When times are dark and when the din of militant nationalism makes crowds hysterical and dizzy, the voice of sanity is hard to hear. Yet, in such times, it is all the more necessary to raise this voice with all our might to save whatever worthwhile ‘humanity’ stands for.

The last few decades in our country have witnessed this darkness in abundance. Worse still, there are a frighteningly increasing number of those who even celebrate this darkness. Communalism Combat began in this background, as one of the few but strong voices of sanity and has continued without break despite many challenges and assaults.

Communalism Combat is basically a journal that voices the concerns of those who desire to live in co-operation with each other, not only tolerating but also respecting and enjoying each other’s differences and pluralities. It represents those masses of our society who understand that the strength of the country is in the strength of its people and that "the people" includes several pluralities – religious, cultural, linguistic, etc.

It stands for those who are convinced that the strength of the people is in mutual understanding and cause, and not in exclusionist self-aggrandisement or dominance based on hatred. It also views things from the perspective of those who believe in reason, combined with sensitivity, and not in militant passion or fundamentalism.

Thus, Communalism Combat has taken up issues of violence of different kinds, the challenges of fundamentalism, communalism, the politics of religion, nuclearisation, displacement, gender discrimination and the rights of the individual. Objectivity and credibility have been the basic tenets of this journal.

As a reader I have found that, as far as possible, the reports or articles published in this journal are authenticated by evidence and credible arguments. This reflects the long processes and the painstaking efforts that its contributors and editors must put in before publishing the stuff.

Although Communalism Combat has invited the wrath of Hindutva forces on more than one occasion, an objective review will show that it been no less intent on exposing and criticising other centres of insanity, irrespective of the religion to which they belong. The material published in this journal is generally investigative and analytical. It gives alternative viewpoints espoused by different sections of society on controversial issues. But its own stand has always been to present issues and events in such a manner that the complexities of human situations are exposed and prejudiced stereotypes broken.

It has covered major tragedies that have occurred in our country and outside it in the recent past, for example, the happenings in Gujarat. While most of the media presented these tragedies with ‘a community’s eyes’, this magazine was one of the few that presented them as human tragedies, exposing simultaneously the sinister designs of communal elements under open protection of the State. The special volume on Gujarat (Genocide – Gujarat 2002) showcases the extensive work done by the Communalism Combat team under very difficult and risky circumstances. It is a document from which new generations can learn several lessons. We are all aware of the subsequent involvement of the editors, Teesta and Javed, in the Citizens’ Inquiry (Crime Against Humanity, An Inquiry into the Carnage in Gujarat, report prepared by the Concerned Citizens Tribunal, Gujarat 2002) into those episodes and its consequences.

However, it is not just tremors and tragedies that Communalism Combat focusses on. It has repeatedly brought to light the saner elements of society and those events that strengthen human bonds and keep our hopes of a humane society alive. It has often carried profiles of persons who have contributed towards maintaining peace and shown courage in difficult times. It has reported cases of solitary individuals who have displayed rare determination and courage by saving people from the assault of communal frenzy despite the risk to their own lives. In most of these cases, the saviour and the saved belonged to different religious communities. And this has helped us to hope, in times of deep disappointment, that ultimately one would win over hatred, that humanity would survive.

As a reader, I salute Communalism Combat on completing ten years of tireless investigative journalism with a scientific mind and a humane heart!