Ahmedabad Newsline
November 28, 2006
2002 SCAR: FOR SOME, RS 7-LAKH PACKAGE MEANS A NEW BEGINNING, FOR SOME IT’S JUST SOLACE
Relief package fine, but many still wait for justice
by D P Bhattacharya & S K Ahmed
Ahmedabad/Vadodara, November 27: MOHAMMED Sadique Qureshi feels relieved. After all, when the money comes to his hands, he can use it for the occasion which the post-Godhra riots had snatched away from his family more than four years ago.
Qureshi lost his wife Zareena and youngest daughter Naseen in the infamous Naroda-Patia massacre of February 28 in 2002. At that time, the family was looking forward to the day in March that year when Qureshi’s other two daughters were supposed to get married.
Now, the Central Government’s announcement of Rs 7-lakh relief to the kin of each riot victim has made Qureshi become hopeful about his two daughters who survived the riots. ‘‘When I get the money, my priority will be to get these two daughters married,’’ he says, pointing at Ruksana (28) and Shabana (27).
Ruksana says the rioters took away everything they had and destroyed all that they had. ‘‘They took away every thing...and whatever our father had collected for our dowry was looted,’’ she recalls about that fateful day.
For Shamima Bano, who had lost four members of her family, the relief package means a fresh lease of life. ‘‘We had lost everything. Our bakery was burnt down. Now, we feed on the income generated by my brother-in-law who drives a autorickshaw. We can start a business with the money,’’ she says.
Meanwhile, Civil society organisations (CSOs) are jubilant over the Centre’s relief package.
‘‘Finally they have done it. The Citizens for Peace and Justice had filed as many as 700 affidavits for compensation. We had also proposed a compensation package to the Union Home Ministry and the Minority Commission,’’ said noted right activist Teesta Setalvad, adding that ‘‘now, the government should engage all groups in disbursing the compensation’’.
Jamat-e-Islam-e-Hind (Gujarat) president Mahammad Madani said: ‘‘Now that the package has been announced, the government would be careful to ensure that such incidents never happen again as that would cost the exchequer dearly.’’
Like Setalvad, Madani also cautiond that the Central government should monitor the disbursement of the relief. ‘‘The State Government had failed to distribute the earlier package of Rs 150 crore and returned it to the Centre,’’ he pointed out.
Dr. Shakeel Ahmed of Islamic Relief Committee, however, sounded optimism about the disbursement. ‘‘The money would reach the victims directly,’’ said Ahmed, adding that the legal cell of the committee would be involved in the distribution process.
For some victims, however, what matters more is justice— not money. Saleem Sindhi from Kidiyad, who had lost 18 members of his family, including his wife and son, says the money cannot bring the dead back. ‘‘The money can prove just some kind of solace,’’ he says, adding that ‘‘quick and stern punishment to the accused can prevent such incidents from happening in future.’’
A total of 74 persons — 30 women, 34 children and 10 men— were killed in Kidiyad. Sindhi says besides economic assistance, the government should make arrangement for the education of children belonging to riot-hit families and make speedy rehabilitation of those yet to be given houses.
People Union for Civil Liberties’ activist Prof. J S Bandukwala said: ‘‘I will be satisfied only if people get justice. More than money, what is important is justice.’’
Central team to visit State on disbursement
AHMEDABAD: ABOUT 5,000 riot-hit families would benefit from the relief announced by the Central Government. At the rate of Rs 7 lakh per family, the package would cost the public exchequer Rs 350 crore. A team of officials from the Union Home Ministry would soon visit the State to finalise the disbursement procedure. In case of those who have already received compensation earlier, that amount would be deducted from Rs 7 lakh. Eariler, those who had lost their kin had received Rs 1.5 lakh each. Ahmedabad District Collector D Tara, when contacted, said that the collectorate was yet to get any official communication about the package.