By
IOL South Asia correspondent
NEW
DELHI, August 12, (IslamOnline) - President APJ Abdul Kalam’s
two-day visit to the western state of Gujarat began Monday, August 12.
It has turned out to be a blessing for the survivors of the
anti-Muslim pogrom that continued from February 28 to April end and
beyond.
Hundreds
of Muslims were raped, hacked to death and burnt, their homes and
places of worship demolished en masse, several hundred thousand of
them driven to refugee camps. Many finding no succor in the state,
migrated to the neighboring states of Maharashtra, Rajasthan and
Madhya Pradesh.
The
President walked through the lanes and by-lanes of the congested
minority dominated area of Naroda Patia which witnessed one of the
worst massacres. He asked the district collector to expedite relief
and rehabilitation work after he heard from the victims that there was
gross negligence during and after the violence. He told the district
authorities that everything possible should be done so the battered
victims felt safe and secure, especially children who should be put in
school to restart their education.
Streets
in pogrom-ravaged localities have been cleaned. A couple of demolished
houses in areas through which the President’s motorcade would pass
have been whitewashed, covering the charred, blackened faces of the
walls. Refugees were given Rs.1200 ($25) each late Sunday night.
Incidentally, that is not even a fraction of what many of them lost.
The
President commenced his visit with his favorite audience - the school
children - at Mahatma Gandhi’s Sabarmati Ashram. He told them that
his “ideal persons” were “from this place, from Gujarat.” The
first was Mahatma Gandhi, who took a vow in 1930 not to return to the
Ashram in Ahmedabad till “I get freedom”, and the second was the
renowned space scientist Vikram Sarabhai, “who showed how a vision
can be converted into a mission” Kalam said in his inimitable
teacher's style to thunderous applause from the young audience.
Though
Kalam said he would take only one question from the students, the
President answered a volley of queries. “S-W-E-A-T”, the President
spelt out when asked what sublime quality was required to become like
him. Reciting from his pet “Song of Youth”, Kalam, who was flanked
by Chief Minister Narendra Modi, said at one point, “small aim is a
crime.”
The
President’s visit has the state government in a muddle. Government
leaders have been accused of having masterminded the pogrom and
specially instructed police officials not to curb the Hindu
nationalist ideology-driven mobs out to rape, hack and burn Muslims to
death.
Riot-victims
have accused many important leaders of the Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP)
of having been part of the marauding mobs, directing them to target
Muslim persons, homes and businesses. This party rules the state and
is accused of having masterminded the pogrom. As it has a lot to hide,
it did not relish the idea of a visit by the President.
The
state government’s discomfiture was visible during the powerful
Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) of India’s visit to the state on
August 8-10. The BJP government, which wants to have an early election
in Gujarat to take advantage of religious polarization, was
embarrassed when the CEC observed that the situation was not normal in
the state for a free and fair election.
The
state government’s facade of normalcy was exposed by the CEC who
publicly lambasted high government officials for their acts of
omission and commission.
To
avoid recurrence of what the state government witnessed during the
CEC’s visit, it has barred media from covering two out of the
Presidents four programs in the state.
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|
President
Abdul Kalam who is visiting
Gujarat
now
|
The
President wants to know how relief and rehabilitation is carried out
among the pogrom victims. He will be visiting tomorrow, Tuesday, some
areas severely affected by last year’s earth quake that caused
massive death and destruction. Last year, he spent considerable time
in Gujarat working with NGOs, providing relief to quake victims.
As
the state government tried to conceal facts from the visiting CEC, it
is trying to prevent people form telling their harrowing tales of
sorrow to the First Citizen of India. To ensure it, the police
arrested one of the best known Muslim social workers, Sharief Khan,
the main organizer of the largest refugee camp, Shah Alam in
Ahmedabad. Inmates of the camp have gone on hunger strike to protest
this draconian action to remove people who may tell the President what
the administration does not want him to hear.
The
police have yet to state why they have arrested Sharief Khan. Khan
said the police “took me with them saying that I was provoking
people before Kalam’s visit and I would have to stay with them till
the visit ends.” Khan added that he had been wrongly detained as he
had never “provoked” anybody even during the Prime Minister’s
visit.
Riot
victims know that relief provided before the President’s visit is
going to be short-lived. Once the President is back in Delhi, the
tormentors of Muslims will have a free play
