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Sahgal can't believe it all happened in Gujarat

Our Correspondent in Ahmedabad

The Left Front's presidential candidate, Colonel Lakshmi Sehgal, who visited Ahmedebad to show her solidarity with the riot victims, said she was shocked by what she saw and heard.

"I was shocked to see such events unfolding in Mahatma Gandhi's state. Events like this make me question what freedom actually is. Mahatma Gandhi said it is a weapon to wipe tears from every eye and Subhash Chandra Bose said it means no privileges on the basis of caste and religion only equality," she said.

"I am not here to campaign but to bring into focus the plight of the riot-hit. As a country, we need to focus on putting in practice the principles of equality and integrity. Secularism is the essence of our Constitution and there is a need for the country to refocus on these basic issues. What happened in the state was an example of what can go wrong with the whole country," she told reporters after going around the city.

She started her visit with the biggest relief camp at the Shah-e-Alam dargah. She also visited the camps at Bapunagar and Akbarnagar before she met the media at the Darpan Academy.

"The need for the hour is unity and integrity in the country. You are not alone in your anguish. I am here to share your pain and tell you that the whole nation is with you. We have sympathy [for you], but we know that this alone will not help you," she told the inmates at the Shah-e-Alam camp huddled together to escape the rain under a temporary waterproof shelter built specially for Sahgal's visit.

"We are a poor party and we have nothing to give you. However, I will take up your problems with the authorities and people from my party will be with you in your fight for justice," she said after she distributed clothes to the children born in the camp.

Several camp inmates showed enthusiasm in talking to her. Raziya Banu was one of them. Raziya Banu, a resident of Saijpur, lost several members of her family and relatives in the riots and is just back from hospital after recovering from injuries sustained while trying to escape a frenzied mob. "I just wanted to share my pain with her. I saw my two-year-old son being burnt alive in her grandmother's lap," she said.

However, some camp inmates like young Rizwana Ansari had clearly had enough of VIP visits. "VIPs come and go but nothing is done. We are where we are. We get insufficient reimbursement, if we get it at all."

The camp, which earlier had more than 13,000 inmates, now has only half that number left. More than 7,000 inmates left the camp just before the onset of monsoon.

Stories of harassment, anger against the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Vishwa Hindu Parishad, slow rehabilitation and resettlement process and inaccurate surveys were common to all camps Sahgal visited.

"I noted that the government did not start any camp and even now it is forcing NGOs to shut their camps. They close camps promising help to the riot-hit, but they do not keep this promise," she said.

Sahgal, who has visited the state on many occasions earlier said, "I always found Gujaratis to be peace-loving people. Now, people fear coming to the state and those who were living here are leaving. Some people from Gujarat have come and settled just near my house in Kanpur," she said.

Interestingly, both the presidential candidates -- Sahgal and Dr A P J Abdul Kalam -- have an emotional bond with Ahmedabad. Sahgal is a cousin of Mrinalini Sarabhai, noted danseuse and wife of the famous scientist Vikram Sarabhai. Dr Kalam considers Vikram Sarabhai his mentor.

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