AHMEDABAD, June 17: Homeless Muslim victims in riot-hit Gujarat protested on Monday, the government’s apathy to their plight, as Home Minister L.K Advani was wrapping up a two-day visit to the western Indian state.

Shaukatkhan Pathan, general secretary of the Qaumi Relief Committee, said they had organized a sit-in in Gujarat’s commercial capital of Ahmedabad, to let Indian Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee know they “would not continue to suffer in silence.”

“Mr Advani should carry our message of anger and hurt to the prime minister. The state government has still not paid monetary compensation to most Muslim families affected by the riots despite repeated promises made by the prime minister,” said Pathan.

“The government had promised us help in reconstructing our houses and businesses. But despite the promises nothing has happened. If they do not respond to our needs we will take our agitation to New Delhi,” he added.

The government wants to close down camps for those displaced from India’s worst communal riots in a decade, but the trauma of the attacks and police inaction against the perpetrators has left many of the victims too scared to return to their old homes.

“Most riot victims have requested the government to relocate them as they are too scared to return to their villages. Their neighbours have warned them against returning,” said lawyer Mohsin Kadri, who is fighting for compensation for the riot victims in Gujarat.

“We have repeatedly asked the government to allot them land in Muslim-dominated areas but all pleas have fallen on deaf ears,” he added.

Some 400 villagers from Panvad, 150 kilometres from their Ahmedabad camp, have tried repeatedly to return home, but say each time they have been attacked by Hindus and told that they must change their Muslim ways.—AFP