10 November 2004	Wednesday	26 Ramazan 1425

ISLAMABAD, Nov 9: The government has failed to compensate the people whose properties were damaged by a mob after funeral prayers of Maulana Azam Tariq in October last year.

An official assessment, based on information gathered during ground checks of the gutted cinema, destroyed shops in Aabpara and Melody markets and proposed payment to the deceased and injured, put the damage to over Rs22 million excluding the damage caused to the Melody Food Park.

Despite announcement of compensation of Rs300,000 by the then prime minister and interior minister for the death of Mohammad Naveed, the family of deceased has not been paid even a penny.

Makhdoom Syed Faisal Saleh Hayat, the then interior minister, had announced compensation for the affected people besides assuring payment of Rs50,000 indemnity to each of the six injured people.

According to the assessment report presented to the interior ministry, compensation for the completely destroyed Melody Cinema was Rs20 million. Similarly, compensation for the Aabpara and Melody market shops was Rs1.6 million.

Majeedullah, who received severe injuries during the riots said: "They kept sending us from one department to another. We have submitted the necessary documents but it has been over a year that we have not been paid compensation."

A family member of the deceased, Muhammad Naveed, said: "We are being paid a lip-service. They kept on sending us to different offices like the finance division, to police and the commissioner and submitted our claims at various offices. But all these efforts were futile."

"We have tried our best to meet with the officers concerned in the interior ministry but never made it past their PAs. The damage to my cinema is a lot more than what the ministry wants to pay in indemnity," said the owner of the Melody Cinema.

He said there were 200 hundred policemen on foot besides three truckloads of police personnel but they stood like audience, smoking cigarettes, while his employees cried to them for help. The police, in response, said they had strict instructions not to interfere, he added.

Mr Tanveer, owner of Tanveer Optics, whose shop was destroyed, said the compensation was delayed by over a year and it was less likely that the authorities would pay them compensation. The case is still lying with the interior ministry.

When Makhdoom Faisal Saleh Hayat was contacted, he said: "We had presented a strong case to the Finance Division to compensate the affected persons. The ministry of interior will be able to inform you better."

When Interior Minister Aftab Ahmed Khan Sherpao was contacted in this regard, he said: "I am aware about the gutted cinema but I do not know if a man had expired in the cinema or that there was anyone injured. I will have to check for more details on this issue."

According to a source in the interior ministry the ministry had sent the case to the Finance Division and it was very hard to get the money from the division.