Kannur, Mar 4: Twelve years since 2002, the two met at the unlikeliest of places - a CPI (M) seminar in Kannur, Kerala - where they joined in a duet of peace and brotherhood, singing and shaking hands.
One is the face of Gujarat riots, the other the defining image of its perpetrators. They met on Monday at the unlikeliest of places - a CPI (M) seminar in Kannur in Kerala and did something implausible - joining in a duet of peace and brotherhood.
Both of them were the guests at a public seminar titled 12 years after the genocide, ' organised by CPI(M)-sponsored cultural organisations at Taliparamba.
The seminar was inaugurated by CPI(M) leader and former Minister T.K. Hamza.
While Qutubuddin Ansari's face - caked with dust, tears and dried blood as he pleaded with security forces to save him from rampaging rioters - had become the image of 2002 riots; Ashok Mochi, Bajarang dal activist's picture, a saffron band around his head, a rod in one hand and the other clinched into a fist, represented the blood-thirst of the aggressors, which became the icon of the inhuman face of the riots.
The picture of Mr. Ansari with his folded hands and agonised expression of helplessness is still afresh in the minds of the people who gathered there.
Equally strong was the image of Mr. Mochi shouting slogans carrying an iron rod.
Qutubuddin Ansari, whose frightened face in a famed news photo of the violence became emblematic of the Gujarat communal violence, and Ashok Mochi, a former Bajrang Dal activist, met each other, shook hands and exchanged pleasantries and flowers on the stage. Both of them, now in their forties, stood there in front of the crowds to trigger memories of the riots.
First time meet
They would have never met in Gujarat, where almost all cities and towns are now neatly divided into Muslim ghettos and Hindu enclaves. They sang, shook hands, and Ansari accepted a rose from Mochi. Behind them were posters carrying the pictures that had made them famous.
While the political overtone of the event was hard to ignore in an election year, one did feel like buying into the imagery - the dream of 'and they lived happily ever after.'
A book based on Ansari's experience of riots and post-riots Gujarat -- 'Njan Qutubuddin Ansari' (I am Qutubuddin Ansari) -- was released at the event, marveled at the fact that he was seated next to Mochi. "Even though we are both Gujaratis, we could not have met in Gujarat like this. This is a new experience for me," he said.
My brother Ashok Mochi has asked for forgiveness
Ansari said that Mochi, who was charged under sections 435 and 436 (arson and causing destruction by fire) and spent nearly two weeks in prison, wasn't the first Hindu to apologise to him for the riots. "A retired army officer named Anand Shroff, a resident of Pune, had apologised to me on behalf of the Hindu community some years back. Today, my brother Ashok Mochi has asked for forgiveness. It means a lot to me. Let this be the beginning of a new chapter in humanity," he said.
It was a huge blunder '
Mochi, who looked nothing like his famous picture -- now clean shaven and the middle parting giving way to a neater side parting - called the riots a mistake. "It was a huge blunder. I do not know what to say, I have never addressed so many people in my life. But I cannot leave without talking about insaaniyat (humanity) -- that is what I have learnt over these years," he said.
They sang the famous song from Manoj Kumar-starrer Purab Paschim 'Hai preet jahan ki reet sada... '
Where is Modi 's development? I still live on footpath '
Both Mochi and Ansari were critical of Modi and his development model. "Where is development in Gujarat? Any talk of development is just a sham. I still live on a footpath in Lal Darwaza. I am still single. I can't afford to get married because of my financial status," said Mochi, 39.
Ansari said Modi by posing with Muslim leaders is trying to cultivate the impression that the community is now with him. "The truth is that the BJP has done nothing for Muslims. People living in other states should know this truth. That is the reason I have come up with the book," said Ansari.
The event was organised by the Co -ordination Committee of Minority Organisations, an arm of CPI (M).
Oppose CPM fascism in Kerala, urges mother of slain Muslim league activist
Even as the CPM celebrates Qutubuddin Ansari, the face of 2002 Gujarat riot victims, as its mascot of secularism and communal harmony, and use him as a weapon for their campaign against Narendra Modi, the mother of Muslim Youth League activist Abdul Shukkoor, who was allegedly killed by the CPM activists two years back at Ariyil in Kannur district, wrote a letter to him, urging him to oppose the CPM fascism in Kerala, too.
Shukkoor's mother P C Aathikka gave the letter to Ansari, when he was here to attend a public meeting organized by the CPM in Thaliparamba on Monday, on the 12th anniversary of the Gujarat riots. She said she was pained to see the CPM leaders who are accused in the murder of her son sharing the stage with him in various functions.
"I too had a son, who got trapped in the hands of the CPM workers. His name was Abdul Shukkoor, who was just 21-year-old. He was trailed by the party court for nearly two and a half hours and even as he begged for his life before them, as you did before the attackers, he was stabbed to death in front of 200-odd people by the party that preaches democracy," she said in the letter.
"I was shocked to see P Jayarajan, who is an accused in the case, releasing your autobiography in Malayalam."
The party did not even show the mercy showed by the Sangh Parivar to Ansari, she said in the letter, which also refers to other murders, including the killing of T P Chandrasekahran, committed allegedly by the CPM.
"If your fight against the Sangh Parivar fascism is sincere, you should also fight against the CPM fascism," she says in the letter.
After 12 years: Ashok Mochi (left) and Qutubuddin Ansari at a function at Taliparamba in Kannur on Monday
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