Silent
march for Meerut fire victims
Meerut:
After days of violent protests to demand justice for
victims of Monday's deadly fire at a consumer fair in Meerut,
dozens of university students organized a silent demonstration
and march on Friday to demand punishment for the guilty.
Carrying banners that demanded action against the organizers
of the fair and state officials, the students marched to
the residence of the Commissioner of Police to present their
demands. "The people of Meerut are angry. We wanted to organize
this silent protest to highlight our demands. We youth have
speeded the process of suspension of some guilty officers.
But mere suspension is not sufficient. Suspensions happen
in daily life as well. We want strict action to be taken
against the guilty," said Vishal Saraswat, a student leader.
The Uttar Pradesh Government has already ordered a judicial
probe into Monday's fire. The authorities had initially
said that 51 people had died in the fire that engulfed aircraft
hanger-shaped temporary halls covered with plastic sheeting
where around 2,000 people were browsing over items on display.
But on Tuesday, they revised the death toll to show that
only 35 people had died in the incident. The announcement
triggered protests by people who said they were still looking
for missing relatives, and their anger was further aggravated
by reports that bodies of some of the victims had been bulldozed
immediately after the blaze. The district administration
strongly denied these accusations, but some of its officials
gave widely conflicting accounts of the number of people
still officially "missing". The police in the state are
still to trace the organisers of the fair, who are absconding.
Elsewhere in the city, workers of the Congress workers organized
a prayer ceremony in the memory of the dead. "We pray to
the Allah, to God to give the injured strength to get through
this ordeal. We also pray so that the families of the dead
can bear with this immense loss," said Vinod Mogh, a Congress
party worker. The special shopping centre with about 100
stalls had on display air-conditioners, computers, televisions
and other home appliances. Consumer fairs are increasingly
popular in India's smaller cities and towns as fast economic
growth has sharply increased disposable income over the
last decade. But safety procedures are still ignored in
many aspects of public life. Ninety children died in a fire
at a school in the southern state of Tamil Nadu in July
2004.
Prayers for fire tragedy victims
People from Muslim community in
Meerut have conducted special prayers for the victims of
Monday's fire tragedy in which number of deceased has reached
42. "We prayed to God to help the people who have been hospitalised.
We appealed to the people to come out and help those who
have been affected by the fire. It is the need of the hour
that we pay heed to the humanitarian cause and help the
people," said Quazi Jainusaddin, a local Muslim cleric.
Yesterday, traders at the Victoria Park, the venue of the
fair, had also organized prayers for the peace of the departed
souls. "There were some victims for whom the last rites
could not be performed. We have organized these prayers
for the peace of their souls. We are also keen to provide
whatever help we can and if we get any call, we are ready
to donate our blood also," Pawan Kumar Garg, Chairman of
the traders association had said. Meanwhile, several victims
of the fire tragedy remain missing despite the claims by
the local police to locate over 30 people alive. A short-circuit
had set ablaze an electronics bazaar on Monday. Authorities
had initially said 51 people died in the fire that engulfed
aircraft hanger-shaped temporary halls covered with plastic
sheeting where around 2,000 people were browsing displays.
The special shopping centre with about 100 stalls had on
display air-conditioners, computers, televisions and other
home appliances. Consumer fairs are increasingly popular
in country's smaller cities as fast economic growth has
sharply increased disposable income over the last decade.
But safety procedures are still ignored in many aspects
of public life as ninety children had died in a fire at
a school in Tamil Nadu in July 2004.
Students seek justice for Meerut fire victims
Meerut: After days
of violent protests demanding justice for the victims of
Monday's deadly fire at a trade fair in Meerut, dozens of
University students here organized a silent demonstration
on Friday, demanding punishment for the guilty. Carrying
banners demanding action against the organizers of the fair
and state officials, the students marched to the residence
of the Commissioner of Police to present their demands.
"The people of Meerut are angry yet we wanted to organize
this silent protest to highlight our demands. We youth have
speeded the process of suspension of some guilty officers.
But mere suspension is not sufficient. Suspensions happen
in daily life as well, we want strict action to be taken
against the guilty," said Vishal Saraswat, a student leader.
The State Government of Uttar Pradesh has already ordered
a judicial probe into Monday's fire.
Authorities
had initially said 51 people died in the fire that engulfed
the aircraft hanger-shaped temporary halls covered with
plastic sheeting where around 2,000 people were browsing
displays. But on Tuesday, they revised the death toll down
to 35, and on Wednesday added a further victim who died
in hospital. This angered the people, who said they were
still looking for missing relatives, their anger fuelled
by claims that bodies were run over by bulldozers in the
aftermath of the blaze, and that some corpses were secretly
cremated to scale down the death toll. The district administration
strongly denied the accusations but officials gave widely
conflicting accounts of the number of people still "missing".
The police in the state are still to trace the organisers
of the fair, who are absconding. Elsewhere in the city,
workers of the Congress Party organized a prayer ceremony
in the memory of the dead. "We pray to the Allah, to God
to give the victims strength to get through this ordeal.
We also pray so that the families of the dead can bear with
this immense loss," said Vinod Mogh, Congress party worker.
The special shopping centre with about 100 stalls had on
display air-conditioners, computers, televisions and other
home appliances. Consumer fairs are increasingly popular
in India's smaller cities and towns as fast economic growth
has sharply increased disposable income over the last decade.
But safety procedures are still ignored. Ninety children
died in a fire at a school in Tamil Nadu in July 2004.
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