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Clinton arrives 'to look, listen, learn' amid chaos Thursday, April 5, 2001
ANJAR, Gujarat: Hours before former US President Bill Clinton arrived on Wednesday in this earthquake-smashed town, workers stood waist-deep in sewage, trying to clear a blocked open drain, while others used rubble to cover ponds of garbage. A plaque Clinton was to unveil, remembering hundreds of children buried by toppled buildings, was removed at the last minute, because authorities did not get permission from the shop owner who owns the land.
Officials promised Hanif Khatri that they would remove the plaque a couple of days after Clinton's visit, but he refused to let it remain even an hour.
The memorial, and Clinton's visit, generated mixed reactions in Anjar, where some people felt it would bring aid, but worried that it would not reach the needy thousands, still living in tents in the city of rubble.
Instead of unveiling the memorial, Clinton held the hands of two of the surviving children and they placed red roses on the empty pedestal. He stood silently, his head bowed, for a moment, then walked toward a crowd of 3,000 people being held back by police.
Shouting, "Clinton, Clinton," the crowd broke through the rope and wooden barricades and rushed toward the former president, while police tried to beat them back with bamboo canes.
Clinton is popular in India since his March 2000 visit - the first by a US president in 22 years - warmed up relations between the world's largest democracies after strains from the Cold War.
"I'll be coming back to India for the rest of my life," Clinton shouted before he was whisked into his limousine, which zoomed off.
His seven-day visit to Gujarat, Mumbai, New Delhi and Kolkata is sponsored by the American India Foundation, a group of US-based business people of Indian descent, who aim to raise $20 million to rebuild 40 villages.
The chaos in Anjar in anticipation of Clinton's visit was reminiscent of the disjointed official reaction to the 7.7 magnitude earthquake on January 26, when an estimated 30,000 were killed and 1 million made homeless.
"Two months and they haven't even cleared the rubble," said Ranjit Khatri, among hundreds of survivors waiting to see Clinton.
The former president was also running late. His chartered Indian Airlines jet landed an hour behind schedule at the Bhuj airport. Wearing a dark T-shirt and khaki trousers, Clinton waved and bowed as he took off in an armoured blue Cherokee jeep convoy of 27 cars and buses for the village of Ratnal.
There he was greeted by two dozen young women wearing embroidered dresses with pieces of glass sewn into them, and with copper pitches holding coconuts atop their heads. The women tossed rice at Clinton, children threw flower petals, and an old woman placed a dot of red powder and water on his forehead, in a sign of blessing and welcome.
"Today I have come to look, listen, learn, ask questions, see what we can do to help," Clinton said, after walking though an earthquake-proof hut erected by a relief organisation. Around him were wrecked stone houses. "The people of this place have lived through an unimaginable tragedy," Clinton said. "The most important thing is to see whether this can be rebuilt."
In Anjar, the main stop on his Gujarat visit, Clinton was to have walked along the dusty lane where hundreds of parading schoolchildren were killed on Jan. 26, when buildings toppled onto them from both sides of the narrow street. They were participating in a Republic Day parade on the national holiday.
Authorities realised Tuesday morning that the pedestal they had erected for Clinton to unveil the memorial plaque was 10 feet from ponds of sewage that had overflowed from the drain, blocked for the past two months by rubble.
The stench of rotting garbage was everywhere, and some workers tried to cover the smell by putting rocks and dirt in the ponds.
Clinton gave a brief speech, saying, "We will raise funds to help the people of Anjar to face their loss. We have a plan to see if money can be given to people to rebuild their lives. We are interested in seeing results."
N K Desai, chief information officer for the Anjar City Council, explained that no rubble had been cleared in the town because, "the money spent in removing the debris can be better utilised in building new homes once the government announces its decision to shift. Anjar has a major quake once every 50 years. It only makes sense to rebuild this devastated town on safer ground."
"People have forgotten us. It's good he is coming. Maybe now we'll get some help," said Ameerabehn Chavda, who has made a home by stringing up a plastic sheet across two iron girders.
Chamanlal Deusi, a tailor, said Clinton's visit will make no difference. "He'll give money, but who will get it?" Deusi said, saying he had received only Rs 2,000 of the Rs 50,000 the state has promised in rehabilitation money. "I want to know, where has that money gone?"
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