For these refugees of riots, home is a 5-letter word: death

In the halls of Parliament, on television talk shows, in newspaper columns, everyone’s talking about the Gujarat elections. Closer to home, though, some people are simply wondering how they can return home without being killed.

The deaths of Nanubhai and Mehmood, both refugees of the riots, have left their former neighbours at Chunilal Jetha ni Chawli a scared lot. So scared that they’ve made the footpath their home, not daring to set foot in their burnt homes, let alone repair them.

Mohammad Kasam Hussainbhai, Nanubhai’s nephew who was with him when the wall collapsed and who was injured in the leg, says the house looked dangerous but his uncle was determined to try and repair at least a part of it so they could store their belongings. ‘‘He had just started clearing the debris when the wall gave in and fell on him. Soon after, the other side also collapsed, killing him,’’ says Hussainbhai.

Mehmood’s family left the chawl after his death and shifted to Bapunagar. Relocation is, however, a luxury other chawl residents say they can’t afford. Camp isn’t an option either, with the Saraspur Relief Camp — where they were staying — having closed down two months back.

As for repairs, residents say they have no money since the State Government has handed out only cheques of Rs 500 to most of them. Repair, or rather reconstruction, of their badly damaged houses will cost well over Rs 50,000, they say.

Even the meagre compensation money has been spent on buying rations as their means of livelihood have dried up in the last five months, say residents, most of whom were either labourers or sold vegetables for a living.

The Islamic Relief Committee offered to help but the offer was restricted to repairs and not reconstruction. ‘‘Two people died when the walls collapsed on them so obviously the condition of houses is so bad that they can’t be repaired. They have to be pulled down and re-constructed,’’ says Gopal Ratnabhai Patani, a resident of the chawli.

‘‘The committee people said they would plaster the houses and provide a door and a window. But that won’t make our houses safe as they need to be completely pulled down. So we refused the proposal,’’ Patani adds.

Having done so, however, the residents are at a dead end. ‘‘There is no sort of help coming from anywhere. There is no money, there is no organisation to help. No one knows what to do,’’ says Gulabhai Khodabhai.

Some residents have put plastic sheets over their partially collapsed porches but that affords little shelter. So people cook and sleep on the road of the chawli, as they’ve been doing for the past two months.

Sheelaben Sojhabhai Patani, a chawl resident, says they haven’t been able to go out and earn as their larris (carts) have been burnt. ‘‘How will we carry the vegetables if we don’t have larris? And we don’t even have money to purchase new larris,’’ she says, adding that her family has been surviving on one meal for months now.

‘‘There is no means of livelihood so we can’t go to work and earn some money. Sometimes, we eat just once a day and when there is nothing, we sleep on an empty stomach,’’ says a disillusioned Bharatbhai Amthabhai Patani, whose house was also burnt down in the communal violence.

For Bharatbhai, the worst is when it rains and the water floods their damaged houses. ‘‘When it rains, our houses get filled with water. And because of the damage, we can’t even think of entering our houses during the monsoons. It’s like entering a death trap,’’ says Patani.

The only help has come in the form of a single tent by city-based NGO KSSM and dozens of women and children take shelter under it in the day. ‘‘But at night, everyone sleeps out in the open,’’ says Patani.

‘‘Not a single councillor or any BJP or Congress member has come to us to offer help. When it’s time to beg for votes, they will come to our houses and promise wonderful things. Who can trust any of these people?’’ says a furious Khodabhai, adding that he and many other residents of the chawli have decided not to vote this time. ‘‘These politicians are all the same,’’ he says.