[sacw] SACW #2 | 12 June 02
Harsh Kapoor
aiindex@mnet.fr
Wed, 12 Jun 2002 04:04:11 +0100
South Asia Citizens Wire Dispatch #2 | 12 June 2002
South Asia Citizens Web:
http://www.mnet.fr/aiindex
South Asians Against Nukes:
http://www.mnet.fr/aiindex/NoNukes.html
__________________________
#1. Ahimsa (Arundhati Roy)
#2. letter to the head of the Congress Party + Short note on the Mann
Dam Oustees issue
#3. Vigil for Survivors of Bhopal; Protest the Corporate
Irresponsibility of Dow Chemical
(Washington DC, June 13th)
#4. West Bengal Left front in Solidarity With Gujarat Victims
#5. Ideals, not deals: An old party in search of a new vision (Mushirul Hasan)
__________________________
#1.
http://www.hindustantimes.com/nonfram/120602/detide01.asp
The Hindustan Times
Wednesday, June 12, 2002
Ahimsa
Arundhati Roy
While the rest of us are mesmerised by talk of war and terrorism and
wars against terror, (can you go to war against a feeling?) in Madhya
Pradesh a little life-raft has set sail into the wind. On a pavement
in Bhopal, in an area called 'Tin Shed', a small group of people has
embarked on a journey of faith and hope.
There's nothing new in what they're doing. What's new is the climate
they're doing it in.
Today is the 23rd day of the indefinite hunger strike by four
activists of the Narmada Bachao Andolan. They have fasted two days
longer than Gandhi did on any of his fasts during the freedom
struggle. Their demands are more modest than his ever were. They are
protesting against the Madhya Pradesh government's forcible eviction
of more than a thousand adivasi families to make way for the Maan
Dam. All they're asking is that the government of MP implement its
own policy of providing land for land to those being displaced by the
Maan Dam. There's no controversy here. The dam has been built. The
displaced people must be resettled before the reservoir fills up in
the monsoon and submerges their villages.
The four activists on fast are: Vinod Patwa who was one of the
114,000 people displaced in 1990 by the Bargi Dam (which now, twelve
years later, irrigates less land than it submerged). Mangat Verma who
will be displaced by the Maheshwar Dam if it is ever completed.
Chittaroopa Palit, who's been with the NBA for almost 15 years. And
22-year-old Ram Kunwar, the youngest and frailest of the activists.
Hers is the first village that will be submerged when the waters rise
in the Maan reservoir. In the weeks since she began her fast, Ram
Kunwar has lost 9 kilos - almost a fourth of her original body weight.
Unlike the other large dams like the Sardar Sarovar, Maheshwar and
Indira Sagar, where the resettlement of hundreds of thousands of
displaced people is simply not possible (except on paper, in court
documents etc), in the case of Maan the total number of displaced
people is about 6,000. People have even identified land that is
available and could be bought and allotted to them by the government.
And yet the government refuses.
Instead it's busy distributing paltry cash compensation which is
illegal and violates its own policy. It says quite openly that if it
were to give in to the demands of the Maan 'oustees' (ie: if it
implemented its own policy) it would set a precedent for the hundreds
of thousands of people (most of them Dalits and adivasis) who are
slated to be submerged (without rehabilitation) by the 29 other big
dams planned in the Narmada Valley. And the state government's
commitment to these projects remains absolute, regardless of the
social and environmental costs.
As Vinod, Mangat, Chittaroopa and Ram Kunwar gradually weaken, as
their systems close down and the risk of irreversible organ failure
and sudden death sets in, no government official has bothered to even
pay them a visit.
Let me tell you a secret - it's not all unwavering resolve and steely
determination on the burning pavement under the pitiless sun at Tin
Shed. The jokes about slimming and weight loss are becoming a little
poignant now. There are tears of anger and frustration. There is
trepidation and real fear. But underneath all that there's pure grit.
What will happen to them? Will they just go down in the ledgers as
'the price of progress'? That phrase cleverly posits the whole
argument as one between those who are pro-development versus those
who are anti-development - and suggests the inevitability of the
choice you have to make: pro-development, what else? It slyly
suggests that movements like the NBA are antiquated and absurdly
anti-electricity or anti-irrigation. This of course is nonsense. The
NBA believes that Big Dams are obsolete. It believes there are more
democratic, more local, more economically viable and environmentally
sustainable ways of generating electricity and managing water
systems. It is demanding more modernity, not less. It is demanding
more democracy, not less. And look at what's happening instead.
Even at the height of the war rhetoric, even as India and Pakistan
threatened each other with nuclear annihilation, the question of
reneging on the Indus Water Treaty between the two countries did not
arise. Yet in Madhya Pradesh (the state whose chief minister boasts
of being the messiah of Dalits and adivasis), the police and
administration entered adivasi villages with dozers. They sealed
handpumps, demolished school buildings and clearfelled trees in order
to force people from their homes. They sealed handpumps. And so, the
indefinite hunger-strike.
Any government's condemnation of terrorism is only credible if it
shows itself to be responsive to persistent, reasonable, closely
argued, non-violent dissent. And yet, what's happening is just the
opposite. The world over, non-violent resistance movements are being
crushed and broken. If we do not respect and honour them, by default
we privilege those who turn to violent means. Across the world when
governments and the media lavish all their time, attention, funds,
research, space, sophistication and seriousness on war talk and
terrorism, then the message that goes out is disturbing and
dangerous: If you seek to air and redress a public grievance,
violence is more effective than non-violence. Unfortunately, if
peaceful change is not given a chance, then violent change becomes
inevitable. That violence will be (and already is) random, ugly and
unpredictable. What's happening in Kashmir, the North-eastern states,
Andhra Pradesh is all part of this process.
Right now the Narmada Bachao Andolan is not just fighting Big Dams.
It's fighting for the survival of India's greatest gift to the world:
non-violent resistance. You could call it the Ahimsa Bachao Andolan.
Over the years our government has shown nothing but contempt for the
people of the Narmada valley. Contempt for their argument. Contempt
for their movement.
In the 21st century the connection between religious fascism, nuclear
nationalism and the pauperisation of whole populations because of
corporate globalisation is becoming impossible to ignore. While the
Madhya Pradesh government has categorically said it has no land for
the rehabilitation of displaced people, reports say that it is
preparing the ground (pardon the pun) to make huge tracts of land
available for corporate agriculture. Which in turn will set off
another cycle of uprootment and impoverishment.
Can we prevail on Mr Digvijay Singh - the secular, 'green' chief
minister, the very public advocate of 'good governance', the right to
information and decentralised water management systems - to
substitute some of his PR with a real change in policy? If he did, he
would go down in history as a man of vision and true political
courage.
If the Congress party wishes to be taken seriously as an alternative
to the destructive Right-wing religious fundamentalists who have
brought us to the threshold of ruin, it will have to do more than
condemn communalism and participate in empty nationalist rhetoric. It
will have to do more than lock up MLAs in five star resorts (a zoo
would be cheaper, surely?) to prevent them from selling themselves to
rival parties. It will have to do some real work and some real
listening to the people it claims to represent.
As for the rest of us, concerned citizens, peace activists, et al -
it's not enough to sing songs about giving peace a chance. Doing
everything we can to support movements like the Narmada Bachao
Andolan is how we give peace a chance. This is the real war against
terror.
Go to Bhopal. Just ask for Tin Shed.
____
#2.
Below is the letter to Mrs. Gandhi's office as the head of the
Congress Party, that can help break the deadlock on the Maan issue as
the four fasting in Bhopal enter a critcal stage on the 22nd day.
KINDLY FAX THE SAME TO THE THREE RESPECTIVE OFFICES. AS URGENTLY AS POSSIBLE.
In Solidarity,
Jharana
1) The President of India, New Delhi, Fax: +91-11 3014570
2) Mrs. Sonia Gandhi New Delhi Fax: +91-11-3018651
3) Chef Minister M.P., Bhopal fax: +91- 755 - 540501
o o o
Mr. Pulok Chatterji
PS to Mrs. Gandhi
Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha
New Delhi
Fax: +91-11-3017470
Dear Mr. Chatterji,
I enclose a short Note on the Man Dam Project, listing
the immediate demands of the oustees and the financial
implications of a revised package.
Four people have been on hunger strike for twenty days
now, since May 21st. They are demanding only their
rights under the Madhya Pradesh government's policy on
rehabilitation for the Narmada Valley Project oustees.
It would take the Madhya Pradesh government an
additional Rs. 5 crores to meet their avowed and
expressed obligations under the policy, in addition to
the amount of Rs. 13 crores that has already been
announced as a special rehabilitation package. Rs. 5
crores is not a major amount, especially when it means
that 1226 families can get decently rehabilitated. Of
course, the best option would be for the government to
buy the land and give it to the adivasis.
If Mrs. Sonia Gandhi could give me an appointment, I
could put up the case personally. I would also be
happy to provide additional material if necessary. If
she is convinced of the merits of the case, of which I
am confident, she might want to talk straightaway to
the Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh, Shri Digvijay
Singh. Either way, it would be a great humanitarian
step.
I would be very grateful for your help in this.
Thank you.
Yours sincerely,
(Dr.) Nandini Sundar
Associate Professor
Centre for the Study of Law and Governance
Jawaharlal Nehru University
New Delhi -67
Ph: 6440616/6480822, em:
<mailto:nandinisundar@y...>nandinisundar@y...
NOTE ON MAN DAM PROJECT
The Man Dam, on the river Man in Dhar district
(Manawar tahsil) is one of the thirty large dams in
the Narmada valley. The Man reservoir will submerge 17
villages, consisting of 1226 Bhil and Bhilala adivasi
families. These villages have rich black cotton soils
fully irrigated by the river, but which will now be
submerged by the reservoir.
The affected villagers have been on dharna in Bhopal
since May 15. Four of them went on an indefinite
hunger strike on May 21. The oustees are demanding
nothing more than rehabilitation according to the MP
government policy on rehabilitation.
The Madhya Pradesh Government Rehabilitation Policy
for the oustees of the Narmada project, (issued in
1989, amended upto 1992), stipulates that:
Every displaced family will be allotted a minimum of 2
hectares (ha) and a maximum of 8 ha in lieu of land
acquired. (Clause 3.2b)
The government will assist displaced families in
providing irrigation by well/tube well or any other
method on the land allotted, provided such land is not
already irrigated. In case the allotted land cannot be
irrigated, the displaced family would be allotted a
minimum of 4 ha of land. (Clause 3.2 c)
Grant-in-aid would be paid to cover the gap between
the amount of compensation and the cost of allotted
land in these cases where the cost of allotted land is
more than the amount of compensation. (Clause 4.4)
Between 1991 and 1994, the MP government violated this
policy by giving the adivasis cash compensation. This
was not enough to buy alternative land even at rates
prevailing then. The villagers have been protesting
since 1997, taking out several rallies, dharnas etc.
There has still been no progress on rehabilitation.
Last year the government blasted the river sluices,
and avoided submergence. This year, the oustees are
faced with a similar situation - no rehabilitation and
imminent submergence, in about a fortnight's time when
the monsoons begin. In addition, the government has
been felling trees, uprooting hand pumps and
bulldozing schools, in an effort to make them abandon
the villages.
In March 2002, the government announced a new
financial package of Rs. 13 crore for rehabilitation
based on land rates prevailing in 1997-98. This
amount, however, is only sufficient for un-irrigated
land at the rate of Rs. 1.07 lakhs per hectare
(1997-98 rates). The market prices now are much
higher, especially for irrigated land. The Government
is also arbitrarily deducting the compensation for
trees and wells which has already been paid.
The specific demands of the affected people are:
1. Since the oustees are entitled to irrigated land
under the policy, the special rehabilitation package
must be fixed at the current price of irrigated land.
(Even if this were calculated at 1997-98 rates, it
would amount to Rs. 2.12 lakh per hectare in place of
Rs. 1.07 lakhs per hectare).
2. The value of trees and wells should not be deducted
from the special rehabilitation grant as is being
presently being done, in an ad hoc and arbitrary
manner.
3. The Special Rehabilitation Grant should equal the
value (at current prices) of the amount of land that
an oustee is entitled to, with a minimum of 2 hectares
as the Rehabilitation Policy stipulates.
4. The MP government and the NVDA must create
community infrastructure for them as laid down in the
Rehabilitation Policy.
5. The cut off date of adult sons and daughters must
be changed to 30th June, 2002, the time of
submergence, as was done in Bargi by the MP
government, so that they become entitled to a house
plot and the stipulated grant in aid.
6. The value of lands, houses, wells, trees and other
resources that have been underestimated or excluded in
some cases must be estimated and included for
compensation. (The lists have already been submitted
to the MP government)
Financial Implications (rough estimate):
Amount announced by MP government in March 2002: Rs
13 crores
If government were to provide compensation
@ irrigated land (Rs. 2.12 lakhs per ha, even at
1997-98 rates): Rs 16 crores
Adult sons (House plots& grant in aid): Rs 4
crores.
Thus, total requirement: Rs 20 crores.
Out of this, Rs. 2 crores approx. has already been
paid in compensation between 1991-1994.
Thus, Current additional burden: Rs. 18 crore. In
other words, the MP Government would have to increase
its special rehabilitation package from Rs. 13 crores
to Rs. 18 crores, or by an additional Rs. 5 crores.
This works out only to an extra Rs. 40,783 per family.
It is of interest to note too, that the oustees have
identified land which can be bought by the MP
Government and allotted to them. They would prefer to
be given this land, rather than the money, provided
the Government pays to irrigate it, as the
Rehabilitation Policy promises.
____
#3.
Dow Chemical will this week be receiving the prestigious National
Medal of Technology from President Bush and Secretary of Commerce Don
Evans. Dow Chemical now owns Union Carbide, whose chemical plant leak
in Bhopal, India, in December 1984, perpetrated the worst chemical
disaster in history.
Come out this Thursday June 13 at 6pm to rally against Dow as they
hold a reception at the Ritz Carlton for this award - let us show
support for the ongoing campaign for clean up and compensation in
Bhopal.
What: Vigil for Survivors of Bhopal; Protest the Corporate
Irresponsibility of Dow Chemical
Where: Outside the Ritz Carlton, 22nd and M Streets NW, Washington DC
When: Thursday June 13th, assemble at 6pm (bring banners!)
Why: To remind Dow (and the media) that if the company is so
technologically innovative, then they should have no problem
containing the toxic waste site that they are responsible for in
Bhopal.
Please spread the word!!!
Contacts for this event are Rick Hind at Greenpeace
(rick.hind@w..., 202-319-2445) and Debi Kar
(debikar@a..., 202-489-4744).
**
As you may know, the toxic disaster in 1984 in Bhopal, India, was the
worst industrial tragedy ever known -- over 20,000 Indian people have
died and over 150,000 remain sick from this infamous gas leak.
Currently there is a coalition effort, led by Bhopal Citizens groups,
to demand justice from Dow Chemical, who bought the original
perpetrator of this crime, Union Carbide, last year.
For more information on Bhopal see:
www.bhopal.net
www.greenpeaceusa.org/features/dow_bhopal.htm
www.corpwatchindia.org/issues/PII.jsp?topicid=105
____
#4.
WEST BENGAL SETS EXAMPLE IN PEOPLE TO PEOPLE SOLIDARITY WITH GUJARAT VICTIMS
For the last two months the people of West Bengal under the
leadership of the Left front had an inspiring mass campaign to
collect funds for the victims of the Gujarat carnage. To reach the
relief funds collected to the victims a Left Front team visited
Gujarat on June 8 and 9 under the leadership of Comrade Somnath
Chatterjee (M.P. and leader of the CPI(M) Lok Sabha group). Other
members of the team were Comrades Ajay Chakravorty (M.P.-CPI), Abani
Roy (M.P.-RSP) Nilotpal Basu (M.P. CPI-M) Md. Yaqub (MLA-FB),Ramapada
Samanta (MLA-DSP)Brahmamay Nanda (MLA-SP) and Brinda Karat. The team
was accompanied by Gujarat State Committee leaders of the CPI(M) and
CPI.
The team disbursed Rs. 47,32,070 directly to 996 affected families
and 171 women widowed in the communal violence in about 15 areas of
the State. This is the largest relief programme in Gujarat directly
financed by mass collections from the people that has so far been
undertaken by any political party or NGO. People greeted the team
warmly wherever it went. The message of solidarity from the people of
West Bengal to the victims of the communal violence was very
effectively conveyed through the programme. At the same time many
important issues were raised by the victims who met the team, that
could be taken up in Parliament and directly with the Central
Government.
An important feature of the relief programme was the effort to reach
the relief directly to the victims after a proper survey in some of
the worst affected areas prior to the visit of the team. Secondly,
while the main relief programme was for members of the Muslim
community who have been the worst affected, some very poor dalit and
OBC families in affected areas whose houses were burnt or damaged and
whose livelihood was directly affected were also identified. This
work was mainly done through contacts made in the camps. Thirdly,
after the identification of families to be helped, the entire amount
was made into individual drafts/cheques so that there was no cash
transactions involved. This ensured the complete transparency of the
disbursement of this substantial amount of money. Fourthly, the help
to the legal work for the victims, being done by the Citizens
Initiative the most prominent platform of secular NGOs in Gujarat
working among the violence affected, was also an important gesture of
solidarity which was highly appreciated by the groups.
On June 8, the programme in Ahmedabad started with Akbar Nagar. This
is a slum settlement of jhuggis that had been completely razed to the
ground on Februry 28 affecting about 227 families. All these families
had shifted to the near by Aman Chowk camp in one of the worst
affected areas of Bapu Nagar. A large number of people from the
Muslim community, including the area Congress Corporator were waiting
for the team. A public function was held and the individual amounts
for building material was given. In this function victims of nearby
areas were also asked to attend so that the relief could be
distributed in one place. Thus people from affected areas of Hardas
Nagar, Bapu Nagar, and women who had been widowed in the violence
also attended the function. 100 families of street vendors whose
wooden carts had been burnt or self employed families who needed help
to restart their work, were given the necessary help.
In this function as in others, the speeches made by leaders of the
team stressed on the message of solidarity from the people of West
Bengal and the commitment of the Left front to defend secularism and
the rights of minorities. This had a very positive impact.
The next programme was held in a dalit (Scheduled caste) dominated
area of Rajpur- Gomtipur. This area borders a Muslim dominated area
being separated by a road. About 56 houses of dalits had been
damaged, eight of them badly damaged. The Left Front team was the
first to go there with aid. A big function was organized in a local
hall by a group of secular minded dalit youth. This group had been
earlier attacked by the VHP because they had tried to help their
Muslim friends during the violence. Significantly, this group of
secular youth accompanied the team to the neighbouring Muslim area
where the third function was held. The two groups of friends met for
the first time since the violence started. It was an important
occasion for them and they mentioned that the Left front efforts from
far away Bengal had helped them renew their friendship.
The following function in Shahpur was also significant as it brought
together people from both communities who had lived together in the
Shahpur area that had been burnt during the violence. Here the relief
was for reconstruction as well as to restart their work.
There were six programmes in the after lunch session till late
evening. This included a big meeting in the largest relief camp of
Shah Alam where 35 widows were given relief and a visit to Juhapura
camp where money was given for 10 widows and for help to the running
of the camp. The Shah alam camp organizers mentioned specifically
their appreciation of the role of the Left front in parliament and
all the support they have been getting( details of their problems in
a following section)They also mentioned that they had refused to
organize meetings for any other party. In fact many of the camp
organisers said they were holding such meetings for the first time.
Earlier the team held a meeting in a ST dominated area of Bhilvas.
There are 125 families who were housed in the Kankaria camp for the
last three months after a few huts had been burnt. The PM, Chief
Minister, Advani etc. had made many visits to their camp to emphasise
that Muslims were the aggressors. However nothing had been done to
actually help to rehabilitate the families. All those ST families who
had not got any Government relief were identified and given some help
by the Left front team. In another area of Vatva 100 poor Muslim
families whose implements and handcarts had been destroyed were
given some help to restart their work This programme was organized in
consultation with the Behavioural Science Centre, an NGO which has
been working in the area.
The team then met two legal aid teams and donated Rs. Five lakhs to
help their work. At present the main work is still in filing in
compensation forms, filing FIRs etc. Some petitions are also being
put in the Supreme Court. The teams are also filing what they call
'perspective FIRs' from different sections such as women, workers,
artisans, professionals, students etc. with details of the complicity
of the State Government. A prominent Lawyers Association in Gujarat
is reported to have made a statement that no Muslim complaints would
be taken by them The Chief Public prosecutor in the state is an RSS
man. In such a situation the main work is being done either by Muslim
lawyers or be a few NGOs. Thus aid to legal work is important.
The last meeting on June 8 was with 10 families of those burnt alive
in the Sabarmati Express at Godhra station. The meeting could be
arranged with the help of the Collector. Several of the family
members are deeply resentful that their tragedies have been utilized
for political purposes. The team expressed their deep condolences and
assured them of support and help.
On June 9, the team divided into two and visited the rural camps. One
team went to Himmatnagar and Modarsa in Sabarkantha district one of
the worst affected districts. Approximately 9000 people are in nine
camps in the area. The team also went to Santrampur where houses had
been attacked and destroyed, where people had been burnt and where
there had been mass stripping of women. The team met many of the
victims and gave help to the widows.
The other team visited Baroda where a press conference had been held.
It visited a camp in Taiwada, Kalol, another very badly affected area
and also Godhra. While the team was in the Godhra camp which houses
victims from the rural areas of Panchmahal district, a scooter driver
who had been stabbed and was bleeding profusely was rushed into the
camp crying for help. He was afraid to go to the police on his own
because of the false cases registered against Muslim victims. This
shocking incident brought home clearly the continuing violence of the
sangh parivar outfits against Muslims.
In all the rural camps visited, meetings were held in which the
relief was given. Here also the team was greeted with warmth and
appreciation for the gesture of the people of West Bengal and the
left front parties.
( Issues raised to be published next week)
Issues raised in the different areas:
1. Although the situation appears normal in fact the violence is very
much on the surface and can erupt at any time. This is mainly because
in most cases the accused have not been arrested. The two FIRs filed
in the worst cases of violence in Ahmedabad namely in Narodia Patia
where over 100 people including women and children were burnt to
death and Gulbarg Society case where the former Congress MP and
scores of others were burnt to death, blames the victims for their
own deaths. This has greatly demoralized the thousands of other
victims. The demand for justice and arrests of the accused is
therefore very crucial if normalcy is to return. In spite of the
statements by many women of rape, FIRs in rape cases are not being
filed.The FIRs filed are so-called group FIRs that cover a rdius of 5
km. Thus all acts of violence are lumped together. This is a travesty
of jystice and was challenged by the inmates of the Himmatnagar camp
in the Gujarat High Court. The Court accepted the group FIRs but
directed that individual statements made under Sec. 162 should be
separately investigated. However even this is not being done.
2. In almost all the areas victims once again raised the issue of the
removal of the narendra Mody Government. They said his continuation
in office was ensuring that the tensions remained.
3. The refusal to arrest the main accused has also resulted in
continuing threats to Muslims who want to go back to their areas.
This is true of both Ahmedabad and even more so in the rural areas.
In Ahmedabad, a most important issue is the resettlement of the
families of Naroda Patia area. At present most of these families are
in the Shah Alam camp. Families who have gone back to see their burnt
houses or to recover belongings have been threatened not to go back
or they would once again be attacked. This was reported to the
team.They have appealed to the Government to give them land in any
more secure locality which they have identified. However the
Government has flatly refused to give them any alternative place or
even to provide them security to go back. In the rural areas, the
team was told that in Sabarkantha district where two months ago
approximately 18,000 people were in the camps, about half of them
have been able to go back to their villages. However for the
remaining approximately 9000 people, it is absolutely impossible to
go back as the VHP/Bajrang Dal leaders of their villages have told
the Muslims that they can go back only if they accept the most
humiliating conditions. The Collector of the district had tried to
take some families back but even he failed to stop the threats of
violence from the communal criminals in the village Outside the
village of Khedbhrama there is a board put up forbidding the entry of
Muslims. The people in the camps have appealed to the Government to
allot them Government wasteland. But the Government has refused There
are some cases where the land and houses of Muslims are being taken
over. For example in the Himmatnagar camp there were two families so
affected. One said that his house was broken and a new one
constructed and occupied by their aggressors. The owner got a stay
order from the court but even then his house remains illegally
occupied. In another case, a Muslim house had been turned into a
temple.
4. Another aspect of the issue of rehabilitation is that of
compensation. The Government has issued compensation forms that
clearly state that the maximum to be given is Rs. 50,000 for damaged
property regardless of the amount of losses suffered Even this amount
has not been given in a single case in any of the camps the team
visited The amounts given in many cases range from just Rs. 50 to Rs.
2000. Everywhere the team was told that the surveys by the Government
of damaged property was arbitrary and in no cases were the actual
victims allowed to accompany the official survey team. This is
clearly highly unjust and is an issue that must be taken up. The
demand from many areas is for resurvey along with the actual victims.
5. The official death toll is a gross underestimate. In one camp in
Modarsa the team was given a list of 62 people who have been declared
missing since the first week of March when the tempos they were
traveling in fleeing from their villages was attacked and burnt. The
few survivors from Kidiyad village have testified that everyone in
the tempos were burnt to death but their testimonies have not been
accepted. In one case the mother of a day old infant who was snatched
from her arms and burnt has been asked to provide evidence that her
child is indeed dead. Such inhuman stories are common. The victims
believe one reason is also to deny them compensation. There are many
widows who have not been given compensation from the Government
because it wants "proof' that their husbands or family members are
dead. At the time of the earthquake when bodies were buried under
rubble, such proof was waived. This should be done in the present
cases also.
6. As far as the running of the camps are concerned although
according to the report of an NGO, the Gujarat High Court has given a
stay on the closure of the camps till June 30, everywhere the team
was told, whether in Ahmedabad or in the rural areas that even the
meagre supplies to the camp of foodgrains and of the dole of Rs.
seven per family had been stopped since the last week of May. Since
each camp has not less than 800 to 1000 people and goes up as in the
case of Shah Alam to as many as 10,000 inmates, the stoppage of help
is virtually imposing a starvation regime.The day the team visited
Shah Alam camp they were informed by the organizers that the
Government had been informed that it was no longer possible to run
the camp and that therefore he Government should take it over. The
main reason is the refusal of the Government to provide the minimum
supplies and to accuse the organizers of inflating the numbers of
inmates in the camps. The Government surveys of the camps are
conducted at a time when most of the male members are out and their
absence is taken as their non-existence. The situation in the rural
camps is even worse than in Ahmedabad. Many of the camps are being
run in schools. With the scheduled reopening of the schools the camps
will now have to be shifted to tents. The current heat wave in
Gujarat makes it almost impossible to stay in the open tents. The
fear is that the coming monsoons will make things even more
difficult. The immediate need is to ensure that the supplies to the
camps continue and that the Government takes responsibility in
properly maintaining the camps until there is security for the
inmates to return home or until the Government makes alternate
arrangements.
7. As is recognized, the carnage has broken the economic spine of the
community. However even efforts to rebuild their businesses are being
thwarted. All those affected who require loans should be granted the
same on easy conditions by the banks.
8. In Sabarknatha district, the team was given a list of 105 Muslim
primary school teachers, 70 of them women, who are being asked to
join schools in areas which have seen terrible cases of atrocities.
They have been asked to resign if they are scared to go to the
schools allotted to them. Clearly this is a move to drive them out of
their Government employment. In most of the areas, the large majority
of people the team met were women and children. The team met five
orphan children four in Sabarkantha and one in Ahmedabad whose
parents were killed before their eyes. The plight of the widows is
desperate as most of them are unable to go home and are somehow
managing in the camps. A demand for urgent and special rehabilitation
for the widows must be made. At the time of the Sikh riots, such a
rehab programme was made by the Central Government for the widows in
Delhi including provision of housing.
_____
#5.
The Indian Express
12 June 2002
Ideals, not deals
An old party in search of a new vision
Mushirul Hasan
http://www.indian-express.com/full_story.php?content_id=4231
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