Sitting amid the blackened remains of his home, 32-year-old Nikesh Gawali carefully broke open a half-melted plastic box with a screwdriver. His hands shook slightly, not out of fear, but out of hope. “I’m trying to find my daughter Aarti’s gold earrings,” he said quietly, still focused on the box. “She’s just five. I got them made recently after months of labour work.” The plastic box, warped and blackened by heat, was one of the few things left from his two-room house on the outskirts of Dhamangaon village . All around him lay ash, broken tin sheets and charred wooden beams. The walls had cracked under the heat and the front room’s tin roof had caved in completely. What remained was a blackened debris all around - almost nothing to suggest a home once stood there. Nikesh earns his living as an agricultural labourer, like many in the village. Work is uncertain and depends on the season. Those earrings weren’t just jewellery - they were a small dream, a reward for his hard work,...
By Dheeraj Fartode
Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, Union Minister for Road Transport and Safety Nitin Gadkari and people from all walks of life on Sunday paid rich tributes to Gowari martyrs at the memorial at Zero Mile on Sunday. Thousands of Gowari community members from across the state visited the memorial and paid their homage to 114 martyrs, who died in stampede 20 years ago.
Addressing a gathering after the paying tributes, Fadnavis said that the condition of Gowari community was same after 20 years. The community, which had taken out a morcha to press the demands for getting facilities of tribals and lost 114 family members, are still struggling for better education and employment facilities. “I have received a number of memoranda today and will look into the every memorandum personally and do whatever possible for their for betterment,” Fadnavis assured.
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| CM Devendra Fadnavis, Union Minsiter Nitin Gadkari paying rich tribute to Shahid Gowari memorial on Sunday. |
Fadnavis further said that for a developed country all communities should be get opportunities in education and employment sectors and the State Government would make all efforts for achieving progress of Gowari community.
In his address, Gadkari said that he would make sincere efforts to solve problems of the community with the help of Chief Minister. Expressing 1994 stampede day as black day, he blamed the then Chief Minister Sharad Pawar for not coming at the venue and address the agitators. “The incident could have been avoided if the CM had come at the morcha venue,” said Gadkari.
Informing about various Union Government’s skill development programmes, Gadkari said that the Government launched a scheme in which 4.7 crore people would be benefited. He asked members of the community to take the advantage of the scheme.
Member of Parliament Kripal Tumane, MLC Anil Sole, MLAs Krishna Khopde, Nana Shyamkule, Sudhakar Deshmukh, Vikas Kumbhare, Sudhakar Kohale, MLA Dr Anil Bonde, former state minister Anil Deshmukh, NCP City Unit Chief Ajay Patil and others also paid rich tribute at the memorial.
Apathy of Government machinery came to fore on Sunday. The 114 martyrs memorial looked unattended for one year as it was not even washed and painted. The eternal flame was also not burning for whole day. It can be mentioned here that the eternal flame is not burning for last five years while the government officials are not showing any interest to maintain the memorial in good condition.
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