 |
|
President Abdul Kalam listening to a pogrom victim in Ahmedabad |
By
IOL South Asia Correspondent
NEW
DELHI, August 14 (IslamOnline) - President APJ Abdul Kalam’s two-day
visit brought a healing to the western state of Gujarat, where in March
and April a sustained anti-Muslim pogrom saw hundreds raped, killed and
burnt and several hundred thousand refugees thronging relief camps.
Where
the President’s visit brought a sense of reassurance to some people,
many victims were still smarting from a sense of grievous injustice
inflicted by the State itself.
As
the chief minister, Narendra Modi, took the President around sanitized
and cleaned riot-hit areas, properly selected to cause minimum
embarrassment, victims had a feeling that the visit had been turned into
a charade by Modi.
Modi
is seen by most victims and over a dozen independent enquiries to be the
mastermind behind the pogrom. The state government ensured that the
President heard and saw only what Modi wanted him to hear and see.
Keeping
in view possible disclosure of official complicity in the pogrom, the
state government excluded the largest refugee camp, Shah Alam, from the
presidential itinerary.
To
prevent the media from reporting possible disclosures, the state
government had barred coverage at two camps. That did not prevent the
media from reporting an inmate’s indictment of chief minister Modi
before the President. “There is trouble in Gujarat because of him,”
an inmate of Haj House camp told the President pointing at Modi,
according to reports.
The
administration had whisked away one of the principal organizers of
Ahmedabad’s Shah Alam camp Sunday, August 11, fearing that he might
give the President an adverse report.
 |
|
A female victim of pogroms telling the President her harrowing story |
Shah
Alam camp inmates staged a “hunger strike” for a day, protesting the
state government’s exclusion of this most important camp from the
presidential itinerary.
When
the President went to Widows Home, a camp in the predominantly Muslim
locality of Juhapura, some victims were able to tell the President the
harrowing tales of their suffering. Here also the local administration
cut short the visit to ten minutes from the scheduled 30 minutes.
The
inmates at the Widows Home are young women who lost their husbands in
the pogrom. They were planning to tell the President a lot of things
about improving their condition, creation of employment and welfare.
However, when the President finally came, most of them were overcome by
grief and remained silent.
Twenty
six-year-old Salima Khatun, whose husband was shot dead by a
criminalized police, wanted to tell the President a lot, but failed to
say one word because he was on a very tight schedule.
The
President did not say much either. He told the young widows that he
would pray to Allah for them. “He asked us to take good care of our
children and give them a good life,” said Uzma Pangar of Swadhar,
which manages the home.
Although
incomplete, the visit brought solace to many inmates. “After all he is
a Muslim, he would listen to our woes,” said a victim. The President
did listen, and asked officials to speed up rehabilitation.
Like
the first prime minister of India, Abdul Kalam is a friend of children
and managed to meet some of them. A young boy, whose family was killed
and who himself had sustained burn injuries, told the President he
wanted to study. The President asked government officials to ensure his
education.
At
the end of the day, the President’s visit was only a symbolic act. The
widows of the pogrom seemed content with even this small gesture.
“Other than his good wishes and prayers, what more do we want?” said
a resigned Shamim Banu, an inmate at the Widows Home.
 |
|
President Abdul Kalam meeting children in Ahmedabad |
As
some consoled themselves to have Abdul Kalam visit them, a sense of
injustice gnawed at many hearts to find the perpetrators going
unpunished.
Abdul
Kalam also visited Wednesday, August 14, some of the worst-affected
areas of the devastating earthquake last year and had a word of praise
for government and private agencies involved in the rehabilitation work
done for the quake victims.
“When
I see the type of houses built by multiple agencies, I am confident that
great things are possible in the state and the country,” he said while
addressing a public meeting near Bhuj.
