A report by the National Commission for Minorities on riot relief camps in Gujarat is scathing in its indictment of the Narendra Modi government's efforts to rehabilitate minority community survivors of the 2002 riots

Over 5,000 Muslim families displaced by the 2002 riots in Gujarat still live in relief camps in "sub-human conditions" without the most basic facilities. A mere 7% of the compensation amount has been disbursed to riot victims.

These are the key findings of a disturbing report by the National Commission for Minorities (NCM) that says the Gujarat government "is not fulfilling its constitutional responsibility" in creating an atmosphere that would enable survivors of independent India's worst-ever communal riots to return home, even four-and-half years on.

The report was filed after a recent five-day visit by the NCM to 17 of the 46 aid camps that are home to thousands of Muslim families that fled rioting mobs following the Godhra train incident .

During the visit, NCM members found that inmates at the camps lived without the most rudimentary civic amenities like potable water, sanitation, streetlights, schools, primary health centres and approach roads.

Besides, "an overwhelming" number of families did not own ration cards. Requests for below the poverty line (BPL) cards had been repeatedly turned down. As a result, many families were unable to obtain foodgrain, cereals and kerosene at subsidised rates. The commission found that this had increased their hardship, as most displaced families were reduced to working for daily wages after losing their means of livelihood.

The commission was acting on a complaint by an Ahmedabad-based CSO on conditions at camps for the displaced in Gujarat.

NCM vice-chairman Michel Pinto and members Dileep Padagaonkar and Zoya Hasan visited the camps between October 13 and 17. The NCM also held discussions with Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi, the state chief secretary and other state government officials.

Most of the camps were located on land bought by CSOs or donated by wealthy Muslims. Many inmates were key witnesses in major legal cases connected with the riots and didn't want to return home as the people against whom they had to depose were out on bail, the report says. "They live in constant fear and terrible deprivation, yet they have not lost their faith in the State," it adds.

Although the state government claims that the camp inmates are living there voluntarily, the NCM in its report says: "In view of the overwhelming evidence to the contrary, the commission finds this viewpoint untenable and evasive of a government's basic responsibility."

NCM chairman Hamid Ansari said: "The findings of our team which visited Gujarat this month are quite explicit and show an abdication of constitutional responsibility on the part of the state government with reference to victims of the 2002 riots who are living in barely human conditions... The team has identified specific problems like potable water, sewage issues, lack of health and school facilities, approach roads or streetlights. These people are living as if they are marooned."

Though state government officials escorted the Commission members to these camps, the establishment remained unmoved by the living conditions there, the NCM observed. Its delegates said the response of Modi to their complaints was that the state did not make any distinction between minority and majority communities in rehabilitation programmes.

"The state government refuses to have anything to do with those living in these camps, and believes that these people should go back like the 45,000 riot-hit who have now gone back home. The state government says these people are staying away from home voluntarily," Ansari said.

According to the NMC, the state government has failed the riot victims on a number of counts. For example, so far, the government has only paid Rs 410 million in compensation for losses and damage suffered by the victims -- a tiny fraction of the total amount of damage, which is to the tune of Rs 6 billion. Compensation packages for the Sikh community affected by the 2002 riots are overdue as well, the NCM said.

"The state government has sent back Rs 19 crore to the Centre, saying that all relief work is complete. But there are hundreds of examples of victims who have not been given their due," says Father Cedric Prakash, director of Prashant, an organisation dedicated to human rights, justice and peace.

Therefore, the NCM has advocated a new rehabilitation package -- on the model of the one extended to the 1984 anti-Sikh riot victims -- for Gujarat's displaced Muslims. "There should be a monitoring mechanism for implementation of rehabilitation measures as many among those residing in camps have no faith in the local administration."

Prakash described the NMC report as a "significant step" in righting the wrongs of Gujarat. He said: "The Gujarat government just pretends that the 2002 riots did not take place and that everything necessary was done. But there are still hundreds of people without basic services, and were it not for some Muslim organisations they would be far worse off."

The NMC has proposed the formulation of a national policy on internally displaced persons (IDPs) to regulate the treatment of displaced people. It said people who have to leave their homes in the face of ethnic, religious and sectarian violence must be declared IDPs in consonance with the United Nations conventions, to which India is a signatory.

Source: Hindustan Times, October 25, 2006
The Indian Express, October 23,
2006 The Hindu, October 23, 2006
www.zeenews.com, October 23, 2006
www.ibnlive.com, October 22, 2006