Gulbarg Society no minor challenge in Gujarat polls

LOCKED IN MEMORY: Gulbarg Society witnessed the worst carnage during Gujarat riots of 2002.

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Ahmedabad: While the rest of Gujarat is festooned in garish election garb, Gulbarg society wears a haunted look. The charred walls and windows and the ruins of what was once a bustling neighbourhood are a grim reminder of the nightmare that tore through Gujarat in 2002.

The silence is deafening, the steps leading to the rundown buildings remain desolate and the doors are locked. The people who lived here are either dead or chose to stay away.

Fear still looms large.

But as the polling day draws near, the Election Commission has taken upon itself the task of convincing the voters from the society – the worst-hit during the Gujarat riots – to come out and cast their ballot. The EC has put up notices urging residents and ex-residents to vote without fear.

The message seems to be reaching the right people - survivors of the Gulbarg carnage, many of who still live in Ahmedabad but in different places, want to vote.

Zakia Jaffri, the widow of former MP Ehsaan Jaffri who was also killed at Gulbarg, says she’ll vote even if not from her society’s polling booth.

"It’s impossible to stay and vote in Gulbarg society.So I decided to vote from where I am living now,” she says.

Rupa Mody, whose son Azar went missing in the riots never to return, stays in Thaltej area of Ahmedabad.

“I now stay at Thaltej and I got my voter card here too,” she says.

The Gulbarg Society killings inspired the film Parzania which was based on Mody family's search for Azar, then 13.

While the scars remain, Rupa still nurtures hope - not just of her son’s return but also of the Gulbarg society picking up pieces to get back together.

“I hope that one day, we might all vote again from Chamanpura. We remember those days when we voted together,” she says.

In the highly-pitched election battle, Chief Minister Narendra Modi may have scored brownie points over his rivals during the campaign, but his biggest challenge still remains.

Wooing voters of the Gulbarg Society will perhaps his biggest test so far.