This remarkable, shivering and bone-chilling installation by Tejal Shah is based on the impact (or not) of the so-called "communal riot" in Gujarat (India) of February 2002 on the mindsets of a sample of Indians randomly chosen by Tejal Shah.
This so-called "communal riot" was mostly (if not uniquely) triggered and carried out by the then (and still is) chief Minister of Gujarat Narendr Modi, his party (BJP) leaders, activists and its allies (VHP and RSS and other local outfits).
She also questions how India, as the largest "democracy" (a concept that needs to be defined unambiguously!) of the world, has dealt with this horrendous event since February 2002 since no major Indian political leaders (neither national nor local) and since no local administrative heads of the state security, state police and state judiciary departments have been held accountable for what they did during this so-called "communal riot" and what they did not to prevent this modern-style horrendous pogrom targeted at thousands and thousands of Muslims in Gujarat.
Several inquiries were made, either by NGOs or the Indian government, but, nobody (or almost) has since been convicted and jailed and thousands and thousands of Indians, most of whom are Muslims, are still waiting for long due rehabilitation and justice by the government of this so-called "largest democracy" of the world.
This is of course not the first incidence of Indian government's (in the largest sense of the word) cowardice, failure, and its corrupt and mean behaviour against its own people and, to make things worse, this concerns the weakest sections of its people. One only needs to remember the Bhopal gas tragedy and the recent gross corruption cases over the Commonwealth Games and 3G scam and so many other corruption incidences that have led to next to zero remedial measures nor any indictment nor any prosecution, which again question the very idea of "democracy" in present-day India.
Shame, shame, shame on all of us Indians!
Mounir
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"India asks Beijing gallery to censor art show over Gujarat video" (The Hindu - July 23, 2012)
Interview with Tejal Shah:
http://vimeo.com/40390427
Tejal SHAH's website:
