Relief is Eid gift, Azad finds out

As Azad and deputy CM Muzaffar Hussain Beig watched, people barged into a tent where blankets, food and clothes had been kept for distribution. Within minutes, they were all gone.

8216;8216;This was for them, it was an Id gift. Had they waited, it would have been a smooth affair,8217;8217; was all that Azad could say.

Such was the confusion that someone even walked away with Beig8217;s shoes and he was bailed out by a policeman who gave the minister his own pair. It was not clear who stole Beig8217;s shoes and why he did it but an official couldn8217;t help remark: 8216;8216;The thief probably wanted the minister to feel the sense of deprivation here after the quake.8217;8217;

8216;8216;I think I have not paid enough,8217;8217; Beig said when he was asked by a reporter whether he had paid zakat tax in full.

Many among the villagers left empty-handed complained. 8216;8216;Only the young and the ruffians are taking the relief material. The poor have been neglected,8217;8217; said Asif Khan who had come all the way from Semeri. Mohammad Alam dittoed him: 8216;8216;This happens every time relief supplies arrive in the village. If you want fair distribution, let the Army distribute the relief. Otherwise, the poor will never get anything.8217;8217;

Kupwara Deputy Commissioner Majid Khanday said that the relief material was from the Rajiv Gandhi foundation. 8216;8216;They villagers think they have a right to the material,8217;8217; he said.

Azad, along with Beig and former minister Ghulam Ahmad Mir, offered prayers at the Eidgah on the banks of the Kishanganga river. 8216;8216;Though we are in a state of shock, the presence of the Chief Minister has relieved us of many of our sorrows,8217;8217; said Imam of the mosque. 8216;8216;We have no words to express gratitude to the Chief Minister8230;he preferred to celebrate this Eid with us.8217;8217;

Azad presented gifts to the villagers and assured them help from the government. He also distributed gifts among the children. 8216;8216;By visiting Teetwal on Eid, my aim was to convey to the villagers that the entire country stands behind them,8217;8217; said Azad. 8216;8216;We will leave no stone unturned to rebuild the villages that were affected by the quake.8217;8217;

Azad had tea with the villagers later. 8216;8216;It is a great moment for us that the Chief Minister came to our village to celebrate Eid with us,8217;8217; said Asghar Ali, a village elder. 8216;8216;This shows that people are concerned about us.8217;8217; Azad assured water supply to Teetwal village by March next year; repair of damaged pipes and laying of new ones would be carried out by then.