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By:

Quaid Najmi

4 January 2025 at 8:56:24 pm

Unanswered messages, anxious families

Mumbai: Over 72 hours after the great Himalayan deluge along the Nepal-Tibet borders, the fate and whereabouts of Mumbai’s mountaineer and medico, Dr. Milind P. Chitaley, his wife Megha and their 61-plus team of pilgrims bound for Kailash Mansarovar Yatra, in Tibet, remain unclear. Leading mountaineers from Mumbai, Pune and other places, along with Maharashtra and Indian government are working almost 24X7 to get information on the ‘missing’ group that went through Hills & Trails, Andheri for...

Unanswered messages, anxious families

Mumbai: Over 72 hours after the great Himalayan deluge along the Nepal-Tibet borders, the fate and whereabouts of Mumbai’s mountaineer and medico, Dr. Milind P. Chitaley, his wife Megha and their 61-plus team of pilgrims bound for Kailash Mansarovar Yatra, in Tibet, remain unclear. Leading mountaineers from Mumbai, Pune and other places, along with Maharashtra and Indian government are working almost 24X7 to get information on the ‘missing’ group that went through Hills & Trails, Andheri for the grueling pilgrimage. With no trace of the group – they were reportedly in the thick of the monumental disaster that struck on Wednesday catching the world by surprise – many are losing hope. “He is an experienced mountaineer with over three decades of adventure tours and trekking. For many years he has been organizing tours to the Himalayas and pilgrimage purposes,” a veteran of tall peaks and President of Akhil Maharashtra Giryarohan Mahasangh (AMGM) President Umesh Zirpe told ‘The Perfect Voice’. Thane resident and retired professor Charuhas Joshi has proceeded to Nepal to help trace his friends, the Chitaley couple and the other pilgrims from different parts of the state. “The Nepalese Army, various mountaineering associations and Gurkhas are doing a fabulous job. The region where the tragedy occurred has brought back a lot of sludge, debris along with the flood waters. Outside teams for search-and-rescue are not permitted by the Nepal government to avoid confusion,” Joshi told this paper from Kathmandu. However, he was informed that “chances of any more survivors appear bleak given the mammoth tragedy, but miracles cannot be ruled out” as the families and friends of the group remain tense back home and pray for divine intervention. Zirpe said that last year, he had visited the picturesque region which has now become a huge disaster zone that has shocked the world. “The pilgrims team was very close to this area and today I have only one confirmed name from Pune. We are optimistic that some positive news will soon emerge…” he trailed off. He was all praise for the Nepal government which is managing the SAR efforts with its own expert mountaineers - especially the Gurkhas and Sherpas – and external rescue teams have not been allowed for the specialized operations. Among the Mumbai pilgrims reportedly still missing are PD Hinduja Hospital, Mahim’s Dr. Anand Deshpande and his wife Dr. Gayatri of Nanavati Hospital, Vile Parle and efforts are on to verify other group members. Nevertheless, communication from Nepal and the Tibet Autonomous Region - where the Mansarovar pilgrimage destination is situated - remains a major challenge. In a related development, activist Anjali Damania said on social media that her neighbour Prerna Kale - who had gone for the same pilgrimage with a Nepali organiser, Richa Tours, overseen by Dr. Chitaley – is also missing. “Following the natural disaster, her family has not heard from her at all. She last spoke with her family on August 25 at 7 pm, informing them they were heading towards Kailash Mansarovar. We are trying all possible official channels for any information on her,” Damania added. Unread Messages Talking to PTI, Dr Chitley’s brother-in-law Sandeep Padhye said, “We were in touch with my sister till August 25, but the messages sent on August 26 remain unread.” It is still unclear whether the group crossed into China before or during the floods, he said. As per the itinerary, the group was to drive from Timure to the China border in the early hours of August 26 and reach Mansarovar on Saturday. “We haven’t got any information from the authorities. An official of the Hills and Trails, a travel company founded by Dr Chitley, has travelled to Nepal to check. Till then, we are keeping our fingers crossed. We have to accept whatever the situation is,” he said. The group was to return to Mumbai on September 6 after completing their Kailash Parikrama on September 2. Dr Chitley, who founded Hills and Trails and has led treks to the Himalayas for nearly three decades, had posted a notice outside his clinic, stating it would remain closed until September 6. State Help Relatives of Mumbai resident Satish Patankar, who was also travelling in the region, have approached state authorities to help trace their location. His brother Sanjay told reporters that he had reached Kathmandu on August 23 and spent the following day getting acclimatised and sightseeing before leaving for Timure, a post on the Nepal-Tibet border, on August 25. “Satish messaged me on the evening of August 25 that his group had reached Timure and was scheduled to cross the border the following day. The group comprised around 27 people,” he said. He was expected to complete immigration formalities at the border on August 26, Sanjay said, adding that the family believed the group could have still been at the immigration centre when the disaster struck and that the facility was probably completely washed away in the floods. He said the family was trying to ascertain the whereabouts of the group amid the devastation caused by the disaster. Final Position For another Mumbai family, the wait for news has proved equally agonising, with Goregaon resident Rahul Desai telling PTI that his 67-year-old father-in-law Avnish Merchant and four friends are among those missing. “They left for Kathmandu on August 23 for the Kailash Parikrama through Richa Tours, whose India partner is Hills and Trails. His last message came on August 26 at 7 am saying they were leaving for the border,” Desai said. “Around 8.30 am, we found the last location from the iWatch of his friend, which indicated that their final position was the check post bridge,” Desai added. He said the family was tracking all official channels for an update, while emphasising the need for a centralised information system. “It is a difficult situation. It would be better if there is a single-window facility to get information about casualties. There needs to be a structure so that families need not run from pillar to post,” Desai said. There is a missing list, but there should also be a rescue and fatality list for the distraught family members, he added. Last call, then silence: Thane father awaits news of missing son The last phone call of his 28-year-old son still echoes in his father’s mind, a reminder of his excitement to start his journey to Kailash Mansarovar just hours before flash floods in Nepal cut off all contact with his family in Maharashtra’s Thane district. Abhishek Ghone, a Kalyan resident working for a travel booking portal, had left for Kathmandu on August 24 and called home late Tuesday night to inform his family that his group would begin the journey early the next morning, shortly before the flash floods swept through Rasuwa and other parts of central Nepal on Wednesday. The family has approached the authorities, but they have not responded with any concrete information, the distressed father said. In their desperate bid for answers, one of Abhishek’s friends used artificial intelligence (AI) tools to track his location, which suggested he might be in a safe zone, though the family is wary of relying on unverified data, he said. “My son had planned this pilgrimage for a long time and was excited,” Abhishek’s father said on Saturday, recounting the agonising silence that has followed their last conversation. He explained that Abhishek had called late Tuesday night to share that his group would set off early the next morning, but the family has not heard from him since. “We are completely unaware of his whereabouts and deeply concerned, and though we have approached the authorities, they have not yet gotten back to us with any concrete information,” the distressed father said. The massive flash flood originating in Tibet swept through central Nepal on Wednesday, devastating several towns and villages, washing away critical bridges and crippling a dozen hydropower projects as it gushed downstream, affecting multiple districts. In their desperate bid for answers, one of Abhishek’s friends used artificial intelligence (AI) tools to track his location, which suggested he might be in a safe zone. “The information may not be authentic, and we want the authorities to provide verified updates,” Abhishek’s father added. According to the family, the local tour operator managing the yatra was conveying 70 to 80 pilgrims from across India, who were travelling together across five vehicles when the extreme weather struck. The family stressed that their sole concern was tracing their son amidst the destruction caused by the mountain torrents. “We are not angry with the administration or upset. We only want information about our son,” his father pleaded, urging authorities to trace Abhishek in whatever condition he may be. According to reports, four residents from the Kalyan-Dombivli region were reported missing in Nepal following the flash floods. -With PTI

Why is Mamata Seeing Ghost of Bangladesh?

Updated: Oct 21, 2024

Why is Mamata Seeing Ghost of Bangladesh?

Mamata is seeing a ghost of Bangladesh behind the massive outrage and waves of protest over rape and murder of the trainee doctor. And the reasons are many.

It’s been over a fortnight. Yet with each passing day the voice of protest is getting louder and stronger. From the streets of Kolkata it’s pouring into roads of hinterland. The cry for justice for a rape victim has consolidated into a wail of demands to set a lot of wrongdoings right. Here in lies the fear and trepidation. Wasn’t the issue that brought the youth of Bangladesh out on the thoroughfares a simple, innocent one of quota reform?

The chief minister of Bengal, known for understanding the pulse of people better than many, was quick to read the signages floating in the political horizon.

The most obvious reason for her to be tensed is that both the regime change in Bangladesh and the mass protest in Bengal, were student-driven to begin with. The two incidents---end of 15 year old Sheikh Hasina government and turbulence in West Bengal, over the heinous crime, falling back to back, the first on August 5th and the latter from August 9th onwards, give natural scope for comparisons. More so, because in both the cases the movement strayed beyond an affected constituency to include aggrieved people at large, cutting across socio-economic demography. If the quota reform protest started by students in Bangladesh became a mass uprising against an autocratic regime, the campaign demanding justice for the rape victim and overall safety and security of women in Mamata Banerjee’s Bengal soon snowballed into a movement of no-confidence against the government. Slogans--”Mamata must resign” also got floated in social media much in line with the call for ouster of Sheikh Hasina. In fact “Resignation of Hasina” became the single point agenda into which all other fringe demands coalesced.

Incidentally, even before people started drawing parallels, that there could be a thread of commonality in the way the upheaval in Bangladesh and Bengal played out, Mamata was quick to point out that the Opposition were trying to pull off a Bangladesh by politicizing the tragic incident: “A coordinated approach has been executed by the BJP and the CPIM with support from the Centre to defame Bengal and exploit the situation....They want to make a Bangladesh here. They are taking cues from student unrest in Bangladesh and are attempting to capture similarly. I have no longing for the chair. I came here to serve people.”

Not only Mamata, her political lieutenants are consistently equating the turmoil in Bengal with the mayhem in Bangladesh. Cabinet minister for North Bengal development Udayan Guha threatened to take stern action against those, who would be trying to exploit the situation by emulating a Bangladesh like movement. “ Even after the hospital was vandalised, the police did not open fire on anyone. The police will not allow a Bangladesh type situation. We will not allow Bengal to turn into Bangladesh, Guha thundered.

Is the government’s fear unfounded?

Apart from the similarities on ground zero, as to how and where the future course of events are heading to, there are ample reasons for Bengal to mull on-- as to what led to a Bangladesh like boiling point. To begin with, it’ll be appropriate to talk of Bangladesh and the prevailing situation, that made the students’ protest become big in magnitude. The students were out on the streets because of a high reservation in public jobs. Unemployment and stagnant job market in private sector coupled with a high rate of inflation drove the educated youth to rebel against the government.

But soon the students found enormous number of sympathisers, who were equally at the receiving end. According to Bangladesh citizens, the last two terms of the Sheikh Hasina government were a mockery of democracy. Even elections would be compromised. As Hasina grew from strength to strength, she politicized institutions. The rank and file of police owed allegiance to the ruling dispensation. Extortion, harrassment and raids by police and people in power became rampant. An atmosphere of fear and repression reigned and people got restless to overthrow the government.

Politicization of institutions has been happening in Mamata government too. Allegations are quite strong that police in Bengal functions at the beck and call of political bosses. The lapses and alleged loopholes on the part of police in handling the rape and murder of the young doctor have yet again revealed a sense of confused or misplaced loyalty.

But above everything else both Hasina and Mamata governments allegedly seem to have twined in accepting corruption as a way of life. In Bangladesh jobs of primary and secondary teachers got sold at premium, Rs 10-12 lakh in the Hasina regime. Even police had to pay up for prized postings and transfers. In Bengal busting of the teacher’s recruitment scam has revealed how unsuccessful and ineligible candidates got government jobs in schools in exchange of bribes.

Similarities are multiple and inescapable. Mamata has good reasons to be apprehensive. It’s not only she, who can see and connect the dots. People, out on the streets, clamoring for justice, can see a providential pattern somewhere in the unfolding of future events in these two places-- Bangladesh and Bengal. True, they share more than 2,217 odd km of border. They share the same umbilical cord, other than language, culture, ethos, icons. Even emotions are the same. So she cannot take any risk.

(The writer is a senior jounalist based in Kolkata. Views personal)

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