CALCUTTA, 25 April 2004 — The anti-Muslim violence in Gujarat is haunting the Trinamul Congress-Bharatiya Janata Party combine in West Bengal where campaigning is gathering momentum before the polling scheduled for May 10.
Qutubuddin Ansari — the face of the Gujarat pogrom who has started life afresh in Calcutta — has been roped in by Communist Party of India (Marxists) to address voters.
Ansari was photographed begging rioters to spare his life at the height of the Gujarat violence. His picture was published in newspapers across the world. A tailor by profession, Ansari was subsequently rehabilitated in Calcutta with his wife and children by a non-governmental organization.
Moreover, a compact disc (CD) depicting the premeditated massacre and rape of Muslims and destruction of their homes and businesses in Ahmedabad and elsewhere in Gujarat in February-March 2002 is doing the rounds in many West Bengal constituencies.
The CD, which is being screened mainly in Muslim-majority areas, contains a warning that West Bengal will inevitably turn into another ‘Gujarat’ if the TC-BJP combine ever comes to power in the Left Front-ruled province.
It shows dead bodies of men, women and children, burning mosques and homes, armed Vishwa Hindu Parishad and Bajrang Dal hoodlums on the rampage, the Gujarat police aiding and abetting criminals and BJP leaders, including Narendra Modi, spewing venom against Muslims.
Both Mamata Banerjee and Ajit Panja, TC candidate in Calcutta (North-East) seat, have submitted written complaints to the Election Commission in New Delhi that Marxists were fanning sectarian passions by screening the inflammatory CD to influence voters.
