Mayawati, Mulayam Singh or Narendra Modi, Hashimpura victims see no hope

Even as debate over the 2002 Gujarat riots rages in media and political circles, residents of Hashimpura, a dingy locality in the heart of Meerut city is craving for attention. The locality alongwith Maliana shot into international headlines in 1987, when 42 of its residents during communal riots, were killed in cold blood allegedly by police during the Congress rule. Though the incident became a rallying point to pack off Congress from Uttar Pradesh, the residents are awaiting justice even after 27 years.

Jamaluddin Ansari has lost count of the number of times he has made trips to the Tiz Hazari courts in Delhi since 1987, when his 22-year-old son was killed in the Hashimpura massacre.

At that time Ansari was into the scissor-making business but now he runs a small provision store adjoining his quaint old house in a narrow lane. At 75, he has now lost hope of getting justice in his lifetime "whichever party comes to power in the state or at the Centre."

But familiar with the political pulse in Meerut city where the Muslim population is over 30%, he says the Muslim vote was likely to get divided between BSP and SP and this would give an advantage to the BJP.

While the BJP has fielded its sitting MP Rajendra Aggarwal from Meerut, the BSP and SP have fielded Muslim candidates — Shahid Akhlaq and Shahid Manzoor, a minister in the Akhilesh government.

The Congress, which has fielded an actress Nagma, has never put up a Muslim candidate after Mohsina Kidwai, who was defeated in 1989 two years after the Hashimpura massacre and again in 1994.

The Congress was in power in the state and Centre when nearly 50 Muslim youth were allegedly taken in a truck of the Provincial Armed Constabulary (PAC) and later killed. Their bodies were thrown into the Upper Ganga Canal near Delh and some in the Hindon river in Ghaziabad. But, six of them lived to tell the tale. The case has been fast tracked but the hearing still takes place once in around two-three months.

Earlier, relatives of 45 victims used to go to court in Delhi but the number has trickled down to just 8-10 people.

"In another two-four years, I will also die. In some time the case will be forgotten," says Ansari, who has made over 50 trips to Delhi, the last being in February. Each trip costs him around Rs3,000 to Rs. 4,000.

He says despite the riots, relations between the two communities in the mohalla are amiable. "We attend weddings in each other's families and exchange sweets. Our children play together," he says. But the "indifference" of various regimes has left a bitter taste among those like him who have been waiting for justice for over two decades. The women in the family say they don't want to "waste" their time waiting in queues to vote.

A few kms away from Hashimpura, a tea seller Khub Chand says that barring some Jatav votes which may go to Mayawati's BSP, the Hindus will vote for the BJP. Asked if he knew that BJP's prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi too was a chai wallah, he said, "I have heard him say that."

He points to BJP state chief Laxmikant Bajpayi's house a stone's throw away saying he was born in Meerut. Bajpayi, who has won the Meerut assembly election for the fifth time, is confident of his party retaining the seat with a huge margin. When asked about the Hashimpura case, he says they should get justice. He says while the Congress, BSP and SP have been indulging in "appeasement" politics, when the BJP comes to power it will "ensure justice for all".

Congress leader Ashok Kumar Bharti claims the Congress has done a lot for people in the years after the Hashimpura massacre like bringing the land acquisition bill. He says people are unhappy with the BJP MP as they feel he has not done much for the constituency.