| |
COVER
STORY: THE BACKLASH
Not Even A Corpse To Mourn
| |
|
| |
ETHNIC EDUCATION: A poster on the net saying that Sikhs
and Arabs are different
|
Ironically, the
real suffering of Indians is evident in the event itself. While the Indian
consulate in New York initially spoke of 250 Indians or people of Indian
origin having died at the World Trade Center, the number doing the rounds
now is 324. Sixty-two countries lost people at the towers. India may have
suffered more than most. Both Bhattacharya and Baruah, in fact, have an
immediate connection with the tragedy. One of Bhattacharya's associates
at Sakhi worked at the WTC and has been "missing since the day".
Baruah, on his part, lost close friend Jupiter Yambem, an active member
of the local Manipuri Association and banquet manager of Windows of the
World, the restaurant that was literally the crown of the WTC. Writing
in memory of his friend, who leaves behind a wife and four-year-old son,
Baruah spoke of the assault on the city's sensibilities, the "feeling
of sadness that I saw on everyone's face in New York" on and after
after September 11.
|
|
|
| HELPING OUT: Cab driver Nirmal Singh
has offered his services to the rescue effort |
|
In a city bereft of its vitality, the most tragic
stories are of those who have not even a corpse to mourn over. Meena Jerath
had tried persuading her husband Prem to take the day off. But Prem, a
project manager at the Port Authority at the WTC, insisted on going to
work. Meena heard from him at 9.32 a.m., after the planes had struck but
before the towers fell. "He said there was a lot of smoke, it was
pitch dark and they couldn't breathe. I tried to call him again but I
couldn't reach him." Over a week has gone by but Meena has not given
up. "I'm hoping to find him. I understand there are some air pockets
in the bottom, there are restaurants and stores there and I hope that
he will survive."
Another family though is beginning to give up
hope. "We exhausted every possibility of finding him," says
Niloy Shah of his brother Jayesh. "We searched the hospitals, we
searched the burn centres, and we had friends combing the floors ... We
couldn't get close to the site itself. If we could have, I would have
had a hundred people picking rocks if that was what was needed."
Another story doing the rounds is that of a
man identified simply as Tushar. He was said to be a survivor of the WTC
collapse who was admitted to Staten Island Hospital with severe burns.
The story goes that though he is of Indian origin, nobody has sought him
out in the hospital. Tushar himself is too weak to speak. This would have
been a moving story if it were true. It isn't. After it appeared first
in e-group mails, the Indian consulate in New York sent officials to hospitals
around the city and found out that no such victim actually existed.
Even so, some Indian voices are making sure
they are heard. Over the past week, a group called the South Asian Americans
Against Terrorism came into being. Its mission is clear: "South Asian
Americans consider America our one and only home. We need to help America
and the rest of the world realise that we don't support these terrorist
doings."
As Indians and other south Asian people set
up hotlines and hold prayer meetings, the Association of Indians in America
has thought nothing of cancelling this year's Deepawali Mela. The mela
is an annual event in New York's South Street Seaport, attracting up to
40,000 people. This year, the lights will be out on Diwali. America's
Indians, like the rest of their countrymen, will mourn September 11 for
a long time.
|
|
Web
Exclusives
