Hubli merchant relives Gujarat agony

hubli: this man has walked the streets of hell, and is now safe home. baba abbhanavar (25), who reached hubli on monday night, is yet to reconcile himself to the fact that he has escaped gujarat''s theatre of madness. the horror of communal frenzy haunts him as he recollects that a truck driver from nippani was tied to the steering wheel and set on fire.``it was a miraculous escape for me, i watched as around 20 youths surrounded him baying for his blood. my truck was parked very close to a punjabi dhaba, about 12 km from ahmedabad. the dhaba owner pleaded with the fanatics not to burn the truck.'''' this gave baba his chance to escape. the truck was driven a small distance before it was set ablaze. ``i was hiding nearby when the group of youths targeted another parked truck. they wanted to know the driver''s religion and were not convinced as the name of the truck contradicted the driver''s claims.'''' he was begging for his life. but the youths took a rope, tied him to the steering and made him chant a slogan. even as he began, he was consumed by flames, baba recollects. at least 25 trucks from karnataka were burnt on gujarat''s highways. a shocked baba ran away and took shelter in another dhaba. he frantically called his relative in pendar oni in hubli for safe passage. congress leaders raja desai and siraj ahmed kudchivale contacted a merchant in ahmedabad, who in turn directed baba to reach acn food industry in dabbal chowki, about 62 km from ahmedabad. ``the 50-km walk was a trip through hell. a trail of destruction and death. miscreants settling ablaze vehicles, killing people.'''' the owner of the food industry played the role of good samaritan, helping baba board a train to pune from nadiad. baba is a chili merchant who sells his produce in gujarat. he left hubli, unaware that he would watch the dance of death up close, and also return a much poorer man. baba has lost his fortune of rs 4.32 lakh. a brother of six sisters, baba recently lost his father. life will not be the same, he says tearfully. congress leaders raja desai and kudchivale have petitioned chief minister s.m. krishna for compensation to baba. there were four persons in the truck along with baba. two persons who were missing are reportedly safe. baba returned home with truck cleaner muthya. ``what connection do i have with the sabarmati train tragedy or the ayodhya controversy? if god has created human beings, he must be a miserable god to create such fanatics.'''' baba is a bitter man today.