KANNUR: Qutubuddin Ansari, the face of 2002 Gujarat riot victims shared the dais with Ashok Mochi <http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/topic/Ashok-Mochi>, the Bajrang Dal <http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/topic/Bajrang-Dal> activist whose photograph became the icon of the inhuman face of the riots, at a function organized by CPM here, 12 years after the incident.
The function happened on Monday. "I realized what is love only after leaving Gujarat and today hundreds of people come to meet me but I interact with only those who have humanity," Ansari told the public meeting. He said the society should realize who the masterminds of the riots were. "I have no hatred towards Ashok Mochi; I know he was only a tool in the hands of rioters and today I have a feeling of love towards him." In his address, Mochi also said he knew love only after he shed his past. "I have abandoned the politics of hatred and revenge once and for all, and my life was changed completely after the 2002 riots," said an emotional Mochi. "Now, I realize Ansari is my brother." He said the development in Gujarat had not benefitted common people. "Even now, we are living in the streets and our life has not improved at all," said Mochi, a cobbler by profession. Meanwhile, the mother of slain Muslim Youth League activist Abdul Shukkoor has written a letter to Ansari, urging him to oppose the CPM fascism in Kerala too. In her letter, Shukkoor's mother P C Aathikka said she was shocked to see the CPM leaders who are accused in the murder of her son sharing the stage with him at many functions. "I too had a son, who was killed by CPM workers. His name was Abdul Shukkoor, who was just 21. He was tried by a party court for nearly two-and-a-half hours and even as he begged for his life, as you did before the attackers, he was stabbed to death in front of 200-odd people," she said in the letter. "I was pained to see P Jayarajan, who is an accused in the case, releasing your biography .... If your fight against the Sangh Parivar fascism is sincere, you should also fight against the CPM fascism," she adds. CPM leader T K Hamsa inaugurated the meeting organized under the aegis of the cultural organizations controlled by the party. *They share a room and a dream* In Thalassery, Kerala's communist heartland, Qutubuddin Ansari<http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/topic/Qutubuddin-Ansari> and Ashok Mochi, conflicting faces of the 2002 Gujarat riots<http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/topic/Gujarat-riots>, are not only sharing a room, but living a dream too. "In Gujarat, we can't even think of meeting in public leave alone sharing a room. Here in Kerala, it has become a reality," Ansari said. They will remain here for the next few days, attending programmes organised by CPM as Left Front readies for the polls. The CPM aims to strike a chord with minorities and intellectuals through this move. Ansari and Ashok are staying at a house at Thalassery, arranged by a local CPM worker. They reached Kerala from Gujarat on Sunday by separate trains. Though the riot scars still hurt, Ansari said meeting Ashok wasn't difficult. "We are connected by two extremes of the same past. Ashok has changed and I feel brotherly affection for him." He said he doesn't wish to live in the past: The bloodshed, tears and the photograph that made him the pleading, helpless face of a pogrom, which shamed the land of the Mahatma. Though they had chance meetings in Gujarat, it was in Kerala after 12 years that Ansari met former Bajrang Dal activist Ashok Mochi. Ansari said he could have made good money had he taken part in poll campaigns in Gujarat."I could have made lakhs of rupees if I pose for the Gujarat government's campaign, saying 'Abhi Gujarat mein aman hai' (Gujarat is now peaceful). More than money, humanity is of importance...I am happy Ashok is now a transformed man. He now realizes and repents his wrongdoings." Ashok echoed Ansari. "It was too late when I realized I was a tool in the hands of the predators. I feel sad for what happened. Today, Ansari saab is more like a brother," he said. "We are free human beings here and there is no wall of religion between us." The CPM is exploiting the secular bonding between the two. "They are not communists but they are the ones who experienced the bitter days," said Saheed Rumi, who penned Ansari's biography. http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/12-years-on-faces-of-Gujarat-riots-share-a-room-and-a-dream/articleshow/31440200.cms
