Sunday 2 September 2007

Riots

On Friday night there was trouble in the old Muslim dominated areas of the city,under the jurisdiction of six police stations.

Seems to be politically motivated.Somebody found a torn up copy of a religious book inside a mosque. The media is not allowed to reveal the name of the religious book, but my Mom heard a TV reporter say it the Sikh holy book.There was rioting in the old city and when the police tried to control the situation they were attacked by mobs and they even raided a police station.

A curfew was clamped in various parts of the city on Saturday and all educational institutions were closed. The situation is better and I suppose the curfew was relaxed today.I 'm not sure if the schools will re-open tomorrow. I 'm glad I had bought my groceries on Friday.

On Oct 31, 1984, our then Prime Minister, Indra Gandhi was assassinated by her Sikh bodyguards. Massive riots broke out all over North India.Sikhs were being slaughtered and their property looted and burnt.

The government controlled TV had newly arrived in our city and news was highly censored.When we heard about the rioting in our city, my mom and I decided to catch a live glimpse of it.With this purpose in mind we walked down our street with a man servant in tow. Just a short distance we saw Sikh shops being burnt and looted and people carrying off stolen stuff on cycle trolleys.Suddenly a police jeep appeared and gave us a stern warning to retreat home ,our servant being in greater danger of being arrested than us. This was the closest I got to a rioting scene.I was a university student then..People flocked to our house to watch TV, as it was very rare .TV watching used to be a social event.

Allahabad is a very peaceful town,but when politics turns bad anything can happen.

Our church court case hearing is on Sept 6th.The opponents sent a man to make inquires yesterday, but I asked him to speak to our lawyer They are in a tizzy as they cannot prove our land belongs to them.



We had a good church service and communion.


For Sunday lunch I made fish in tamarind sauce with rice.It was a river fish called rohu or carp.

4 Fertilize my soul:

Carol-Ann Allen said...

Amrita! This post was a roller-coaster read! Very well laid out to present the serious with a general thread of humor and daily life woven throughout! Thanks! Sept 6th! We shall remember that day!

Jo's-D-Eyes said...

Hi Amrita,
I hope you were having a good Sunday? I think I like your dish: 'Fish in tamarind sauce' That sauce is like a peppermint taste right?

:) JoAnn

You asked me a question, About making an award, here's my answer:

This is how I did it:
I used a photo I made myself, A totall photo is too big to use for an awardpicture, so what you do is this: 'crop' a part of the photo (crop= use a partof the photo, or i.o.w.make it smaller as the size you want/need)Firts save the little cropped part of that photo, and make a copie of it (cope and paste). Write in that copied part or 'cropped-part' what you want
( example:Thankyou-award or Bestblog-award)You can write with a program such as "word" or another program like photoshop, and save it all together under a name, such as "Amrita's award" on your PC. First make a 'test'and add the 'award' on your blog in templates, Next; And wala: nominate the people you like.

2) Or a simple way you maybe like to try:
Copie an award of someone elses blog, and give the award to the people you want to nominate...

Good luck! :) JoAnn

Donetta said...

Oh Sweet heart be safe. We will keep prayer over your community and you. All over a book torn an offense made. Or your blogs censored? If so use care so nothing can be misinterpreted. You are a wonderful brave woman. Are you feeling better from the vertigo? I do hope so. I am appreciative of your kindness and contact in comments. You can write to me in my email also if privacy can help you. Be courageous and wise as the serpent.
Donetta

Anonymous said...

Politics plays a big role in any kind of riots these days, which is very unfortunate and as I have said earlier also our tolerance level is going down day by day. Just imagine across centuries we lived together, but only in the last few decades the situation is really aggravating now.

I like the shot of the fish, surely you had a wonderful lunch on Sunday...Stay Safe!