The ‘Gujarat Model’ of Development Ignores Muslim Ghettos

When you take a diversion and reach what is referred to be India’s biggest urban Muslim ghetto, the wide sections of Sarkhej, Ahmedabad’s major thoroughfare, diminish and the buildings get smaller and more crowded. The roads, which are surrounded by settlements belonging to the minority group that was rocked by the incident, run up to a massive brick wall with fence on top that was constructed specifically to keep the Muslim population apart from Vejalpur, the nearby Hindu colony.

 

This is Juhapura, a neighborhood that lies just a few kilometers from Ahmedabad, the capital and biggest city of Gujarat. Although it was established in 1973 as a rehabilitation project for flood victims, during the next several decades, a number of local disputes gave the region a whole new significance.

Here, there is a striking contrast between the stately structures that line the Hindu colony and the soggy alleyways, dilapidated little homes, and impoverished living circumstances seen in the Muslim neighborhood. Juhapura’s streets are full with autorickshaws and bicycles, with meat markets, barbershops, repair shops, and real estate and vacation agencies along both sides. When the sun is shining and the day is bright, it is generally the busiest. The bylanes lead to multi-story concrete buildings that resemble Lego bricks when stacked. A family of four or more may live in the compact, practical rooms within, which also bear the burden of urban life amid deterioration and neglect.

Living on one of these roads in the Juhapura neighborhood is 38-year-old Shagufta Anjum. “Switch off the pump,” she yells to her brother as she gets dressed for the day and looks up to the hallway outside of a little nine-by-nine room. Water hasn’t been present since yesterday.

“It’s jumma today,” she turns to face us. However, as you can see, we lack even water for bathing. Take a look at everything that the government provides for us.

For the impoverished people of Ahmedabad’s Juhapura district, where the government ignores the need to provide adequate services, the summer months are especially hard. “Even though we don’t receive it often, the water we do get is already contaminated. Hardly any roadway lights are present. She laughs, seemingly accepting her destiny, saying, “The most they (the government) have done for us is send the garbage truck once every four days,” as if there’s no hope their neighborhood would experience the “Gujarat model” of progress that everyone else takes pride in.

Juhapura is the perfect example of Ahmedabad’s divided city, even if it’s not the only Muslim ghetto in the area. While differences in class, caste, religion, and economic activity may not always be evident, they are the greatest here.

The formation of Juhapura is characterized by the long history of communal conflicts in the city, which began when Muslim residents left the tightly packed walled city on the eastern bank of the Sabarmati River and sought refuge in the ‘urban’ and prosperous western border of the city. At first, there were just a few thousand individuals attempting to bridge the deeply held Hindu-Muslim divide. However, the boundaries were further solidified by the recurrent riots in Ahmedabad in 1969, 1985, 1992, and 2002. Following the riots in Gujarat in 2002, the population of this neighborhood increased dramatically as more people were driven out of places mostly Hindu such as Khadia and Teen Darwaza. In Ahmedabad, Juhapura turned into a Muslim safe haven.

But the government doesn’t see it, therefore it stays unnoticed. It is now a part of the Vejalpur constituency, although it was once a part of the Sarkhej assembly seat, which was Union Home Minister Amit Shah’s stronghold. Shah was regarded as an unbeatable competitor in the region and was also well-known for using the rift in the community to his advantage in order to placate the Hindu majority. However, Kiritbhai Solanki of the BJP is the current member of the bigger Ahmedabad West constituency, which includes the region in the Lok Sabha elections. This time around, Dinesh Makwana has been fielded by the party.

Gujarat had a dramatic increase in infrastructure during the riots in 2002, which gave rise to the “Gujarat model.” The neoliberal policies of the then-chief minister Narendra Modi, which were used in the Lok Sabha election campaign of 2014, served as the model’s driving force. Even as the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) pledged to emulate this success nationally once it came to power, Modi was portrayed as a Vikas Purush. However, not everyone has yet benefited from this growth strategy, even inside the city. Even though the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation (AMC) elected corporators are mostly relied upon by the people of Juhapura, not much progress is made.

People who have lived in Ahmedabad’s ghettos have overcome obstacles throughout time to create lives that suit them. People talk a lot about the Gujarat model, but jobs will feed our tummies, not a few towering buildings or a riverside. Furthermore, there are no jobs here. Nothing has been done for us by the government. According to Juhapura resident Fareed Qureshi, there is unmistakable prejudice.

With its expansive high-rises and opulent homes beside a wider main road, Juhapura even seems to be a “developed” suburb. However, if you check beyond these structures, you will still discover densely populated areas. It seems like the wounds from past segregation have never healed. Juhapuran areas are denied access to public services and basic government facilities because of their religious beliefs. The absence of sewage, water supply, education, and transportation is alleged by the locals. Not even with the Lok Sabha elections approaching, have the residents of this locality received any assurances.

After eight years of residency, Shagufta’s aunt Fatima claims that even getting the kids to school is a difficulty. “The government does not construct anything here, hence there are no municipal schools in this region. The closest one is a few kilometers distant. To get the kids to school each day, we have to make reservations for a car or set up private transportation. Each car costs Rs 600 a month. This gali is not accessible by bus. In the end, we find ourselves paying almost as much as we would have if our children had attended private schools,” she regrets.

Over the last ten to fifteen years, Shagufta, her sisters, and her family have relocated from Dariyapur in old Ahmedabad to Juhapura because they were unable to survive within the crumbling walls of the old city. The dwellings there were tiny and in danger of collapsing. We were forced to relocate,” she claims.

Dariyapur is a section of the walled city that dates back 600 years and is included as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. However, an increasing number of structures are collapsing due to the incompetence of the authorities. Locals claim that the neglect is the result of a prejudice that is also present in other areas of the city where Muslims predominate. AMC designates some buildings as “dangerous and dilapidated” by sending out a few notifications. However, the authorities seldom ever take any further action or provide assistance to stop it from becoming an accident scene here either.

Every weekend, Tasleem Malik, a beautician from the Sarkhej-Ojha region, travels to Dariyapur to see her parents. Her family has resided in this house for more than a century, through many generations, and here is where she grew up. “My parents do not want to leave this house, even though it is very old,” she explains. Tasleem’s family has seen all stages of the Ahmedabad riots. Curfews were enforced, people turned on one another, and there was bloodshed—although, based on police records, the crimes in Dariyapur were “not that grim.”

“My family’s safety is a blessing from Allah. She says, “The things we witnessed those few days are unimaginable,” but she adds quickly that nothing has been wrong since.

When pressed further, she concedes that there have been a few isolated instances between Hindus and Muslims, but insists that these are small problems. She continues, “These things keep happening, aise to chalta rehta hai.”

A qari of a mosque in Dariyapur named Mohammad Ikrama adds, “We always welcome people of all religions to our area.” Unfortunately, however, when we visit a Hindu colony, nothing similar occurs. Four Muslim guys were assaulted a few days ago while having lassi in Isanpur, a region outside of Ahmedabad. They are now in the hospital.

Ikrama believes that politicians are fomenting these conflicts in order to further polarize the communities along religious lines. He recalls Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s recent “ghuspaithiyan” statement at a rally and observes, “We keep seeing these kinds of remarks made by our leaders.” But why does this hate have to exist? Our only wish is to live in harmony and peace. In order for individuals to work freely, for our companies to prosper, and for our community to be fearless, whomever serves as our representative must uphold fraternity among all communities.

Residents of Ahmedabad have strangely kept quiet about their desires despite decades of communal isolation. Since the minority groups believe they would never get assistance from the government, they have begun to take issues into their own hands with the help of local committees and religious institutions.

The curator of Conflictorium, a museum located in the center of the walled city, V Divakar, responds, “The idea that riots do not happen anymore in Gujarat is false narrative.” When questioned why there is such a hush regarding this important subject. Even while they may not be as severe or widespread, minor events are nonetheless occurring everywhere. The right-wing has portrayed the Gujarat model as unique, yet this kind of infrastructure development occurs worldwide. The fascinating thing about this situation is that no social movements or resistance have emerged. The opposition has been eliminated entirely.

He continues, calling the “Gujarat model” “just an eyewash.” “You use business and progress as a means of removing social responsibility. People are employed for as cheap as Rs 50 a day, thus labor shortages are nonexistent, he claims.

The saffron-tinged political environment of Gujarat, where voting has for years been controlled by the aura of just one leader—Narendra Modi—has once again been apparent ahead of the Lok Sabha elections. However, a voice of dissent is smoldering in the shadows. Even in Hindu neighborhoods, where the roads, buildings, and schools are praised, the growing rates of unemployment and inflation annoy people.

Gujarati society exhibits a disjunction between social and economic advancement. Gujarat’s economy has consistently outperformed the national average because to the state’s strong business community. On social metrics, however, it hasn’t done well.

The party that has controlled Gujarat for the last 25 years may still get the majority of the vote, but there is a weird feeling and ongoing talk that this might be India’s final democratic election. With just one week to voting day, Gujarat’s silence on election campaigns may be an indication of a truth that many people are still unable to acknowledge.