Of the deprived
Humra Quraishi
What happens to our 40
lakh human beings! In the
latest draft of Assam’s
National Register of
Citizens, their names are not included.
That is, a huge 12 per cent of Assam’s
population has been left out!
Though those excluded from the
NRC are given a chance to prove their
Indian citizenship, this in itself raises
pertinent questions - Does the
government expect the socially and
economically deprived to have their
paperwork all intact and updated?
With frequent shifts and
displacements and also because of
the flood fury that Assam is infamous
for, a large percentage of these
families do not even have cooking
utensils or adequate clothing on
themselves. So what to talk of
adequate documents to prove their
ancestral backgrounds? Their
children and grandchildren are born
in shanties and not in hospitals, so
birth certificates are not in their clasp.
They are not sure of the next meal. So
what proofs can they gather to prove
that they or their parents and
grandparents lived or died in this
country?
Can we expect socially and
economically deprived to prove that
they are Indians? After all, it’s the
marginalised who are worst affected
by this crisis. Today not just chaos and
confusion but also communal divide
is spreading out in Assam. Lakhs and
lakhs of Bengali Muslims and Hindus ,
living in Assam for generations, are
getting branded Bangladeshi
immigrants, thrown in the 'outsiders'
category.
Tomorrow, if the NRC were to
open its ‘branches’ in other States of
the country, havoc could spread out…
Where are we heading towards ? At
least , during the Partitioning phase of
the 1940s , the displaced knew where
to head, which boundaries and
borders to cross, where camps and
shelter could be expected, but today
if lakhs of human beings were to be
un - accepted as Indian citizens , then
what happens to their lives !
Of course, there is a historical and
political backdrop to this entire crisis.
But what about the humanitarian
aspect! Are we going to deport lakhs
because they cannot prove that they
belong to this land. Should human
forms get thrown into the sea or into
the jungles because he or she
cannot prove that he or she belongs
to the politically set parameters and
boundaries! Because he or she cannot
prove that his or her parents or
grandparents ventured into Assam
much before the 1971 war!
Eyes that relay poetry !
Gulzar
Poet Gulzar Saab celebrated his
birthday on August 18. Its rare to
come across a poet whose eyes
relay poetry. Look towards
Gulzarsaab’s emotion - laden eyes ,
there’s poetry dripping from those
eyes Yes, there’s something about
his eyes, his very personality that
strikes and leaves an impact.
I’m left amazed by the expanse of
his works; that sheer emotional
sensitivity laden in his verse and
short stories. He has the capacity to
offload an entire philosophy through
the simplest of ways and last evening
as I sat re-reading his verse, I kept
thinking of the very first time when
I had met Gulzarsaab. It was an
experience in itself.
I had first met him around the
summer of 2005, for an interview
for a national daily. He was putting
up at the New Delhi situated
India International Centre.
So it was decided that I meet
him over breakfast at IIC’s tea
lounge . And there was something
about his eyes that struck. Nah, no
ordinary eyes but laden with
emotions. Within the next couple
of minutes as our conversation
moved towards the Kashmir Valley,
tears trickled down … Gulzarsaab
was crying and getting emotional.
Telling me , “ The Kashmir Valley
always fascinated me to such an
extent that Raakhee and I had
decided to go to Srinagar for our
honeymoon …Raakhee and I often
tease our daughter Bosky that she
was conceived there …
And Gulzarsaab is one of those
Bollywood personalities who till date writes , reads and converses
in Urdu.With that in the
background I’d asked him - In the
times we are living in, is it tough
to be Urdu speaking ? Did you ever
suffer from a complex on account of
this?
“No, never. I have always been
very comfortable with Urdu .In fact,
the only time I’ve suffered from a
complex was from the fact I
couldn’t complete my graduation.
For a long time this bothered me as
in those days a degree meant a lot,
but I couldn’t complete my
graduation because of financial
conditions /constraints. And,
perhaps, to make up on that front I
took to reading and writing .In fact,
reading has been my passion right
form childhood.”
A class dancer
Vyjayantimala Bali
The legendary dancer Vyjayantimala
Bali celebrated her birthday on August
13. I interviewed Vyjayantimala Bali
just once. Thereafter, on the couple of
occasions, when she’d spotted me, she
made it a point to say a warm hello
and we’d chatted for a while …
As a shy five year old she had
performed Bharatnatyam for the
Pope in Rome . Her dance
performance caught the attention of
the producers of AVM production . Her
very first film ‘Bahaar’ had left the
audience spellbound, which , of
course, her other 54 or more films
continued to do , till she’d opted for
marriage. As she’d quipped,
“ thereafter I did not retire but
relinquished films .”
Several years later, she made
inroads into the political sphere
and as an Member of the
Parliament she’d represented the
South Madras constituency .
On her political career she told me
– “Well , my husband thought that I
had the makings of a politician ,so he
wanted me to join politics. In fact, it
happened slowly - in the beginning
we toured Tamil Nadu and saw the
chaos spread around and how funds
were being misused and people’s
disillusionment with the
administration. Wherever we toured
we saw for ourselves another reality
: how people loved Mrs. Indira
Gandhi. So when we visited New
Delhi, we met Indira Gandhi and
told her the state of affairs ,and even
told her about my own inclination
towards joining politics ..She’d smiled
encouragingly …so that’s how I
entered the political scenario and was
accepted very spontaneously by the
masses ….
People knew I was / I am a very
serious person .It wasn’t that I was
just about hopping from one
profession to another …After all , I
quit the film industry in 1968 and I
entered politics years later – in the
early 1980s. Nor was I party jumper ,
people knew about my integrity….But,
yes, it is very tough for a woman to
survive in the political scenario.”
The queen of acting !
Meena Kumari
The month of August was also the
legendary actress Meena Kumari’s
eighty- fifth birthday. Born on August 1,
1933, she passed away on March 31,
1972…dying young, leaving behind a
heap of un-answered queries to the
melancholy that hovered around her.
I had once interviewed her step
daughter, Kamal Amrohi’s daughter
Rukhsar-e-Zehra. And she was rather
candid to all my queries. When I’d
asked her about the family’s initial
reaction, after they heard that Kamal
sahib was re-marrying, and too the
then top- star Meena Kumari,
she’d detailed ,
“No doubt my father was a romantic
person. Much before his crush on
Meena Kumari, he was involved
with Madhubala. They were about
to get married, but one sentence
from her – ‘Kamal sahib, leave
your wife and kids and I will give
them four lakh rupees – finished it
all….And my father, whom I’d
called baba jaani, had told Madhubala
that he does not buy or sell
relationships, and severed all ties
with her…
Zehra had also detailed that her
father had loved Meena Kumari right
till his end. “My father really loved her.
Several years later, when I asked him if
he still loved her, he said, ‘Yes.’ ”