US media highlights Clinton's fame

Vasantha Arora, Washington

April 08, 2001 13:15 Hrs (IST)

ORMER US president Bill Clinton's current visit to India, particularly to the quake- hit areas of Gujarat, found place in the American media with reports highlighting the veneration in which he is held by India's rich and poor alike.

"Bill Clinton, with his scandal-tinged exit from office, may elicit an exhausted sigh from many Americans but here he still draws adoring throngs of ordinary Indians a year after he became the first American president to visit this country of one billion people in 22 years," reported The New York Times in its Anjar, Gujarat, datelined story.

For the people of Anjar, Clinton was simply a good man who was coming to their aid, and they seemed to have little or no awareness or interest in the former president's latest troubles surrounding the pardons he issued before leaving office, said the daily.

Some reports also sought to highlight the slow approach to rehabilitation work in the quake-ravaged region and the expectations that Clinton's visit had evoked among the ordinary people.

As Clinton toured the region of Gujarat that was devastated by an earthquake 10 weeks ago, it almost seemed as if time had stood still since the massive 6.9 magnitude tremor struck this state and surrounding villages, the Washington Post said.

Its Bhuj dateline story said there were virtually no signs of rebuilding except a few men with hand trowels trying to re-brick their collapsed houses. Thousands of people were still living under donated canvas tents and tin sheets, waiting for someone to find them permanent homes.

Clinton, visiting India on a week-long, unpaid tour with a contingent of Indian American business owners, told survivors of the January 26 quake that he and his group had come to "look, listen and determine how we can best help" the region recover.

People here in Bhuj, a city of 150,000, and in the badly damaged nearby town of Anjar gave a warm welcome to Clinton. At the same time, however, many residents expressed weary frustration with the lack of assistance that had reached them since the quake, and said they expected little would come of Clinton's five-hour appearance.

Quake survivors were quoted as having said that other than a $40 equivalent government handout to victimized families, the government had done little to help, and that most assistance had come from private Indian and foreign charities.

"Nothing has been done, and nothing is going to be done. This is all for show," complained Ismail Adam, a teacher, as he waited for Clinton to speak outside a collapsed hospital in Bhuj. "If Clinton stayed here a month, maybe then we would get some proper help."

According to reports reaching here from Jaipur, following Clinton's high profile visit to the city last year, residents of Nayla village are hoping the former US president will return next week to see how the computers he donated last year are gathering dust, and no electricity or phone lines exist to make them run. Residents said the telephone service that miraculously appeared in the village during Clinton's visit had disappeared again.

India Abroad News Service

-- Anonymous, April 10, 2001