Remember Qutubuddin Ansari? Remember the face that flashed across the world as the face of the Gujarat riots -- eyes welling with tears, face covered with mud and dried blood, hands folded in a plea for mercy?
Those who thought Ansari's pleading eyes stood for pathos that cruelty of the highest order can generate must visit Nandigram (a rather insignificant place even a few years back) in West Bengal's East Midnapore district.
Here you will come across many Ansaris, several hapless souls, who are desperate to send across their messages yet scared stiff to even imagine what might happen if they voice their feelings.
Image: Polling at a booth in Nandigram's Gokulnagar area. According to officials, polling was more or less peaceful apart from a few stray incidents.
Photographs: Dipak Chakraborty
Also read: Fascism reigns supreme in Nandigram
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