A face of the Gujarat riots and a “brand ambassador of Hindu Rashtra” is now talking about Dalit-Muslim unity. Yes, you read that right.

We are talking about Ashok Parmar aka Ashok Mochi. Once seen wearing a saffron band around his forehead, with an iron rod in one hand, arms outstretched, fists clenched, mouth open, letting out a war cry as fires raged behind him — he turned over a new leaf and joined ‘Dalit Asmita Yatra’ that began in Ahmedabad on August 5.

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A cobbler by profession, Parmar sits on the footpath of a busy road between Shahpur Darwaza and Delhi Darwaza in old Ahmedabad with his makeshift establishment of a few boxes that contain boot-polish, buckles, pins, thread, big and small needles, worn-out shoe brushes and other equipment to mend footwear.

The footpath has been serving as the homeless man's “permanent address” in the city for the past two decades.

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Ashok, along with his friends, many of whom are Muslims, joined the 10-day yatra in Savarkundla before it ended on August 15 in Una where seven Dalits were flogged for skinning a dead cow.

“Dalit-Muslim unity is the need of the hour. Both communities are oppressed and poorer. And therefore, they are being targeted on one pretext or the other – the latest one is the terror unleashed on them in the name of cow protection. I believe every citizen of India has a right to live peacefully and have a roof over the head. He or she should have all the freedom to chose profession and decide what eat and wear,” the 40-year-old Parmar told Indiatimes.

How did this change of heart come about?

He said he was labelled as a Bajrang Dal member and became the face of saffron terror and genocide. “But I am neither,” he said claiming his becoming one of the rioters on the street was just a “coincidence”.

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“The girl I loved the most got married few days before the riots. I returned to work with a heavy heart that ill-fated day at around 10 am. There was a bandh that had affected thousands of daily wage workers like me. I lost my daily business and could not get any food. I was angry. Angry at my own situation and what was going on in the streets of the city in reaction to the Godhra incident that had occurred a day before.”

“Hindus were killing Muslims. I had beard which was making me look like a Muslim. I tied a saffron cloth round my forehead to save myself. Meanwhile, a photographer (Sebastian D’Souza from Mumbai Mirror) approached me asked me to pose like a rioter. I picked up an iron rod to show how angry I am. The next day I saw myself on the front page of almost all publications. Since then, I became a villain and face of Gujarat riots across the world. The photo landed me in jail for 14 days. Later, I was acquitted by a lower court because there was not a single bit of evidence to show my participation in the massacre,” he added.

“If you see the photograph minutely, you will find me alone in the picture. I was not part of any mob. I was not out for rioting. I never imagined the picture would cause so much trouble,” he explains.

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But he does not regret tying the saffron band. “Don’t politicise the use of any colour. Like all Muslims who wear beard and skull caps are not terrorists, all those who wear saffron are not necessarily associated with RSS (Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh) and its affiliates like VHP and Bajrang Dal. The right wing groups do not have copyright on the colour. Our national flag has a saffron band,” he said.

But his account of what happened on that day has been strongly contested the photographer, who has been quoted in several reports as saying that he did not ask anyone to pose for him.

“I saw Mochi climb up on a signboard and spread his hands. It seemed as if he was saying, ‘I am the king.’ He looked threatening. I saw and shot him in the middle of taking many other pictures. That’s it. I do not remember seeing whether he actually burnt something or beat someone up,” D’Souza earlier told DNA.

When asked why the Vishwa Hindu Parishad and Bajrang Dal never opposed the association with him and the photo, he says, “Why would they? They had got a brand ambassador for their Hindu Rashtra image,” says Parmar.

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Parmar now has a debt of over Rs 10,000 fighting court cases. “I didn’t get any support from my family or community in my village,” said a loud and assertive Parmar who manages to earn a modest sum of Rs 200 a day.

Why he gave up on the idea of marriage

Parmar is still single. He did not get married because of two reasons – his unsuccessful love life and his weak financial condition.

“In my twenties, I was in love with a girl in this neighbourhood but she was from a slightly higher caste – an OBC. Her family did not approve of the match. I could not press the family fearing honour killing. She was married off elsewhere and therefore, I gave up on the idea of marriage altogether,” he said.

He further exclaimed, “In fact, I cannot even afford a wedding let alone a marriage. I do not want a woman or children to suffer the poverty I grew up in.”

He would have liked to start a shop of his own selling ready-made footwear, but he does not believe that will ever happen. He will never be able to afford it.

A proud ‘chamar’

“I am a ‘chamar’ and I take pride in it,” he said adding that he never calls himself a Dalit. “It is wrong and unconstitutional to call anyone a Dalit,” he explained.

Why did Parmar withdraw himself from Dalit Asmita Yatra?

He left the protest march four days after joining it. Reason being the collective pledge never to dispose off and skinning dead cattle and do sanitation work.

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“I have a strong disagreement with making people take oaths in the rally to not skin dead animals. We the ‘chamars’ are known for tanning work. It is our profession, a source of livelihood. Preventing people to do this will lead to further weakening of our financial condition. It is true that we should look for alternative jobs, but not all will be able to find an alternative. The fight should be for getting respect in whatever job one does,” he added.

He said, "Although he does not skin animals, but many in my community do so. The doctors do almost the same job after years of training. But ‘chamars’ master the art without any formal education."

"The availability of fancy leather products in the market is possible only because of us," he added.

Modi failed the people of Gujarat and India

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, he said, has failed Gujarat in particular, and the country in general. “Realising the fact that only Hindutva will not work, he started talking of development since 2012. But nothing has changed for the poor. My financial condition is so bad I can’t even get married. People more educated than me are driving rickshaws because they cannot get jobs. All I have seen in the name of development in this area is the riverfront being made like Chowpatty (Mumbai) and two over-bridges. It has nothing to do with poor people like me,” he added.