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Modi set to offer aid package to Kashmir flood victims

Critics say funds are aimed at boosting Indian PM's image amid intolerance accusations
Modi set to offer aid package to Kashmir flood victims

Authorities tightened security in Srinagar ahead of a visit by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. (Photo by Umer Asif)

Published: November 06, 2015 08:08 AM GMT
Updated: November 06, 2015 12:06 AM GMT

Victims of the devastating 2014 floods in India's northern Jammu and Kashmir state are hopeful an expected rehabilitation package from the federal government will provide much-needed relief.

But while many families made homeless by the floods say the help will be welcome, it also comes amid growing anger at restrictions placed on minority Muslims in the Hindu-majority country.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi is expected to announce a relief package totaling more then US$1.5 billion during a visit to the Kashmir Valley on Nov. 7, according the state's Finance Ministry.

People whose homes were completely destroyed are likely to get around US$5,300 each, a state government official said on condition of anonymity.

He said more than US$300 million has been earmarked for farmers whose crops were ruined in the Sept. 2014 deluge, which claimed more than 300 lives.

The floods submerged some 390 villages and left hundreds of thousands of people stranded.

Though the state government gave out compensation soon after the floods struck, flood victims say it was not enough.

Abdul Rahman Rather and his family lost their home and are still living with relatives one year after the catastrophe.

With no government assistance in sight, the laborer says he has no money to rebuild his house.

"The government only gave me 12,000 rupees [US$182] for my damaged house. How can I rebuild my home with such a meager amount?" he said.

Caritas India, which has provided relief to victims since the flood, expressed hope the federal relief package would be enough to help ease the problems of those still struggling to recover.

"The damage caused by the floods was massive. A huge amount of money is needed to reconstruct every home that was destroyed or damaged. We hope the prime minister's visit proves fruitful," Anjan Bag, who led the relief operations in the valley at the time of the floods, told ucanews.com.

Police personnel search vehicles in Srinagar ahead of a planned visit by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. (Photo by Umer Asif)

 

Caritas, the social development arm of the Catholic Church in India, currently is spreading awareness on how to reduce disaster risk among flood victims in Kashmir.

Caritas is helping flood victims but "it is only the government which can rehabilitate the flood-hit valley," Bag said.

For many, the prime minister's announcement of a relief package in the country's only Muslim-majority state is an attempt to pacify minorities in India.

Aijaz Ahmad, a researcher at Kashmir University, said that by announcing the package, Modi would try to defuse the anger that has been building over acts of religious intolerance.

Many people in the state were outraged, for example, when an 18-year-old Muslim man was attacked in October after a group of Hindu people accused him of transporting cows for slaughter. Cows are considered sacred by Hindus and different Indian states have issued bans on beef.

Waheed Sofi, a columnist, said Modi is trying his best clean up the image of his party, seen by many as Hindu nationalist, by reaching out to the state’s Muslims.

"It is not only in India that Modi's image is at stake. The world is watching him and amid all the incidents that took place against minorities, Modi has selected Kashmir's stage to address the world," Sofi said.

Meanwhile, security has been tightened in the region ahead of the prime minister's visit.

Vehicles entering Srinagar are being thoroughly checked, with police personnel patrolling the main streets of Srinagar.

More than 200 people are being kept under “preventive custody” by police to foil any attempt to disrupt law and order.

Kashmir's police chief Javaid Mujtaba Gillani said the detentions are a "precautionary measure."

The detentions are carried out under the Jammu and Kashmir Public Safety Act, a law that rights groups such as Amnesty International say allows authorities to deny detainees access to judicial authorities and to restrict access to legal counsel.

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