Now it is Vajpayee’s turn to take a look at Dangs

AHWA, Jan 10: A blunt sarpanch told Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee that if the money spent on his visit was spent instead on the dis...

AHWA, Jan 10: A blunt sarpanch told Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee that if the money spent on his visit was spent instead on the district, the Dangs wouldn’t be facing the problems it now does.

That, however, was not the only dramatic point in Vajpayee’s visit to the Dangs in the wake of the attacks on Christians. Ahwa hasn’t seen such a long stretch of uninterrupted power supply before. Nor has it seen such a large number of vehicles put end to end the cars in the prime minister’s entourage could encircle the whole town.

And everyone was affected in some way by the prime minister’s visit. If they were not on official duty, they had lined up the main road from where his entourage was to pass. Among those who could meet Vajpayee was Chimanbhai Kalubhai Wada, sarpanch of Mukhond village. He blamed all politicians for the problems of the region and told Vajpayee, “If the money spent on your visit was used for developing the Dangs, the district wouldn’t have suffer any of the problems it now does”.

Story continues below this ad

And when Vajpayee reached Nadagkhadi village, a leader told him nothing had happened there. “Hum log nipat lenge. We will take care of things if something happens,” he told the prime minister. But he was hard-pressed for words when Vajpayee asked him what exactly he meant by “nipat lenge”. Representatives of the Christian community, who have now got used to visits of dignitaries, once again blamed local newspapers, accusing them of “biased, malicious, and one-sided reporting”. Identifying newspapers by name, they said, “We are approaching the Press Council to seek action”. For students of the Deep Darshan School, which was attacked by the Hindu groups, welcoming VIPs has become a routine. Students had been called to the school for Vajpayee’s visit even though it was Sunday. Once again it was innumerable journalists from the print and electronic media who blocked their view of the prime minister.

A fortnight after trouble erupted in the district, the attacked prayer houses haven’t been repaired. The Christian community has been waiting. The PM’s visit has come at the end of a series of delegations that have come to this part of the world for the first time.