2002 Gujarat riots: He saved 100 lives in Sardarpura

"I sat at the main market of the village everyday. Even when the mob burnt shops of Muslim traders a day after the Godhra carnage, I watched from afar," relates Someshwar Pandya, 78, who was deputy sarpanch of Sardarpura at the time of the 2002 riots.

Pandya, who now walks with a stick, played a major role in saving at least 100 lives. "I was not physically strong to save anybody by fighting with the angry mob. I was nearly 69 at that time. The mob was so angry that it was impossible to stop it or try to make the people understand right from wrong. If I had tried to stop anybody, I might have become their prey," said Pandya recalling the black day of Sardarpura's history.

Apart from the Shaikh community, other Muslim communities like Pathans, Memans and Mansuris also lived in the village. However, after the Shaikh Vas was destroyed on March 1, 2002, Memans and Mansuris left Sardarpura. Pathans are still living in the village.

"There were around 150 families of Memans and Mansuris, but now they have left the village. Pandya saved lives of many people of these communities," said Munsafkhan Pathan, witness of the riots in Sardarpura.

While the mob was moving around in the village, most of the members of those communities took refuge in Harijan Vas.

Pandya, who belongs to a scheduled caste, was present there.
"While the people gathered around the Vas, I was present there. Seeing me at the place, the mob dispersed fearing that I would become a witness to their actions."

However, Pandya had to pay the price of his left eye, as he was also attacked later by the mob. "They attacked me and I lost eyesight in one eye because of injury."

But like many of the villagers of his age in Sardarpura, Pandya wants to forget everything and start afresh with communal harmony.  He said, "Now I don't want to remember all those wounds, which are healing with time."