The Hindu : President moved by victims' plight

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Sunday, Apr 28, 2002

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President moved by victims' plight

By Anjali Mody

Some of the victims of the Gujarat riots at the Rashtrapathi Bhavan after meeting the President, K.R. Narayanan, on Saturday. — Photo: Shanker Chakravarty

New Delhi APRIL 27. The President, K.R. Narayanan, today met some of the survivors of the Gujarat carnage who had travelled to the capital in a desperate search for justice. In what they described as an `emotional meeting' seven of the 42 persons, three of them children who saw their parents killed, narrated their tale of woe to the President and his wife.

In a meeting that lasted over 40 minutes, Mr. Narayanan heard each of their stories by turn. The victims included 11-year-old Raja Bhandubhai, who has been in the Shah Alam camp since February 28 after his mother and sister were killed; Fatima Bi (19) whose family members were killed in Naroda, Ahmedabad; and 13-year-old Arif Khan Pathan, and his uncle, Yusuf Khan Pathan, whose families were massacred in front of their eyes.

Ibrahim Ghanchi, who was in the 237 Field Regiment of the Indian Army, told Mr. Naryanan, who is also the Supreme Commander of the armed forces: ``After 17 years of service in the Army, this is how I have been repaid by my country.'' He lost five members of his family.

Accompanying the group were Teesta Setalvad, Editor of Communalism Combat, Shabnam Hashmi of `Sahmat' and photographer Ram Rehman also from `Sahmat'.

Mr. Rehman said the President and his wife were visibly moved by what they heard. He assured the group that their journey to the capital would not go to waste and that he would do for them whatever was in his power to.

Ms. Setalvad said the President told the group that he had spoken to the Prime Minister about Gujarat several times in the last two months and that it was the issue uppermost in his mind. `` He said that since new issues had been raised and grave constitutional questions were involved, he would again speak to the Prime Minister.''

The President also accepted a memorandum from the survivors in which they have asked for President's rule in Gujarat since the ``State Government today does not represent all its citizens,'' and there has been ``a complete breakdown in the rule of law and the Constitution in Gujarat.''

In a statement, the Rashtrapati Bhavan today said the victims narrated in detail the gruesome incidents such as violence, killings, sexual abuse of women and destruction of trade and property. They alleged partisan behaviour by police and inaction of the State administration. The President expressed his pain and anguish at the violent incidents which have occurred in Gujarat and are still continuing there.

Responding to a suggestion that an all-party committee mechanism for relief and rehabilitation could be set up, the President felt that this needed to be pursued seriously.

Soon after the meeting with the President, the victims met the Congress president, Sonia Gandhi, and put before her their demand for President's rule and an all-party relief and legal fund for the survivors. Ms. Gandhi is reported to have assured them of help. She also told them that the Congress had already established a relief fund and that the Rajiv Gandhi Foundation had started a sponsorship programme for the school children in the relief camps.

Earlier in the day, the survivors whose testimonies had not been heard before, spoke at a second public hearing organised by Communalism Combat and `Sahmat'.

Among those who heard these testimonies were the former Prime Ministers, H.D. Deve Gowda and V.P. Singh.

The CPI(M) general secretary, Harkishan Singh Surjeet, the Samajwadi Party MPs, Raj Babbar and Ramjilal Suman, the Congress MP, Mani Shankar Aiyer, and the Delhi Chief Minister, Shiela Dixit, also attended the hearing as did the veteran parliamentarian, Madhu Dandavate, the socialist leader, Surendra Mohan, and the Gandhian, Nirmala Deshpande.

The Congress MP, Sunil Dutt, and the former Gujarat Chief Minister, Shankar Sinh Vagehela, also met the survivors this afternoon.

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