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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