hi, Why do the politicians always get away with their mistakes. They should be shot at sight after swindling the releif money. Why are there not more responsible politicians. These ppl are supposed to serve us. Rather we end up catering to their greedy fantasies. I can count without much effort how many learned educated, well mannered, non-criminal politicians there are. Whereas to the criminal ones, there is no count. Can't we do anything at all to stop this???? This is our country and it is going nowhere forward. All these corrupt politicians should be done with and get MBA's incharge of the country. I want to see the country prosper, not go to the dogs like this. Is anybody doing anything at all??? CAN ANYBODY DO ANYTHING AT ALL????
anand. -----Original Message----- From: Anivar Aravind [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Monday, May 16, 2005 5:20 PM To: [email protected] Subject: <<green youth>> Tsunami and Kerala From: "ullaashkumar" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Date: Tue May 10, 2005 7:10 pm Subject: Tsunami and Kerala Coming straight after a protest in Thiruvanathapuram on the irregularities in distributing the Tsunami funds by the Kerala Government, Ms.Magline Peter of Tsunami Affected People's Forum, spoke on the reality scene in Alappad Panchayat, one of the most worst areas hit by the killer wave. On 26 Dec 2004, Tsunami struck the coastal areas on the Indian ocean. While it struck at 9am in the Tamil Nadu coast, it reached Kerala only at 12.55 pm a clear four hours gap. Tsunami struck Kollam, Alapuzha and Eranakulam districts in Kerala leaving 180 people dead. Nearly 160 of them belonged to one village. 2727 houses were completely destroyed and thousands were left homeless and without livelihood. About 27,000 people were affected. Majority of the affected were the fisher folk. Hundreds of fishing boats and nets were completely destroyed. When Tsunami struck Kerala all the ministers and the Government Machinery was not present since they had gone to attend the wedding of Mr.Kunchalikutty's son's marriage. When AK Antony visited the place nearly after five days after Tsunami struck it was too late and people protested from he entering the panchayat and he had to go back. They were eventually shattered lot, it was evident. From then till date the Government Machinery has done nothing much for the people, though lots of money has come in the name of Tsunami. The data available prove that the central government has given 217 crore to Kerala Government till date, 25 crore was given by Caritas India, NRIs have given nearly 67 crore, the PSU's are giving their one day salary, then the newspapers and channels have also collected amount for Tsunami. Where did all this money go? People living in Alappad have till date received only pittance. Even the compensation given to the next of the kin whose people died is only Rs 10,000, they were promised Rs 1 lakh, the rest Rs 90,000 is given to them in the form of a cheque, that cheque of Rs 90,000 has not been cleared till date. The rest of the people were given Rs 1000 odd and to get this Rs 1000, they had to go through lot of hardships, like signing in so many papers, often driving the people from pillar to post. Tsunami affected Alappad with more than 160 persons killed . Though the state government has announced several rehabilitation measures, nothing has happened so far. Meanwhile, Mata Amruthanandamayi has come forward to offer Rs 100 Crore ( Rs 1 Billion) as rehabilitation for the affected. One inside source says that the money has helped Government of Kerala to Survive. Some say the money has been diverted to other districts like Palakkad, Trichur etc, by declaring them as Tsunami affected areas. Another source say the money was used to pay the salaries of the Government Servants for the last two months. Alappad, a narrow stretch of land in between the sea and lake has always been awe-inspiring for visitors to the Vallikavu, Amruthanandamayi Math. The fisher people mostly belong to one community called the Arayas, they are culturally rich. This place has a history of its own, unique and diverse from the rest of the fishing community's habitats. They are a homogenous community and their livelihood has been fishing with men going into the sea whereas women tending to the needs of the house. The `karayogams' are the uniting force here. To reach Alappad one has to through a small bridge, which was not repaired for a long time. Otherwise one can go only by using Kattuvalams (boats). When Tsunami struck the backwaters were also under the influence of heavy waves and no one could take the boats. All had to use the bridge. And since the bridge was not in a good condition, it took several hours for the rescue teams to reach the affected areas. This cost so many lives. People were killed slowly and slowly under their own houses. It could be said that we actually sacrificed those people. Which depicts poor relief operations carried out by the Kerala Government. Out of 13 wards in Alappad Panchayat which is a 17 km stretch, 4 wards were the one's that was affected the most. Despite people asking the officials to repair that bridge, it has been left unattended for ages now, reminds me of the "panchavadipalam" film taken by Aravidan. One of the most touching incidents is that of a mother who lost her two kids. The kids were watching television, the mother was in the kitchen, the television was showing tsunami affected regions in Sri Lanka, one of them then asked " Amme, Tsunami Paranja Endhaa"? (Amma, What does Tsunami mean?). The Mother was just answering to the question posed by her kids, when suddenly there was silence, the mother who was listening to the news, thought the kids must have changed the channel and was on her way to scold them for changing the channel, but in reality what had happened was at that time Tsunami had struck at that place and both her kids were taken by the killer wave. That Mother is totally a shattered lady. The media also celebrated Tsunami by showing the deadly waves for two weeks. The visuals splashed by the media, both electronic as well the print, of chest-beating mothers desperately wailing for their little ones, innocent, lonely eyes of children crying for attention, searching for that one familiar face, men folk both young and old, some breaking down inconsolably, and some too dazed to even comprehend the happenings in their immediate surroundings, of busy and bustling villages wiped out in its entirety, truckloads of dead bodies being dumped into hurriedly dug funeral pits, and not to speak of the unimaginable numbers of missing persons, had left the whole world shell-shocked. That Mother Nature could wreak havoc of such colossal magnitude is unbelievable, and to think that all this was accomplished within just a few minutes. The sad thing is the media celebrated this for two weeks and today when the real attention is required, nothing is being done and today the media is not carrying any stories on the real problems of the affected people. The NGOs also came and went like the wave. They came with lot of old clothes and food. But this was not what the people wanted. Later on the clothes became garbage. Still today the old clothes have added to the ecology of Alappad, showing the lack of understanding to provide the correct relief. There were instances when people were forced with food by more than one agency. The people who were affected were shifted to the camps. Out of which 3 camps where totally under the control of the Army. There are about 3000 families living in temporary shelters in Kollam and Alappuzha districts. With imminent rains and a communal colour being given to the relief dispersal programmes and a lack of co-ordination amongst the relief agencies the problems have intensified. The rehabilitations measures have been moving at a very slow pace. All what the Government has done so far is to build tin-sheds as temporary shelters and distribute some little money for sustenance. "The hot summer makes living in tin shed a living hell and the summer rains again displaced more people in the coastal area. With the monsoon coming, health and hygiene problems will arise. The pathetic condition of the Tin shed makes it worse than the concentration camps set by Hitler. The tin shed is 8/8 that is about 64sq ft. Along with this the government has given smokeless chulas, which occupies a large space. Virtually there is no space at all inside the tin shed. After 9am in the morning, on one can stay inside these tin sheds. It is like human beings are being rared like the poultry birds. The condition of the toilets are even worse, with no much separation between the ladies and gents toilets. There is total lack of privacy for women. Women and Children's need are not catered to at all. There was need for undergarments for women, children today also need milk etc, which is not at all been given. Men go out, it is the women who have to suffer inside these tin sheds. Cruelty at its best. The condition of the three camps controlled by the Army is worser. Women want to come out of those camps are not let out at all, people who go to meet them are asked several questions. Many women are psycologcally affected after losing their children and others, they are subjected to more truama inside the army camps. The political parties are all hand in glove with each other and are all doing nothing. Even the Dheevara Sabha (Fisherfolks Organisation) are silent. So the affected people of Alappad have set up a Committee called Tsunami Affected People's Committee. The Chief Minister Oommen Chandy, after a cabinet meeting to review the progress of rehabilitation programmes, has resolved that the work should be completed by May end. The work was delayed as the government wanted to build permanent structures for the disaster- affected people, which was difficult as the soil in these districts is loose. Permanent structures require strong pile foundations, which extended the time factor. Voluntary agencies have already been allowed to build houses for others as per specified design Of the Rs 1 billion allocated by the Centre, Rs.940 million has already been earmarked to various state departments here for relief and rehabilitation government officials said. Meanwhile, the Mata Amritanandamai Matt – a Hindu religious charity run by a popular woman spiritual leader – and the right wing Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) are accusing the government of communal partiality against the Hindu-victims of Tsunami. But the Chief Minister, who happens to be a Christian, strongly denied such allegations. "All the charitable organisations are given equal opportunities to participate in the rehabilitation works according to their capacity," he said. ( Reported by By Ajith Lawrence, in the India disaster site indiadisaster.org). "The NGOs' cast and creed were not looked into when they come for doing good for the poor and needy". The Catholic Church under the Quilon [Kollam] Social Services Society (QSSS), has undertaken construction of 125 houses in the Tsunami affected coastal area of Kollam district along with preliminary relief work. The Church has spent nearly Rs 250 million on this. The Hindu Araya community, on the other hand, wants the government or the Amrita Mutt to build houses for them. VHP state leader Kummanam Rajashekharan said: "The Christian community is coming to convert our people and would be prevented from doing so at any cost. Rajashekharan alleged that Sister Nirmala of the Sisters of Charity and the Papal Nuncio (representative of the Vatican), have come to Kerala as a part of their hidden agenda to convert the poor Hindus to Christianity. Hence their objection to the Christian community building homes for the poor. "We have been in the field of relief and rehabilitation works where ever required since time immemorial and nowhere have we tried to convert any other community people to Christianity. And nowhere have people objected to our work except here," said Archbishop Maria Kalist Soosai Packiam of the Thiruvananthapuram Latin Arch Diocese. Stanli Roman, the Bishop of Kollam diocese added that the government of Kerala has to intervene . "We are like any other NGO trying to help the poor and the needy and if the Hindu community sees a communal agenda in such charity works then the really deserving ones are denied aid," he said. "We have been engaged in relief and rehabilitation work in the country for over a decade," Magline Peter of the Fishworkers' Forum of Kerala. "Never have we experienced this kind of dissociation on communal basis from the people who really need help." "Some people in Alappat area are trying to convert the issue into a communal one, which is very sad," Magline said. (Indiadisasters, April 15, 2005) Speaking at the Human Rights and Media Conference, nothing has been done by any NGOs so far. She added nothing is visible on the ground of the claims they are making. The RSS has been trying to take over the area. They have tried all the means to get Ms.Magline removed from that area. One of the incident to quote was during the protest the people of the panchayat took up on 10th Feb 2005. On 10th Feb 2005, about 7000 persons blocked the traffic on NH 47 at Karunagapally junction which leads to Alappad. They blocked the traffic for about 5 hours. They withdrew after the Minister spoke to them with further promises. The RSS during the course of the protest itseld tried to distrub the protest, but were not successful. After the protest when the people were going back home, the last bus which was carrying persons back to the villages stopped at a junction. During this time, the Judge of the High Court happened to pass throught the highway, the RSS people threw stones at the car and also punctured some other buses. This attracted police who resorted to lathi charge, and the poor people in the last bus (the protestors) were lathi charged and 14 were reprimanded. The RSS was trying to create a rift so that they can take over. The high court has asked the government to provide accounts of all the amount received as Tsunami fund. What about the 100 crore rupees promised by Amma? What is the source? Is there any transparency and accountability in the funds received and spend? Why have all other organisations been shunned from extending help? Why does the math and Sewa Bharati work hand in propagating the fundamentalist ideology and carring forward the saffronisation agenda? Is it a ploy to divert the attention of people from the real issues related to livelihood and habitation? Why does neither the Math not the government talk about the equipments for fishing? Men today in these villages are playing cards whole day through, the women suffer a lot. What would be the consequence if the men lethargically play cards throughout the day? It is said that already there are prophecies being made that another Tsunami will strike at the same place in 2007. Ms.Magline said that the fish wokers forum will intensify its agitation against the government policy towards victims of the tsunami in Kerala. There have been two major protests so far- a highway blockade and hunger strike in front of the secretariat, but have yielded little but empty promises. With the onset on monsoon traditionally June the plight of the affected is expected to get worse. Water logging and other problems of inadequate sanitation will cause epidemics that are clearly preventable. Otherwise more people will die, even more than those killed by Tsunami.The forum has tried to bring these issues to the notice of the government through highway blockades and other peaceful means of protest. As the world slowly comes to terms with the disaster of the century, if I may call it so, it is time now to move fast and real fast to get the shattered and bruised lives of the survivors back to normal. Let it be the responsibility of every human on this planet to bring solace in any possible way, to those, who on one dark morning found themselves shelterless, penniless, insecure and most tragically left with no one to call their own. It is indeed now that much more easier for us fortunate ones to put aside our personal worries and concerns as they seem so very insignificant when compared to the trauma and agony of the victims of the killer waves. Let the spark of humanity ignite and spread across the length and breadth of this earth with such intensity that it brings back the smile in their faces and let them know that they are not alone in their grief!!! Let us all do something!!
