Author: Sweta Ramanujan
Publication: The Indian Express
Date: March 14, 2004
URL: http://cities.expressindia.com/archivefullstory.php?newsid=78778&creation_date=2004-03-14
Introduction: Padgha's Muslims says
Sena - the old enemy - is now more welcome than the non-performing, hidden
enemy they've been supporting
If I had a loudspeaker, I'd urge
people to vote for the Shiv Sena. So what if Thackeray is anti-Muslim?
At least he's loyal to the country.''
The man saying this is a 79-year-old
Muslim. What's more, he's the father of one of the men arrested from this
village and now facing trial under the Prevention of Terrorism Act (POTA).
Seventy km to the north-east of
Mumbai, in Borivli near Padgha-a village that gained notoriety after five
young residents were arrested by the Mumbai police for their alleged role
in last year's bomb blasts- Hameed Nachen gives voice to a common sentiment
among the people of this tiny village.
As father of blast accused Saquib
Nachen, he has every reason to hate the party that brands all Muslims as
terrorists. But he doesn't.
He honestly believes that today,
the Shiv Sena is a slightly better bet than other political parties. Simply
because it swears by its motherland and stands by it.
That's why, if these villagers vote,
it will be for any party but the Congress.
''Why should we support the Congress
anymore?'' Nisar Nachan, (68) a local social worker, asks. ''What did we
get after backing them all these years?''
Nachan, chairman of the Thane District
Rural Muslim Welfare Organisation, has helped many poor children get an
education. He plans to use the goodwill he has earned to convince people
to vote for the Sena-BJP combine.
''I will do this in my personal
capacity. I will go door to door and urge people to vote for the BJP-Sena,''
he says, his tall, lean frame trembling with enthusiasm.
Residents of Borivli, mainly timber
traders, confess they have never been keen voters-polling turnout is a
mere 40 to 45 per cent.
''Our village falls under the Wada
assembly constituency. The candidates are usually adivasis. We have no
contact with them. We don't even know them for us to choose one over the
other,'' says Shamim Divkar, a resident.
Divkar doesn't believe in any political
party. ''Where were these people when our innocent boys were being tortured?''
he thunders.
This transport operator is also
angry about the government's decision to scrap heavy vehicles that are
over eight years old.
''Instead of checking the adulteration
of fuel they come up with a rule like this and strike our livelihood,''
he rues, gazing at a truck he bought in 1995.
''No party is good. The BJP and
Sena are non-secular. And the Congress is non-performing,'' Divkar mumbles.
After a tense 2003, things in Borivli
have now cooled off. The only things hot are the weather and the blasts
trial. There's some hope after Nachen and company were relieved of POTA
charges in the Ghatkopar blast.
Still, last year's incidents changed
everything for this quaint village. ''Nobody will say it openly, but there
is definitely a leaning towards the Sena-BJP,'' a resident confirms.
''Chupe hue dushman se khula dushman
achcha (An open enemy is safer than a hidden one).''
