Gaffar Ali Forgotten Hero [ TUESDAY, JANUARY 08, 2002 ] The national press appears to have missed out

on the news of the passing of the veteran freedom fighter and Communist leader, Gaffar Ali, in Jaipur on January 3, 2002. Gaffar Ali, who was around 90, represented that significant but neglected section of Communists who had opposed the line adopted by the Communist Party of India on Pakistan in the 1940s. He was a critic of the Muslim League and was convinced that religion could not provide the basis of nationality or nationhood. Unfortunately, dissenters like Gaffar Ali have not received sufficient attention in the writing of the history of that period even within the communist Left. Gaffar Ali was also one of the founders of the State Praja Mandal prior to independence. Later, he served as a state legislator from Jaipur. I hope he will not be forgotten. Anil Nauriya, New Delhi