To all readers of Communalism Combat our sincere
apologies and an explanation. As we were
preparing to send the July 2005 issue of the magazine to press, Mumbai and the
neighbouring
Thane and Raigad districts were hit by the worst deluge in living memory. The
swirling waters
claimed over 1,000 precious lives, the death toll in Mumbai alone crossing the
450 mark. As
lakhs of families were marooned and stranded for days, the human crisis was
made worse by a
near collapse of governance. As the floods washed away virtually everything
from their
homes, tens of thousands of families were soaked to the bone, miserable, with
no food to eat and no water to drink. Days later, the receding water left
behind fears of an epidemic.
Newspapers and newsmagazines pride themselves on not missing
an edition even in the most trying circumstances, we know. But given the very
nature of our calling, finding ourselves in the midst of misery of such
colossal magnitude, we were caught in a bind. Do we concentrate on our task as
journalists, of putting to bed one more issue of this publication devoted to
promoting communal harmony? Or do we respond as social activists to the
overarching demand of human compassion whence springs our commitment to
combating intolerance, hatred and violence? Before we knew it, every single
member of our tiny team was plunged into relief work and for the next month
and a half we did our little bit, reaching out to people in desperate need of
help.
Beginning from the morning of July 27, we ran community
kitchens, mobilised money and material through Citizens for Justice and Peace
to rush drinking water, food grains and candlesticks, cooking stoves and
utensils, bedsheets and chatais, medical teams and medicines to those
worst affected in several localities in Mumbai city, as also to Mumbra, Kalyan,
Panvel, Mahad and Chiplun towns and neighbouring villages. Later, we extended
some help to children from poor families who had no pencils, notebooks or bags
to take to school.
That is why we could not bring you the July issue of CC.
For this we sincerely apologise and hope you will understand. Engagement in
relief work proved to be both a learning and a humbling experience. In almost
every place our team visited, they came across moving accounts of how while
politicians, officials and policemen were mostly missing from the scene,
individuals, small groups and local communities had rushed to the rescue of
fellow human beings without distinction of caste or creed. The surging waters
brought grief, misery and suffering on an unprecedented scale. But we may draw
small comfort from the fact that alongside all the devastation and havoc they
also broke down barriers and washed away the communal garbage that had
cluttered many a mind and heart over the last decade or two. "Bahut nuksan
hua magar saath saath dilon ka mael bhi dhul gaya," ("It caused huge
damage, but alongside it washed away the dirt in many hearts") said a social
activist from a western suburb in Mumbai.
So we thought we could do no better in this special, Twelfth
Anniversary, double issue of CC than to draw public attention and pay
our tribute to some of the individuals and groups who stretched themselves day
and night, rescuing and reaching relief to the needy, caste or community no
bar. Sadly, a few of them died while trying to rescue others or later
succumbed to killer diseases that came in the aftermath of the deluge. To them
we pay homage, as our hearts go out to their grieving families.
Regular readers of CC will recall that in a curious
twist to the Best Bakery case retrial, on November 3, 2004, a day before she
was to appear before Judge Abhay Thipsay at the Mazgaon court in Mumbai, prime
eye-witness Zahira Sheikh addressed a press conference in Vadodara under heavy
police protection and levelled serious charges of kidnapping, illegal
confinement et al against Teesta Setalvad and some of her colleagues.
Within days of these baseless allegations, Teesta, who has been handling the
case as secretary, Citizens for Justice and Peace, filed a petition in the
Supreme Court asking for a high-level inquiry into the backdrop of Zahira’s
somersault. In end-August, the apex court released the the inquiry committee’s
report. We are reproducing in this issue excerpts from the same. While giving
Teesta and her colleagues a clean chit and calling Zahira ‘a self-condemned
liar’, the report draws attention to the continuing attempt by certain forces
in Gujarat to subvert the judicial process. For our part, we remain committed
to doing our bit in bringing justice to the victims and survivors of Genocide
2002.