gavin's blog

Just came across this totally harrowing essay by Amitav Ghosh (via Sepia Mutiny). From it:

Nowhere else in the world did the year 1984 fulfill its apocalyptic portents as it did in India. Separatist violence in the Punjab, the military attack on the great Sikh temple of Amritsar; the assassination of the Prime Minister, Mrs. Indira Gandhi; riots in several cities; the gas disaster in Bhopal - the events followed relentlessly on each other. There were days in 1984 when it took courage to open the New Delhi papers in the morning.

Of the year's many catastrophes, the sectarian violence following Mrs Gandhi's death had the greatest effect on my life. Looking back, I see that the experiences of that period were profoundly important to my development as a writer; so much so that I have never attempted to write about them until now.

The heartfelt expression of Amitav has opened me up to what it must have been for over 2500 people, totally innocent human beings, to have been torched in a matter of a few days, one by one, individually, by organised groups. Godhra didn't start the fire.