Remembering the Ojhri Camp disaster

Twenty-five years ago, on April 10, 1988, we were sitting in a classroom at Islamabad Model School, F-7/3, when we heard a loud blast. The blast shattered several windows of the school building and we were immediately evacuated. A huge mushroom cloud appeared over the horizon far off in the rough direction of Rawalpindi, a couple of dozen kilometres away. Our biology teacher, Mr Abdus Sami, a very intelligent person, saw this and told us that most likely a known weapons depot in Rawalpindi had exploded at Ojhri Camp. This was quite a remarkable guess as everyone else was talking about the possibility of some sort of an attack by India or even the Soviet Union.

Later that day, we heard stories of missiles flying all over the twin cities. Newspapers and the television reported that nearly 300,000 rockets and some kind of self-igniting phosphorus-fuelled missile had launched by themselves after a massive explosion, in which hundreds of trucks at the Ojhri Camp site were decimated. It was a one of a kind event during the last days of General Ziaul Haq’s rule. The then prime minister, Muhammad Khan Junejo, subtly blamed General Zia for this tragedy, something which contributed to his government’s dismissal soon after.

My father, who worked at a Rawalpindi college at the time, returned home that afternoon carrying a couple of spent rockets and a small missile. We still have the missile in our house as a souvenir.

Over 100 men, women and children were killed and many times more were wounded by the missiles and projectiles which exploded mysteriously and rained death and destruction on the twin cities on this day in 1988. Due to the dictatorial regime we were living under at the time, we only knew what PTV told us — with the truth about the purpose of having such a huge weapons depot inside a major city being kept a secret. The missiles destroyed property all across the twin cities. People were given inadequate compensation for the damages; for instance, a person whose roof had partially collapsed in our neighbourhood in G-9/1 was offered Rs38 as compensation.

Physical scars of the tragedy may have healed but the nation is unaware till this day what, and who, caused that disaster and why. An investigation was conducted into the disaster but, like in the case of all other probes into national tragedies, its report was not made public.

The then prime minister Mohammad Khan Junejo appointed two committees, one military and the other parliamentary, to probe the military disaster. His action so infuriated military dictator Gen Ziaul Haq that he dismissed his handpicked prime minister on May 29, 1988 – the main charge being that he failed to implement Islam in the country. While the parliamentary committee, headed by old politician Aslam Khattak, went out with the Junejo government, the military committee under Gen Imranullah Khan submitted its report before the government’s dismissal.

Subsequent governments of prime ministers Benazir Bhutto and Nawaz Sharif which followed Gen Zia’s fiery death in a mysterious plane crash on August 17, 1988, also kept Gen Imranullah Khan’s findings under covers.

Some opposition members called for making it public during the last five years of Gen Pervez Musharraf’s military rule but the PML-Q government took the position that it would not be “in the larger national interest”.

Neither political observers expect the PPP and the PML-N doing so even when they have been swept into power again by the people and run a coalition government. Interestingly, when contacted, leaders of both the parties agreed that the Ojhri Camp inquiry report should be made public but refused to commit to do so. Junejo’s defence minister Rana Naeem Ahmed had told Dawn in an interview last year that he had received the report but said it did not fix responsibility on any one and declared the huge disaster an accident.

Even then the ISI seized it in a raid on his office the day after the Junejo government was dismissed, he claimed.

“They returned all my belongings, except the briefcase that contained the report,” he said, disclosing that the report was inconclusive and focused just on the causes of the blast. It was a bright and sunny morning on April 10, 1988, when the citizens of Islamabad and Rawalpindi were startled by huge explosions and swishing sounds as if fireworks were going off. Thousands of missiles and projectiles soon started raining down on the two cities the Ojhri Ammunition Depot, situated in the densely-populated Faizabad area, blew up.

Officially the death toll was 30, but independent estimates put the figure much higher. Prominent among those killed was a federal minister Khaqan Abbasi whose car was hit by a flying missile while he was on his way to Murree, his hometown.

His son accompanying him was hit in the head. He went into deep coma and died some two years ago after remaining on artificial respiration for 17 years.

The Ojhri Camp was used as an ammunition depot to forward US-supplied arms to Afghan Mujahideen fighting against the Soviet forces in Afghanistan. There were reports that a Pentagon team was about to arrive to take audit of the stocks of the weapons and that allegedly the camp was blown up deliberately to cover up pilferage from the stocks.

Some reports said that Ojhri Camp had about 30,000 rockets, millions of rounds of ammunition, vast number of mines, anti-aircraft Stinger missiles, anti-tank missiles, multiple-barrel rocket launchers and mortars worth $100 million in store at the time of blasts that destroyed all records and most of the weapons thus making it impossible for anyone to check the stocks.

The culture of shoving everything that implicates the establishment in displaying incompetency under the carpet is still prevalent. We have a long way to go to change this culture. I expected that our free media would have covered some aspects of this dreadful event on its 25th anniversary and throw light on the lessons learnt but I have not seen any significant coverage regarding the event.

Friday 12 April 2013

http://tribune.com.pk/story/534229/remembering-the-ojhri-camp-disaster/

http://therearenosunglasses.wordpress.com/2010/02/18/20-years-on-ojhri-camp-truth-remains-locked-up/

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Mumbra building collapse: Compensation vultures eyeing unclaimed bodies and orphaned children

Five unclaimed bodies and two injured kids, who have possibly lost their entire families in last week’s Mumbra crash, have become targets for cheats eyeing the monetary compensation declared by the government for the families of those who died or sustained injuries in the tragedy.

Across four hospitals in Thane and Mumbai, at least seven cases have been reported in the past week or so of cheats seeking to claim bodies or take custody of two girls orphaned in the building collapse.

The government has declared a compensation of Rs 2 lakh to the families of those who lost their lives and Rs 50,000 to the injured.

On Tuesday, a man turned up at the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Hospital in Kalva claiming he was related to a five-year-old girl whose body is lying in the hospital.

Five unclaimed bodies and two injured kids, who have possibly lost their entire families in last week’s Mumbra crash, have become targets for cheats eyeing the monetary compensation declared by the government for the families of those who died or sustained injuries in the tragedy.

Across four hospitals in Thane and Mumbai, seven attempts have been reported in the last week or so by cheats to claim bodies or take custody to two girls orphaned in the building collapse.

The government has declared a compensation of Rs 2 lakh to the families of those who lost their lives and Rs 50,000 to the injured.

On Tuesday, a man turned up at the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Hospital in Kalva claiming he was related to a five-year-old girl whose body is lying in the hospital. He said the girl’s name was Anrul Shaikh and that her father worked with him at a construction site in Airoli. However, when the hospital authorities sought documentary proof, he left the hospital saying he will return with the papers. He never did.

The same day, another man arrived at the Thane Civil Hospital, where unclaimed bodies of two girls – one five-year-old and the other 10 -- are lying, claiming he was related to one of them. “He said he was a distant relative of the five-year-old girl. He said the girl and her family had moved to Mumbra just ten days before the tragedy. However, when we asked him to bring a photograph of the family or of the girl, he left saying he would return soon. Of course, he never came back,” said a doctor who did not wish to be identified.

Thane Municipal Corporation Medical Officer of Dr R T Kendre said he has been informed about the attempts being made by people to falsely claim bodies so that they can pocket the compensation amount. “Our doctors noticed this and we have reported the matter to the police. The bodies are under the custody of the cops. So, we have left it to them to verify claims. We will handover bodies only after police clearance,” he said.

Several inquiries have been made for six-yearold Sandhya Thakur, who is undergoing treatment at the Sion Hospital. “Sandhya’s pictures and name appeared in newspapers after the crash and we have had several people claiming to be her relatives. However, the moment our social workers and the security guards start asking them questions, they panic and leave,” said Dr Avinash Supe.

The staff at Sion Hospital has now been instructed to not allow random people to meet Sandhya.

Thane Police Commissioner K P Raghuvanshi said he is aware of attempts to falsely claim bodies. “We are extremely alert and all possible precautions are being taken to ensure that bodies are handed over only after a series of checks to authenticate claims.

” Friday 12 April 2013

http://www.mumbaimirror.com/article/15/2013041220130412045600406285f7e99/Compensation-vultures-eyeing-unclaimed-bodies-and-orphaned-children.html

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Sino-Japanese War: Burying atrocities

Through the pale gate of a machinery factory, past a five-storey office building to the south, in a small garden under a towering tree, a few charred sticks of incense stick out of the earth.

Paying respects at grave sites is common during China's Qingming (Tomb-sweeping) Festival, which this year fell on April 4, but this case was different - those paying their respects at this humble garden in Ji'nan, Shandong Province, were Japanese, and this was the site of a mass grave for Chinese victims of the War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression (1937-1945).

Across from the office building, on a small hill, lies a monument with a plaque that reads, "Pipa Mount Mass Grave Monument."

The Japanese who recently showed their respect to the unknown number of Chinese victims buried here as part of a regular tour were lauded in Chinese media; however, it's uncertain as to whether they will be able to continue to make such trips in the future, as the local urban planning bureau recently zoned the area for residential use, potentially paving the way for housing developments on the site.

Of further concern is the fact that other mass graves around the country are also facing similar risks.

Built on a burial ground

The mass grave is located at the formerly State-owned Ji'nan Material Testing Machinery Factory, which was launched in 1952 and later acquired by a private company in 2003. The private enterprise bought the rights to use the land, including the mass grave site, without any attention being given to the history of the location.

Xu Yuquan, a manager from the factory, explained that the land was designated for residential use by urban planning authorities a couple of years ago, adding that the company has been on the hunt for potential property developers since then, the Ji'nan Times reported.

Although the monument at Pipa Mount remains, another smaller monument placed under the tree temporarily disappeared when potential developers judged it as inappropriate for a future residential area, the newspaper reported.

Media reports about the removal of the monument sparked a public outcry over the subjugation of tragic history in favor of commercial interests. The monument was restored on Tuesday.

Although the monument has been restored, unease over the future of the site remains.

Zhang Lei, a staff member from the Ji'nan urban planning bureau, denied there would be any property construction projects at the site in the near future, since the bureau hasn't received any development petitions from the company, which would be a necessary first step.

"The decision to zone the land to be mainly used for residential sites was made because the factory is actually surrounded by residential compounds," she told the Global Times. "The bureau has been implementing long-term plans to gradually move all factories away from the downtown area."

Neglected by the nation

An excavation and identification project launched by the local authorities in 1954 to collect evidence of Japanese war crimes indicated that the rough area of the grave was 1,680 square meters.

According to historical materials, those buried in the grave died gruesome deaths. Some were stabbed to death; some were burned by oil poured on to their bodies, while others were savaged by dogs, to name just a few of the atrocities.

Somewhat ironically the grave and monument, which stand as a testament to the importance of remembering history, have not been identified as a cultural relic, prompting an outpouring of rage online.

Essentially, the local cultural relic authorities didn't know about the grave, a staff member from the Ji'nan Cultural Relic Bureau told the Global Times. When asked about whether the bureau would put the issue on agenda, the person said the bureau doesn't have any data or information about the grave and they still need to collect more data before they can make a decision.

Neglect of mass graves is not limited to Ji'nan. Peng Mingsheng, 75, a researcher who has devoted himself to better protecting mass graves, told the Global Times that his struggle to protect history can be frustrating sometimes.

Peng started to research a mass grave in Chengde, Hebei Province, in 1984, which had originally been under the jurisdiction of the puppet Manchu state, which was controlled by the Japanese during the war. Peng has been pushing to set up a cemetery in order to inform the public of this history, but the local authorities didn't even demarcate the grave site and residences have been scattered around the site for more than 20 years.

He also wrote a book about mass graves around the country, but publishers rejected it, saying it was unlikely to be profitable.

"I've accompanied some 70 groups of Japanese visitors to the (Chengde) grave over the years and they then realize the crimes the Japanese army committed during the war," he said. "The graves made them believe this history. But domestically, it's such a pity authorities don't take it seriously. The sacrifices made by so many Chinese should not be forgotten."

Attempts to preserve

Research and protection of mass graves left behind by the war is far from sufficient, Liu Zheng, a member of the Chinese Association for Cultural Relics, told the Global Times.

"Authorities are not fully aware of its importance (of protecting mass graves), when compared to other considerations such as property construction in the Ji'nan case," he said. "Archaeological research and presentations are desperately needed. The bones should be dug up and displayed, for example, to set up a memorial hall to raise awareness of this history."

Liu pointed out that aside from the mass graves from the 1937 Nanjing Massacre, the most high-profile massacre in Chinese history, few mass graves in China are well-known as they haven't been systematically researched and publicized.

When it comes to the protection of the mass grave in Ji'nan, Zhang said the fact that the land is mainly used for residential sites doesn't have to clash with efforts to protect the mass grave, and local authorities just need to incorporate protection of the site into their planning schemes.

Zeng Yizhi, from the International Committee of Monuments and Sites in China, disagreed, saying that residential buildings shouldn't coexist with the site, and added that even if the grave is arranged as a greenbelt with a monument, judging from past experience, future conflicts are likely when the grave site becomes an inconvenience to nearby residents.

Friday 12 April 2013

http://www.globaltimes.cn/content/774428.shtml#.UWco46dzA34

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