitizen1 | December 17, 2008 9:04 PM
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SEWA seems to be a prodominantly Hindu womens' organization. There is not a single non-Hindu in the executive committee. Except for two Muslims, all the other names are Hindu. What is the percentage of Muslims in Gujrat? Does two Muslim members really represent the real percentage of Muslims in Gujrat?
Posted by: politicallyincorrectworldcitizen1 | December 17, 2008 8:49 PM
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The Catholic missions also built vocational centers to train the villagers for jobs and create a self-sufficient village community. They stood up for the poor when the poor were exploited by higher caste Hindus, in the sale of goods that were produced by the poor villagers.
Posted by: politicallyincorrectworldcitizen1 | December 17, 2008 8:33 PM
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Catholic missionaries of yester years set a great example in this regard. There have been French Catholic nuns who have died in the heat of Rajastan desert while they worked to uplift the desperately poor there. They did social work, going door to door, teaching villagers basics of hygiene (extremely poor in tribal areas), and house work, helping them build water proof housing, providing basic health care, building schools, and providing even hostel facilities, and the village church celebrated Mass to which everyone was invited but not forced. Many ended up visiting the church on some Sundays, while worshiping their Hindu Gods at home. Very few actually converted to Christianity. It was not expected of them. The Catholic missions offered their services to all irrespective of conversions.
Posted by: politicallyincorrectworldcitizen1 | December 17, 2008 8:31 PM
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Thank you for your contribution in the vision of SEWA if it is truly a multifaith organization tending to the needs of poor of all religions. That was Mahatma Gandhi's vision - self respecting and self sufficient villages, where the vast majority of Indians live and who are desperately poor, completely out of touch with the economic boom of middle class and rich Indian in recent years.
Posted by: politicallyincorrectworldcitizen1 | December 17, 2008 8:25 PM
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The comments to this entry are closed.
The banyan tree is a symbol of Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP)India/Bharat. It is the symbol of SEWA.
http://www.sewa.org/links/index.asp
SEWA was founded in 1972, long before the Gujrat massacre of Muslims in 2002 and bomb blasts aimed at Hindus of Ahmedabad in 2008. Where are the lists of Muslim families affected by the Gujrat riots of 2002, to match the Hindu victims of Ahmedabad bomb blasts in 2008? Where are the list of Christians who have become victims of violence in recent years?
A multifaith organization must seek reconciliation of the communities. But real reconciliation can come only after the truth has been honestly faced by all parties concerned. To what extent has SEWA sought and facilitated reconciliation? Are poor Muslims and Christians part of SEWA projects? What are their names?
Multi-faith and interfaith are terms that is most popular these days. But there needs to be concrete proof that such terms are used to reflect a reality, not to serve as a facade of political correctness. SEWA needs to list projects that truly reflect multifaith work, especially since BJP is in power in Gujrat and Gujrat has seen the worst communal violence in the country in recent years. VHP of Bharat/India has a policy of systematically discriminating against non-Hindus, and preventing any conversions, and forcing reconversions to Hinduism in some parts of India. All of this must be checked for by independent sources who are non-partisan human rights activists. SEWA must do its part to convince all that it is truly the future of Gujrat poor because it includes religious minorities in their projects for the poor.