Monday, November 14, 2011

Dadri 1979

Dadri 1979 is a significant milestone in the history of Aligarh Movement. Your poor Alig has summarized some of the significant events of that year in a post earlier. Compared to them one might think that Dadri 1979 might be some minor affair. It is not. It is deeply ingrained in the psyche of the people who were affected by that event. This also means that many of the Aligs who are concerned about Aligarh Movement can not discount that fateful incident. Every Alig, worth his salt, knows about this. Many were directly affected. This was during the struggle for minority character for AMU that a large group of students left for Delhi by train. In the morning they were brutally attacked at the Dadri railway station. The attackers had boarded the train from Aligarh itself and had mustered local support also. Students had to resort to desperate measures, like running into field, to save their lives. Since we have not heard of any report or investigation into this episode the only thing that can be offered is above sketch that has emerged after years of hearing tidbits from various people over the years. The brain behind that attack is long gone-having enjoyed the fruits of his labour. The only thing that lingers is the feeling that how a small group of locals can stymie the tide of aspirations of a society that is much bigger than any continental European country.