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Angry Muslims Accuse Hindus Of Cheating In Indian Quake Relief
WASHINGTON & BHUJ, India, Feb 9 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) - On Friday, hundreds of angry demonstrators, mostly Muslim, besieged a local government office in the Indian quake zone in protest to the supposed swindling of relief efforts by radical Hindu groups.
The first significant protest against the chaotic two-week relief operation came after strong aftershocks caused widespread panic in the western Indian state of Gujarat.
The angry crowd surrounded the chief administrator's office in Bhuj, a town devastated by the January 26TH earthquake that left at least 30,000 dead and 1.25 million homeless, and demanded that tents be handed out to Muslims and lower-caste Hindus.
The protestors chanted slogans against the ruling Hindu-nationalist government in New Delhi, and Hindu fundamentalist outfits such as Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), which have played a key role in the relief effort.
Police officers blocked the entrance to the office of the collector for the region's most senior administrative official known as the Kutch area.
"I have been coming here for the past eight days trying to get tents and they just keep pushing me around," said Bhuj resident Ashras Syed.
Mahesh Thakkar, chief of the opposition Congress party in the Kutch district, said RSS militants were stealing aid and channeling it to supporters.
"The administration is biased and communal. Relief is being denied to Muslims and the lower castes. The RSS units waylay relief trucks entering the cities, unload the materials in their warehouses and distribute it to supporters," he said.
Anil Mekim, the collector for Kutch, said he would listen to the complaints but insisted his administration was not discriminating against anyone.
"Whatever is shown to me I will take it seriously and I will tell my officers to be fair," he said.
"It is not true relief is being cornered by the RSS. In the early days after the earthquake, things were quite ad hoc as our own offices had collapsed and there was nothing in place. But now a proper distribution system is in place."
Meanwhile, India's most senior Muslim official, Shali Imam Syed Ahmed Bukhari, condemned Hindu nationalist organizations involved in the relief effort saying, "Some communal organizations are discriminating against Muslims in providing relief. The Muslims are not behind anyone in providing relief to the victims, so it is not only shameful to discriminate against Muslims in relief it is also against human values."
A powerful tremor measuring 5.3 on the Richter scale struck the region late on Thursday night and caused residents to flee from buildings and scramble to safety.
Press reports said at least 40 people were injured in the state commercial capital Ahmedabad, most of them as they jumped out of windows or balconies in a bid to escape from rocking buildings.
The 30-second tremor was felt across the quake-stricken zone where hundreds of thousands of traumatized people were still sleeping in the open due to fear of collapsing buildings.
The much-criticized official relief effort came to ground on Friday, but survivors still complained they were getting too little.
In the village of Paddhar, east of the devastated town of Bhuj, many residents said they had received no relief at all from the government.
Most of the estimated 3,500 survivors are living under plastic sheets provided by a private relief organization because most houses in the 400-year-old village have been destroyed.
"It is very hot under these plastic sheets by day and very cold by night. Children are getting colds and coughs and not a single house is livable," said villager Murji Ahir.
Trying to fend off criticism, Home Minister L.K. Advani visited the quake-hit zone for the third time on Friday and promised rapid reconstruction.
"A project for a new Gujarat with all modern facilities and amenities would be ready within a couple of days," he said.
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