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Where is Al-Umma gensec Mohammad Ansari?

Al-Umma has become synonymous with a bomb culture, thanks to the Tamil Nadu police unearthing many kilogrammes of explosives in the last ten weeks. With every haul of explosives, the TN police pick up a couple of young men.

One thing I have noticed in every arrest or appearance in court is that none of the militants look even a little scared. As far as Al-Umma president S A Basha is concerned, the policemen accompanying him look like they are scared of him.

If I were a Muslim fundamentalist I would not trust a girl who has just converted from Hinduism. But we are told that Ayesha is a dangerous terrorist. They have even announced a Rs 100,000 award for her capture. I wonder if Ayesha is being projected much beyond her importance.

We were first told that there was no human bomb. Then we were told that the human bomb was a pregnant woman. A month later we were informed that a 19-year-old was the human bomb. Today we are informed that Ayesha is the human bomb and she is walking around with bombs strapped around her waist.

First, Pakistan's ISI agency was blamed for supplying the explosives, next they blamed somebody called 'Karate Raju,' an Indian and a Hindu to boot, for supplying bombs. Next they will probably blame the Irish Republican Army.

In all these barrage of words -- one important name is missing. When Basha was in jail for his alleged involvement in attacking the RSS office in Madras, who led Al-Umma? Even after Basha came out of prison, who ran the organisation?

Much before constable Selvaraj was stabbed last November which led to the Coimbatore riots and provoked February's bomb blasts, Al-Umma general secretary Mohammad Ansari had told Rediff On The NeT on tape: "If the RSS tries anything in Kashi and Mathura you will see a second partition."

If Ayesha is worth Rs 100,000, Ansari must be worth a reward many times that sum. But the police have not announced any reward. The state government does not even mention his name in the white paper on the Coimbatore blasts. Newspapers make only a passing reference to him as one of the absconders. Why?

Is Ansari so deadly that people are scared to speak about him? Or is this just one more instance in the DMK's alleged agenda of appeasement?

Unlike Basha, Ansari does not rant or rave. Even when he is discussing the possibility of violence, he speaks softly. He makes his point by sharp argument. After you meet him you are convinced he is a sincere man. Even if he is sincere about the wrong things.

Where is Ansari? And who is covering up for him? Nobody is asking these questions. And that is the problem.

Photographs: A Ganesh Nadar

EARLIER REPORTS:
'Let them not demolish the mosques in Kashi and Mathura or the country will face another Partition'
Fear Over the City

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