8. Dr. MANMOHAN SINGH AND TSUNAMI

 8

Dr. MANMOHAN SINGH AND TSUNAMI

     The biggest earthquake of the world in 40 years hit Sumatra in Indonesia on 26 December 2004 unleashing a “tsunami” that crashed into Indonesia, Malaysia, India and Sri Lanka. Many other countries were also affected.

   It washed away the coastal belt, particularly eastern coastal belt, in India. It killed about 15,000 people in India alone.

   The UN immediately sent a disaster assessment and coordination team to the Asian region. 

    Within no time, India announced an assistance of Re.100 crore to Sri Lanka besides sending relief teams to it.

    Relief teams were sent to Indonesia also.

      People in Europe - Pope John Paul II included- stopped work on 5 January 2005 and stood still for three minutes as a mark of respect to the victims of the disaster. Special prayers were also held in all places of worship throughout Europe.

      The President of USA, Mr. George Bush, along with his wife, Laura, and former Presidents George H.W.Bush and Bill Clinton visited Indian Embassy on 3 January 2005 and signed a condolence book.

          Many countries announced disaster assistance to India.  India politely declined it.  Many felt that the Prime Minister of India had listened to a hidden force before announcing this. Some people in India felt that he had taken a wrong decision.

     The people in France could not digest the real reasons for the refusal to accept contributions. However, the Defence Minister of France, Mr. Mechelle Alliot Marie, welcomed the decision of India.  The President of France, Mr. Jacques Chirac, expressed his willingness to work with India with regard to tsunami disaster.

       Japan came forward to help construct an early warning system based on water pressure to Asian nations.
     The Prime Minister of Canada, Mr. Paul Martin, paid a visit to India mainly to convey his condolences and very deep regret on the deaths and devastation caused by the tsunami. During his visit, India and Canada agreed to develop a tsunami early warning system.

V. Sabarimuthu is talking to a tsunami victim in the Lekshmipuram college relief camp

      Prime Minister Manmohan Singh wanted the people to send money to the Prime Minister’s Relief Fund. Further, the voluntary agencies were permitted to receive disaster assistance from foreign countries till March 2005. 

       A voluntary organization, for public consumption, pledged to adopt all children, who lost both their parents. On 31 December 2004, the Governments of Kerala and Tamil Nadu and even the Government of India talked of adopting children whose parents were no more. But, nothing materialized.  

            On 29 December 2004, a Union Minister said that money would not be a constraint for relief works.     He said that houses would be constructed for the victims.

    The political leaders demanded the Union Government to construct houses for the victims.

      On 2 January 2005, leader of the DMK Dr. M. Karunanidhi demanded the Union Government to construct houses to the victims. The public sector TV channel (DD) in its Tamil news bulletin reluctantly reported it. However, the newspapers, particularly the English newspapers, did not publish it.

PMK leader Dr. Ramadhas wanted the Government to prepare a well thought plan to resettle the fishermen.

BJP leader and former Home Minister Mr. L.K.Advani and former Prime Minister Mr. H.D.Deve Gowda,  during their visit to Lekshmipuram College -(a private college where this writer was working)- refugee camp too wanted the Government to construct strong houses.

Several other leaders also might have demanded houses for these foreign exchange earners.

The present writer wanted the Government to construct houses as was done for the earthquake victims of Gujarat.

      Simultaneously, the National Bank of Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) announced that it would extend loans for fishermen to buy nets and boats.

      The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) also asked the banks to give liberal loans to fishermen for the construction of houses.

            The announcement of the NABARD and the RBI did not enjoy the support of the Union Cabinet. Apparently, the “think tank” of the industrial houses floated this idea to pre-empt the Government from constructing houses.  

        The public sector TV and the print media did not give sufficient coverage to the construction of houses although the offer of loan was highlighted. This indicated that the industrial houses did not allow the Government to discharge its duty; and that they wanted the money.  

      In contrast, when tragedy struck, former Prime Minister Mr. A.B. Vajpayee said that earthquake resistant houses would be constructed to the earthquake affected people of Gujarat and he completed the work in record time with single-minded devotion.

Here, it appeared that the Government was not free to talk anything contrary to the views of the industrial houses even in the matter of disaster assistance.

 Thus, on 30 December 2004, a  Mr. Colin Gonsalves in “The New Indian Express”  said that though the right to housing in India is a fundamental right, the Government had demolished thousands of houses without relocating even one fifth of the residents. The paper cited the Yamuna Pushta demolition to make way for a tourist complex, the Lajpat Nagar demolition for the installation of a statue of Lala Lajpat Rai and Mumbai demolition for no reason. The message was that a Government that was delinquent in providing shelter to demolition victims could be excused if it failed to construct houses for the tsunami victims. The article was conspicuously silent about the reconstruction work undertaken in Gujarat.

In fact, the mass media did not give any importance to the demands of the political leaders. The newspapers, particularly the English newspapers, stopped publishing their words. In fact, the media sent everyone into oblivion in this matter after a few days.

As if to support the media, a prominent leader of the BJP, Mrs. Susma Swaraj, after an All Party Meeting on Tsunami on 9 January 2005, said that the Government should concentrate on installing an early warning system for tsunami rather than spending Re. thousands of crore on rehabilitation.Ironically, she said this while her party was organizing several public meetings in tsunami-affected areas demanding full relief to the victims of the tsunami disaster.

      The Prime Minister, during his visit to West Bengal, on 11 January 2005, praised the media for its coverage of the tsunami disaster and thus he obeyed them.

Ultimately, the Union Government did not bother to construct houses for them as was done in the case of the earthquake victims in Gujarat. The construction of the houses for the tsunami victims was left to the charity of voluntary organization and the private individuals in India.

 Noticing the interest taken by the voluntary organization,  Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, insinuated that the State Governments could convert the disaster into opportunity.

Had the Government been free, the tsunami victims would have got better relief. Thus, even in this matter, the will of the industrial houses alone prevailed. 

Thus, on one side the Union Government refused to accept assistance from other countries and on the other side it wriggled out from doing any relief work directly.

Here, the media worked against the ideal of common good even in the case of giving relief to Tsunami victims. They concertedly worked to deny tsunami threat-free houses.

The government finally allotted Re.2700 crore for rehabilitation. This amount was for subsidies and for giving loan. No money was allotted for the construction of houses. It should have allotted not less than Re.27000 crore for the construction of houses alone.

Thus the government distinguished between citizen, and citizen even in the matter of natural calamities.

Evidently, the industrial houses – and not Prime Minister Manmohan Singh –pulled the shot in this matter.

V. Sabarimuthu