India: Report by fact-finding team of independent social activists, which visited relief camps of the survivors of the communal riots in Muzaffarnagar and Shamli districts

The Hindu,
NEW DELHI, September 23, 2013
“Cry for justice in Muzaffarnagar relief camps ”

Mohammad Ali

A fact-finding team of independent social activists, which visited relief camps of the survivors of the communal riots in Muzaffarnagar and Shamli districts, has indicted the Uttar Pradesh Government for “abdicating its responsibility for relief and rehabilitation in the aftermath of the communal riots, the way it abandoned its duty to provide security and protection to people during the communal carnage.”

The riot, which went on for a week, took around 50 lives and resulted in the displacement of more than 50,000 people, mostly those belonging to the minority community.

While the team has demanded immediate arrest of all those named in the FIRs, it has also appealed to the Union Government to table and pass the Communal Violence (Prevention, Control and Rehabilitation of Victims) Bill which has been languishing in Parliament.

The report was released by writer, activist and National Advisory Council member Farah Naqvi; Pushpa and Maheshwari from Vanangana (Chitrakoot); Askari Naqvi, Puneet, Meena and Azra from Rehnuma Adhikar Manch/ Sanatkada Samajik Pehel (Lucknow); Rehana Adeeb, Usman and Shadab from Astitva (Muzaffarnagar); Archana Dwivedi from Nirantar (Delhi); and Disha Mullick, from The Women, Media and News Trust (Delhi).

Describing some of the most heartrending stories by the survivors who left their homes and villages after being attacked, the report highlighted the denial of the State administration in recognising the urgency to act. The standard response of the local officials was that “things are getting back to normalcy”.

“There are simply thousands of terrified, trembling, desperate people sitting in relief camps, with the bare minimum facilities, with the overwhelming cry for justice, relief and rehabilitation, while the government remains mute spectator to the unfolding tragedy,” said the report, while arguing that ‘official’ numbers of those dead and internally displaced persons (IDPs) are a “gross underestimation.”

The report pointed out that a vast majority of displaced persons, whose fate remains uncertain, are poor Pasmanda (backward) Muslims like those belonging to D hobi, Ansari Teli, Lohar, Julahe, Faqir, Jogi and Lilgar castes.

The fact-finding team has demanded immediate relief and setting up of a rehabilitation commission, headed by a sitting High Court Judge, to oversee a comprehensive reparation plan for all the affected districts, including Muzaffarnagar, Shamli, Baghpat, Saharanpur and Meerut.

The State administration has not even considered preparing village-wise lists of missing persons and has neither initiated processes for lodging of FIRs and complaints, assessing compensation for death, injury, destruction of property and planning rehabilitation, alleged the fact-finding team.

The team visited six relief camps in the two districts. In spite of reports of cases of hurried burial without any post-mortem, the State administration has no clue on how to deal with the cases, the team charged.

The report also highlights the need for providing help to survivors in pursuing legal justice, police desks in camps, lawyers on the ground in camps, medical check-ups and medico-legal intervention for sexual assault.

Another important need of the hour, said the report, was State security for people to visit their villages to assess damage, and a long-term plan of providing safety and security for survivors who want to go back to their villages.