When the Government rang the tsunami alarm bell on Thursday, a wave of panic spread through Nagapattinam. People here were still burying their dead, finding that they had run out of space to dig graves when panic struck.That was when the Syed Abdul Qadirwali Baba Dargah, a stone’s throw from Nagapattinam, threw open its doors — to the living as well as their dead.On Thursday, Hindus, Christians as well as Muslims gathered at the 440-year-old dargah, seeking shelter. And when Nagapattinam ran out of place to bury their dead, the dargah opened its doors to anyone willing to perform the last rites of those killed in the tsunami tragedy.‘‘This is an emergency and everyone is rising to cope. Nobody in this area is differentiating between each other. We are all the same, and in distress, so we are trying to help out,’’ says managing trustee of the dargah, K. Mohamed Kalifa Sahib.All of Nagore has turned into a huge relief camp with thousands of people fleeing villages after Thursday’s warning. In houses that are in the interiors, verandahs have been taken over by refugees who have no homes to go back to.The dargah is where over 10,000 refugees from Nagapattinam, Chikeeripalli and other fishing hamlets which were swept away by the waves stayed. During the first two days after Black Sunday, the dargah was totally full. ‘‘People then started leaving but on Thursday they returned again after the tsunami alert was sounded,,’’ Kalifa Sahib adds.The dargah started a kitchen to feed the refugees and managed the relief camp on its own, but since the last two days the local tehsildar office has been helping out by sending supplies.‘‘A large number of people have lost their source of livelihood, which is the main worry for the society here. We are trying to help families financially so that they can start rebuilding life,’’ he says.Finding that hundreds of people were sheltered in the dargah, several relief agencies have also started going in to distribute food packets and other relief material.
