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Musharraf 'homeless' get succor

Two orphans in Delhi, whose home was demolished to facilitate Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf's nostalgic trip to his family mansion here, are getting a new roof over their heads.

Thanks go to a local legislator who has begun the promised reconstruction work at the home of Ripu Daman, 18, and her brother Zanny, 11, in the Indian capital's old quarter.

"The Delhi civic authorities had promised to rebuild the room they had demolished. But when they did not show up till Sunday noon, we decided to start work ourselves," legislator Shoaib Iqbal told IANS on Monday.

"The work on the walls is halfway complete," Iqbal added.

Ripu and Zanny's home is within the Neharwali Haveli complex, where Musharraf spent his first four years before his family migrated to Pakistan in 1947.

Musharraf visited his ancestral home Saturday, the first day of his three-day India visit, and said he was extremely nostalgic to see the place.

He spent about 35 minutes looking around the once sprawling 24,817 sq ft Neharwali Haveli, which his grandfather sold off when the family migrated to Pakistan.

About the visit, Ripu said: "I waited all morning for him. I wish he had just met me for two seconds. Honestly, I wouldn't have complained about my house to him."

The Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) razed one of the two rooms in the house on July 11, claiming it was built illegally and was coming in the way of Musharraf's entourage.

As outrage over the demolition gripped the city and the Supreme Court intervened, a senior MCD official gave an oral assurance that the room would be rebuilt after the visit. The official, however, refused to give anything in writing.

Asked why the MCD had gone back on its promise to rebuild the room, a spokesman said, "The reconstruction (by the local legislator) has already begun, what can we do now?"

"Our hands are tied as we were supposed to give a report to the Supreme Court detailing why the room was demolished. Till the matter is resolved we can take no further step."

Ripu and Zanny have been living with a neighbor since the demolition, which disrupted their life.

"Ten to 12 people came in and just destroyed the room, throwing all our furniture outside. We pleaded and begged with them but they didn't listen to us," she said.

"I have been unable to go to office and my brother has been missing school ever since," said Ripu, who works in an advertisement agency.

Indo-Asian News Service

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