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Welcome
Ansari
Everyone
remembers the traumatised face, eyes filled with tears, pleading for
mercy with folded hands as the VHP-Bajrang Dal mobs went on the
rampage killing and raping Muslims in Gujarat last year. Blazoned
across newspapers in India and abroad, this face epitomised the
plight of the minorities in Gujarat. Qutubuddin Ansari shook the
nation’s conscience, but he found it impossible to continue living
in Gujarat. He was shunned by neighbours and employers, who accused
him of bringing shame to the state, whereas it was they who brought
shame to the land of the Mahatma. Living in insecurity and on the
verge of starvation, the magazine Communalism Combat came to his
rescue and launched an appeal to relocate Ansari and his family.
Some citizens of Kolkata responded to the appeal and today Ansari
has started a new life in the city of joy (for once no irony
intended). It is to the credit of the citizens of Kolkata that they
have the compassion to respond to such an appeal, and to the state
government which has consistently created a climate where both
Hindus and Muslims can feel secure.
We salute Communalism Combat
and its moving spirit, Teesta Setalvad, who braved local prejudice
to help the Ansaris find a new home. The magazine, run by a
committed team of journalists and activists has done yeoman’s
service to the cause of secularism. The special editions produced
last year on the Gujarat holocaust pitilessly documented the riots.
At a time when determined efforts were made to rewrite history,
voices like Communalism Combat served a purpose beyond praise. It
has taken up 18 other cases where Narendra Modi’s government has
brought shame upon itself. Zahira Shekih, the sole survivor of the
owners of Best Bakery and prime witness to the burning alive of 12
people is among them and has been taken under the organisation’s
wing, which is trying to secure justice. Ansari is a high-profile
victim of the Gujarat pogrom. But there are thousands of others like
him languishing in the state who have lost everything and a year
later are still out on the streets with no rehabilitation and
nowhere to go. The Gujarat government has not only washed its hands
of the victims but is actively obstructing those trying to help
them. Chief Minister Narendra Modi in fact attacked the West Bengal
government for giving shelter to Ansari. We recognise that on this
issue, Buddhadeb Bhattacharyya, Anil Biswas, the Left Front and
Alimuddin Street speak with one voice. And we support that voice and
applaud it.
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RE:Welcome
Ansari
Mr. Irani,
Thanks for your wonderful sum-up of the situation. On this very
issue, I was subjected to personal attacks by many readers of this
site because of my protest to their preaching of communal
RE:Welcome
Ansari
Good, now that
he is here, he can now team up with other circumcised vermins in
Bengal who are hell bent to turn this land of ours into Khaleda's
Talibangladesh. Time for him to finish what he started
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