Burying the Massacred: In the Shade of Kalandari

In the old city of Ahmedabad, in the Shahibag-Dudheshwar area, there is a small kabristan (graveyard). You would not find this kabristan unless you were specifically looking for it, even though the popular Dariyakhan Gumbad dargah is just a five-minute walk away. But if you were to hear the testimonies of those who survived the “dhamaal” of 2002, especially the survivors from Gulbarg Society and Naroda Patiya, ‘Kalandari Kabristan’ will be an oft-named place, because it is here that they buried their dead. [imgcenter]

[/imgcenter] Above: Graves at Kalandari Kabristan Targeting minorities in episodes of slaughter has become almost an unnoticed banality. But after the business of killing has been done, there remains an immediate, vital issue: what to do with the masses of dead. It was to solve this issue that crematoriums were installed in Nazi concentration camps; these structures can still be seen, at the former sites of Dachau and Auschwitz camps for example. The absolute secrecy in which the Nazis perpetrated genocide is perhaps an anachronism for today. Today, killings of minorities do make news. But how do those who oversee, instigate and perpetrate these killings respond to such news? Their responses are of either denial or justification. [imgcenter]

[/imgcenter] Above: The signboard written in Gujarati reads, “Momin jamaat kabristan Kalandari Masjid, 28 February 2002 qaumi fasaad mein shaheed bachche (children martyred in communal violence), Bachche (children): 50”  There is a sanctity that is accorded to the mortal remains of the dead; most funeral rites involve procedures for cleansing and sometimes even adorning the body. But pogroms do not make beauteous corpses. Yusufbhai, the care-taker of Kalandari Kabristan, described that the dead brought for burial there were dismembered. Body parts were missing, they emitted a stench, they were even burnt beyond recognition. And the dead were so many that there was not enough space in the kabristan for each body to be buried in its individual kabar (grave). [imgcenter]

[/imgcenter] Above: The signboard in Gujarati says, “99 men who were martyred on 28 February 2002 are buried here” Those who are living must undertake the “collective duty” of burial of the dead: this is an injunction of Islamic ethics. And so, those who survived the pogrom volunteered themselves in service of the dead. Suhana, Yusufbhai’s daughter-in-law, told me that she considered it as “khidmat” (service) to attend to the “janazah” (funeral) of those who had died such merciless, brutal deaths. Her husband Feroz and her brother Asif were among those young men who had gone out to collect the remains of the dead, even while the pogrom was still raging in Ahmedabad. “Allah ne un ladkon ko ye himmat, ye quwwat diya, toh woh ye kaam kar paaye (Allah gave these men the courage and energy so they were able to do this work)." [imgcenter]

[/imgcenter] Above: The signboard says, “50 women and 30 children martyred in 2002 are buried here” It was not just the care-taker’s family members who did this duty; Mehrun, another survivor of the pogrom who lives in Shahibagh, a little far from Kalandari, told me that she too had helped in the “janazah” of the victims. She said, “Hum toh sab gunehgaar hain. Ye neki ka kaam karne ko mila toh kyun na karein (We are all sinners. I got a chance to do this act of piety so why wouldn’t I do it?)." Abdul Hamid, a retired city official who lives in the locality near Kalandari, reported that three large graves had been dug in the grounds of the kabristan. Each of these graves was about 12-15 feet deep. The bodies of men were buried separately from those of women, in different graves. There was a third grave dug for the bodies of children. In each grave, several bodies had to be buried together. I was told by several “khadims” (service-givers) that it was not possible to cleanse or wash these bodies, because they were disintegrating when touched. Only a sprinkling of water had to suffice instead. Within each grave, the bodies were laid out in rows, with layers of earth between them. The “namaaz-e-janazah” (funeral prayer) was offered at the end. [imgcenter]

[/imgcenter] Above: An empty bird-feeder in the kabristan The care-taker Yusufbhai’s family has been living in a small house on the grounds of the Kalandari Kabristan itself. Each time that I have visited the kabristan, I have seen Yusufbhai sitting under the shade of trees, a little distance away from the graves. He said that before him, his father was the guardian of the kabristan. Tragedy has not spared his family; his son, Feroz, died of cancer not long after 2002. Feroz’s wife was pregnant when he died; today, his nine-year old daughter, Ferdous, and her many cousins not only look after the kabristan but also play there. [imgcenter]

[/imgcenter] Above: Namaazis on the occasion of Eid, outside the Kalandari Kabristan. File photo courtesy Abdul Hamid On the occasions of Eid-Milad-un-Nabi and Shab-e-baraat, the kabristan has many visitors. They come here to do “duas” (prayers) or to read the Quran. Saira Sandhi, one of the survivors of the Gulbarg Society massacre told me, “My son has been buried at the Kalandari Kabristan. That is why I live there at Dariyapur, at the relief colony, close to the grave where my son lies buried. Iske Pappa wahaan Juma ke din jaawe namaaz padhne, aur hum jumraat ke din jaate phool chadhane. Yahaan ghar se bhi woh kabrein dikhti hain (My husband goes to the kabristan on Friday to offer namaaz. I go there on Thursdays, and put flowers on the grave. I can see my son’s grave from my home).” There is a two-storeyed mosque located on the Kalandari grounds. It was much smaller earlier, and used only for the purpose of performing namaaz-e-janazah. Later on, during the 1990s, it was expanded. Today, a steady stream of “namaazis” visits the mosque for each of the five namaaz prayers of the day. During the namaaz for the annual Eid festivals, the mosque overflows. [imgcenter]

[/imgcenter] Above: The entrance to the Kalandari Masjid and Kabristan Not much is known of Kalandari’s recorded history. Abdul Hamid said that he was told by the “mutawalli” of Kalandari Masjid, that a judge named Katariwala had bequeathed this land to the Momin jamaat of Ahmedabad just before leaving for Pakistan during Partition. It began to be used as a kabristan from that time itself. In 2002, it was considered a relatively safe part of the city, hence was chosen to be the site of burials. Sometimes you can see a peacock here; like other kabristans of Ahmedabad, bird-feeders are to be found in Kalandari as well. Today, Kalandari Kabristan stands as a site of remembrance and prayer, containing the memories of those Muslims who have lived through one of the bloodiest episodes of Indian democracy. — All photos courtesy the author except where indicated otherwise Heba Ahmed is a research scholar at the Centre for Political Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University