| November 23, 2002 | Saturday | Ramazan 17, 1423 |
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Another violent quake
Hospital waste disposal
THE findings of an independent tribunal headed by a retired supreme court judge investigating the Gujarat communal riots categorically indict Narendra Modi and his state government for planning the violence which has so far claimed over 2,000 — mostly Muslim — lives. The nine-member tribunal comprised retired supreme and high court judges and civil rights lawyers who recorded a total of 2,094 statements by survivors of what the report has called “a genocide” carried out with “military planning and precision.” Titled ‘Crime Against Humanity’, the 600-page report concludes that there is irrefutable evidence to suggest that the state-sponsored violence against Muslims was part of “a well thought-out scheme to extract political capital” out of the riots. This is by far the most comprehensive independent report on the Gujarat carnage by a panel of qualified law practitioners, who now plan to submit their findings to the Indian president.
The report also blames New Delhi for condoning Modi’s actions after the Godhra train burning incident, allegedly carried out by an angry Muslim mob on February 27 this year, in which 58 Hindu activists were burnt alive. It goes on to say that “a diabolical plan was drawn and disseminated to the top 50 leaders of the BJP, RSS, Bajrang Dal and VHP on the method and the manner in which the 72-hour-long carnage that followed was to be carried out.” The report casts doubts on the state government’s claim that a mob of Muslims had attacked and set the train on fire saying “the fire was set from the inside, but who did it is still not clear.” Calling Modi “the chief author and architect” of the carnage that ensued, the report claims the inquiry conducted by the tribunal is comprehensive enough for New Delhi to charge-sheet Modi and other state officials who perpetrated the “organized crime.” To no one’s surprise, central and Gujarat state government officials abstained from appearing before the tribunal to answer the charges brought against them in the hearings conducted by the tribunal.
The report seems to have hit the nail on the head when it says that Narendra Modi planned and carried out the massacre to advance the political interests of the BJP and its hardline pro-Hindutva coalition parties in Gujarat, the last bastion of the ruling coalition. Earlier this year, the BJP-led coalition’s defeat in key Indian state elections worried the ruling leaders who saw power slipping from their hands while the Hindutva agenda remained unfulfilled. Modi’s systematic stoking of communal fires by inciting violence against minorities, calling fresh state election ahead of time, and now the BJP’s projected lead by some 13 percentage points over the rival parties in next month’s Gujarat election, complete the sinister picture. However, by means of complicity in Modi’s crimes, the BJP-led government at the centre and its hard-line allies may score a few electoral victories here and there, but they are unlikely to win back the lost trust of the Indian electorate. If India’s electoral history is anything to go by, parties and individuals that whip up communal passions for political gains are ultimately voted out of office when passions finally cool down. As for Narendra Modi and his co-partners who planned and directed the still on-going violence against Muslims in Gujarat, they deserve to be taken to court on charges of hate crimes. Unfortunately the independent tribunal’s report in question stops short of recommending that.
THE earthquake-prone Northern Areas were hit by another series of tremors on Saturday, killing at least 23 persons, including 18 children. The Astore Valley bore the brunt of the quake, which registered 5.5 on the Richter scale. So severe were the tremors that they could be felt in Gilgit, located some 120 kilometres to the north. The violent quake followed on the heels of a similar disaster in neighbouring Diamer district on November 3, when 17 people lost their lives. The Karakoram Range, scene of the recent earthquakes, has a history of severe seismic activity because of its location at the point at which the Indian and Eurasian continental plates collide.
Four villages in Astore were the most seriously affected by the recent quake, with most homes in the area totally destroyed. The authorities fear that casualties could mount if relief does not reach the affected population urgently. Given its remoteness and inaccessibility, relief operations are traditionally difficult to mount in the area as speedily as needed. Matters are made worse because of the continuing aftershocks and road blockages. The Karakoram Highway is believed to have been blocked off at certain points as a result of landslides accompanying the tremors. The highway is a vital lifeline for the people of the Northern Areas and even short closures can create severe shortages and send prices of everyday items in the region soaring. While the authorities claim that they have dispatched relief items to the affected areas, it is important to keep up the momentum to minimize the suffering of the stricken people. The government, as well as NGOs and relief organizations, must rush essential supplies to the area and help rebuild the lives of those rendered homeless and left to fend for themselves in the bitter cold.
WASTE disposal is a matter that affects the health of citizens and the cleanliness of the city, all the more so when it comes to hospital wastes. It is alarming to note that about 2,700 kg of wastes are produced daily by government and private hospitals and clinics in the city of Rawalpindi alone which are not being disposed of properly in the manner that they ought to be. These wastes, which include used syringes, expired and unused medicines, blood-soaked bandages, used needles, urine bags, used catheters, human tissues, chemicals from laboratory tests, etc., are simply thrown into dustbins or dumped on the roadsides or in open spaces, providing ample opportunity for scavengers to pick up used syringes, needles, bottles, etc for re-packing and re-use. Workers from one notable private hospital in Islamabad dump bucket loads of wastes into the nearby nullah daily. This is a very dangerous practice that can spread all kinds of diseases since the wastes can seep underground into the water table. The careless manner in which hospital wastes are disposed of is posing a serious health threat to citizens in the twin cities with the possibility of them being exposed to serious illnesses like hepatitis and AIDS. Notices and circulars sent by the government of Punjab asking hospitals to dispose of their wastes safely and according to prescribed rules and procedures have not been heeded. Such an irresponsible attitude is unbecoming of the very institutions that are supposed to be the custodians of citizens’ health.
The problem is a serious one that needs to be addressed immediately. What the authorities can do is appoint a committee to look into it. The committee should comprise officials from the ministry of health and environment, the municipal authority, as well as members from the tehsil, municipal and district councils. The most hygienic way of disposing of hospital wastes is through incinerators, located within the hospitals themselves. Otherwise, a proper system should be charted out whereby wastes are regularly collected from all hospitals, clinics and laboratories and transported to municipal incinerators to be disposed of safely. To ensure the committee’s effectiveness, a public representative like an MPA or MNA could be appointed to head it and report the results to his assembly.