|
On the morning of January 26, as
the government celebrated the fake ‘Republic Day’, with pomp and glory; at
exactly the same time a devastating earthquake struck Gujarat, the worst in
post-1947 India. And as news of the horrors travelled to Delhi and elsewhere,
Vajpayee and his gang of ministers continued with their display of military
prowess, in the Republic Day parade. Not even a tragedy of such monumental
proportions could stop them display the flexing of their muscle-power, which is
the routine for a January 26 function. As lakhs lay crushed under the debris,
the latest fighter-jets bowed in salute, with the Vajpayees and Advanis dreaming
of great conquests.
The earthquake was so powerful,
that the tremors shook large parts of India and Pakistan. Measuring 7.9 on the
richter scale, with the epicentre at Bhuj, it devastated much of Gujarat. Bhuj,
with a population of 1.3 lakhs, resembled a morgue with nearly all buildings
reduced to rubble. Towns and hundreds of villages in the area were devastated.
And as tremors struck again and again (some measuring upto 5 on the richter
scale) panic and fear compounded the death and the maimed. On the fifth day of
the earthquake over 25,000 were officially reported dead, nearly a lakh injured
and 1.5 lakh were reported trapped under the debris. Estimates expect the death
toll to be over one lakh, as, after the fifth day, few survivors are likely to
be found. The Kutch Vikas Trust, the biggest NGO operating in the region,
estimates that atleast 1.25 lakh people died in the earthquake. The estimated
death in the five main towns was Bhuj 30,000; Bachchu 20,000; Anjaar 20,000;
Raper 20,000; Gandhidham 30,000. In the neighbouring villages death estimates
varied from 15,000 to 30,000. In far away Ahmedabad over 75 high-rise buildings
crashed and the death toll could near 1000. Besides reports of deaths came in
from most of the major cities of Gujarat.
The tragedy of the vast numbers
dead, is compounded hundred-fold by the trauma of the lakhs surviving —
thousands maimed, the loss of near and dear ones, the loss of entire property
and sources of survival; and now will come disease, hunger, exposure to the
cold, polluted water, infection and more death. Huge dams, like the Narmada,
face possible breach, causing further havoc.
And amongst all this tragedy all
we hear is sickening, vulgar propaganda. The ‘international community’ only talk
of how much ‘aid’ they have sent. The state government propagates how well
‘relief’ work is being undertaken. Officials and bureaucrats clamour for funds
and play down the numbers dead and injured, so that they can siphon off large
amounts of relief material. The media keep propagating the relief work being
done by the army and administration. But the fact is that in the crucial hours
after the quake, when the maximum lives could have been saved, there was no one
to be seen. The state government was pre-occupied in the Republic Day
celebrations and the army took a full 10 hours to arrive on the scene. The
Central Government is preparing to use the earthquake as a pretext for covering
up its failures, introducing massive taxes on the people in the coming budget,
and taking a huge $1.5 billion (Rs. 7000 crore) loan from the World Bank. And
the foreign sharks made huge profits, buying up shares at cheap rates on the
stock exchange, which were depressed due to the earthquake.
People’s March
appeals to the people to lend assistance to the tragedy-affected people of
Gujarat, particularly the poor. All relief should be channelled through genuine
democratic and revolutionary organisations, who alone will do selfless work.
People could themselves volunteer to assist in helping the people of Gujarat and
should not donate to establishment linked fund collections, which will sprout in
the thousands, as their accounts are never made public and the bulk is siphoned
off. Besides, the tragedy is man-made. Few people die of the earthquake, but by
the collapsing houses. And in this system even after this tragedy few houses
will be made earthquake proof — as housing, like every thing else, is a highly
profitable business. And all these fund collectors stand in support of this
system. It is only the democratic and revolutionary forces who can organise the
people beyond earthquake relief to create a system where loss of human life will
be minimum when such natural calamities strike. Simultaneous to relief work, the
people must be organised to fight against the vultures who will descend on
Gujarat to prey on the crores of relief material.
|
