Ashok Parmar: (Not) The Face of The 2002 Gujarat Riots

Brut India

He is still identified as the face of the 2002 Gujarat riots. But 17 years later, he insists he is not what the world thinks of him. Ashok Parmar spoke to Brut India about the moments leading up to the photograph that changed his life completely.

Transcript

00:00Music

00:25When the Hindu-Muslim mix was introduced,

00:27there was a huge commotion here till 10pm.

00:30Hindus were coming on the streets

00:32and harming the Muslim shops.

00:34At that time, my position was that

00:36I had the honour of being a Muslim.

00:38Some people thought I was a Muslim

00:41because of my beard and my honour.

00:44They tried to attack me.

00:47I explained to them that I am not a Muslim.

00:50I am a Muslim.

00:51I am the owner of the Mochi shop.

00:54The Muslim shopkeepers didn't even come today.

00:57So they left me.

00:59Then I thought that

01:01if the shop is closed today,

01:03I will have to go to other areas to eat.

01:06If someone there thinks I am a Muslim

01:08and attacks me,

01:09it will be a big problem.

01:11So I went to the uncle next to me

01:13who does the old clothes business.

01:15He sells all kinds of clothes.

01:17He sells posters of political parties.

01:19He sells clothes too.

01:22I opened the door

01:24and took out a piece of saffron cloth.

01:27It was a big piece of cloth.

01:29I tore it a little

01:31and tied it on my head

01:33so that my symbol

01:35becomes the symbol of Hinduism.

01:37Saffron is the colour of Hinduism.

01:40It is the colour of Hinduism.

01:42So it becomes the symbol of Hinduism.

01:44After that,

01:46the mob that came on the streets

01:48set fire to the Hindu shops

01:50along with the Muslims.

01:52So the peace of the shops

01:54was completely destroyed.

01:56So I felt that

01:58it is not right for me to stay here.

02:00So I left from there

02:02and started going towards my house.

02:04It is a 10-15 minute walk from there.

02:06So while walking on the road,

02:08I used to go towards my house.

02:10There were 4 ways to my house.

02:12On those 4 ways,

02:14there was a board of BSP

02:16where it was written that

02:18Karnawadi Nudekar Prakar

02:20welcomes you.

02:22So I was standing there.

02:24And while I was standing there,

02:26there were 4 other people

02:28who were saying that

02:30the Hindu mob

02:32set fire to the shops

02:34along with the Muslims.

02:36They were doing all this.

02:38So what happened was

02:40that I was standing

02:42on the road

02:44and the way I was standing

02:46on the road,

02:48the mob on the road

02:50thought that

02:52I was a politician

02:54or a leader.

02:56So they were saying

02:58Jai Shri Ram

03:00to me.

03:02So I was also saying

03:04Jai Shri Ram to them.

03:06While all this was going on,

03:08a journalist came to me.

03:10He thought that

03:12BJP or some leader

03:14of BJP

03:16has come to me.

03:18He came to me.

03:20He asked me about Gujarat.

03:22So I told him about Gujarat.

03:24But he didn't believe me.

03:26And because of that,

03:28as you can see,

03:30the Hindu mob in Gujarat

03:32has set fire to the shops

03:34along with the Muslims.

03:36I was writing all this to him.

03:38So all this was happening

03:40and because of that

03:42my anger and hatred increased a lot.

03:44So I gave the answer to that journalist

03:46to his question

03:48in anger and hatred.

03:50So he thought

03:52that if I give him a picture

03:54of my anger and hatred

03:56which is correct

03:58about this stuff.

04:00So I gave him two pictures

04:02of anger and hatred

04:04after standing there

04:06after standing there

04:08and after that

04:10when I saw the picture

04:12in Aatak

04:14and the way Aatak

04:16portrayed me as a Hindu

04:18terrorist and someone

04:20threw a coin at me

04:22I didn't like it.

04:24Because the picture I gave

04:26was of my own free will

04:28and the common man

04:30who was angry

04:32because of that

04:34anger

04:36and hatred.

04:40In 2012

04:42my picture was published

04:44and there was a lot of trouble.

04:46There was a case, an FIR

04:48and a lot of things happened.

04:50Once I was fired

04:52and I died in that.

04:54And in 2014

04:56my image was released

04:58that the Ganga guy

05:00has a different face

05:02and has a different picture

05:04The Ganga guy

05:06has a different face

05:08and has a different picture

05:10The Ganga Guy

05:12has a different face

05:14and has a different picture

05:32After 2014

05:34my friendship with Kuttur

05:36has been established

05:38and whenever

05:40I meet him

05:42I go to his weddings

05:44and I went to his daughter's wedding

05:46and I went to his daughter's wedding

05:48and I went to his daughter's wedding

05:50and this way we have established

05:52a family relationship

05:54and this way Kuttur

05:56launched his book

05:58and I thought

06:00that my shop

06:02will be launched

06:04by Kuttur

06:06and it will be a good message

06:08for the people of India.

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