By Nikhat, TwoCircles.net,
Seven years have passed since the Godhra train carnage and the subsequent massacres, unprecedented in the history of Independent India, but the wounds refuse to heal. The bloodiest ever communal riots in Gujarat in 2002 made around two lakh people internally displaced. They have since lived in the temporary relief camps. Many of them have never returned to their original place of residence. Some managed to return but that too at the cost of withdrawal or compromise in court cases against the rioters. Several thousands of them are still living in makeshift colonies constructed by NGOs/charitable trusts. No housing and other assistance has been provided to any of the survivors by the state government. The great irony for IDPs (internally displaced persons) is state’s constant refusal of their citizenship and even their existence. The Gujarat pogrom 2002 has established the politics of polarization and violence as a very effective tool for power.
The process of rehabilitation determines the strength of a democracy and its potential to redress injustice and to ensure rule of law determines the health of polity and therefore to evaluate our democracy and polity with reference to Gujarat genocide 2002 becomes a necessary (pertinent) task.
Al Falah Nagar, Modasa, Sabarkatha
What is left…?
Indian law presumes a person missing for 7 years, dead but for those who have survived have a different story of perpetual death and rebirth to tell. When one sees Muslims of Gujarat from a close angle, he finds alienation and ghettoisation of Muslims has become a phenomenon.
Today, as per Government statistics, there are 86 colonies where riot affected IDPs are living.
Noorani mohalla, Baroda
District-wise details of post-riots colonies of IDPs in Gujarat
| S.No. | District | Colonies | Residing | Displaced | ||
| Family | Member | Family | Member | |||
| 1. | Ahmedabad | 11 | 884 | 4705 | 884 | 4705 |
| 2. | Anand | 17 | 487 | 2690 | 304 | 1605 |
| 3. | Bharuch | 4 | 60 | 304 | 53 | 278 |
| 4. | Dahod | 1 | 56 | 295 | 56 | 295 |
| 5. | Gandhinagar | 1 | 10 | 54 | 10 | 54 |
| 6. | Kheda | 4 | 292 | 1460 | 181 | 994 |
| 7. | Mehsana | 9 | 226 | 1237 | 226 | 1237 |
| 8. | Panchmahal | 9 | 519 | 2636 | 507 | 2588 |
| 9. | Vadodara | 8 | 219 | 1206 | 210 | 1161 |
| 10. | Sabarkantha | 22 | 1237 | 6353 | 1213 | 6190 |
| TOTAL | 86 | 3990 | 20940 | 3644 | 19107 | |
Source: Affidavit of Gujarat Government filed in Supreme Court of India in Writ Petition (Civil) No.196 Of 2001
Riot victims’ colonies
All these colonies have very poor civic amenities, like water facility, sanitation, sewerage, roads, community centres, health centres etc. Also, only five of these colonies have government or government recognized schools, and only four of them serve midday meals to the children. Only five have ICDS centres, of which only four serve supplementary nutrition to the children, and one to nursing and expectant mothers. Only three have PDS shops.
Lack of civic amenities
The Government of Gujarat has blatantly refused to provide any of these facilities except Antyodaya Ration Cards – that too for a limited period. Despite their poor condition, they are not included in the Below Poverty Line list, thereby denying other poverty alleviation benefits like housing under Indira Awas Yojana, sanitary complexes under total sanitation campaign to the IDPs.
None of them have municipal or Panchayat water supply services and very few of the colonies have their private water facility. They have to travel a long distance daily to fetch water for their household use. In some of these colonies the private water service is not in working condition due to some technical reasons or in some of the colonies, their private water supply system is not working on account of non payment of electricity bills because they have no money to either correct the system or to pay the electricity bills.
Sewerage facilities are completely lacking in these colonies. These colonies have mainly open discharge system without any confined open or closed sewer line. This leads to water logging resulting into mosquito outbreak and health problems. No municipal garbage lifting vehicles and Panchayat Safai Kamdars (sweepers) ever visited any of these colonies despite the over publicized Nirmal Gujarat Campaign.
None of the colonies have a Primary Health Centre or even a sub centre, so for medication they are mostly dependent on private practitioners.
Because of the low quality construction materials, walls of some of the houses have started cracking and leaking and some of the houses have no roof at all.
NHRC recommendations thrown to wall
Most of the families are living in a poverty ridden state with grave hunger and malnutrition, lower health coefficient and neglect.
Till date none of the National Human Rights Commission’s recommendations like inclusion of survivors in Below Poverty Line list, restoration of religious buildings and places of worship, and provision of trauma counselling of the survivors especially children and women victims of sexual crime, have been implemented by the Gujarat Government.
Compensation
No compensation has been awarded to the family of missing persons and also there is no provision is made to include such persons in the new central compensation package. However, the official figure of missing persons (228) will be declared dead on February 28 as the stipulated seven years since their disappearance will end on that day.
Further, Government of Gujarat has declined to give any additional compensation to the death, injured and property loss in line with the new central government’s package. Also, compensation money hasn’t yet been released towards loss to uninsured commercial and industrial property under the new compensation package due to non co-operation in providing relevant records as to list of uninsured commercial and industrial property by the state government.
It’s a complete failure on the part of the government that it could not secure to Internally Displaced Muslims the identity as citizens of India, dignity as humans, the rights as citizen of India including protection against discrimination and alienation.
To conclude, the life of riot affected internally displaced persons in Gujarat is caught between existence and denial.
References:
1. The uprooted, Caught between existence and denial, published by Centre for Social Justice (CSJ) and ANHAD
2. Food Commissioners’ Letter to Supreme Court of India
3. Affidavit of Gujarat Government filed in Supreme Court of India in Writ Petition (Civil) No.196 Of 2001
4. Antrik Visthapit Hit Rakshak Samiti (AVHRS)
5. Photographs from CSJ and AVHRS