A year after a major earthquake devastated dozens of villages in the Kashmir Valley, the people on Sunday remembered the dead as victims in Uri staged a protest against the tardy rehabilitation.
Home Minister Shivraj Patil, who visited the quake-hit areas of Teetwal and Tangdhar with Chief Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad, assured the people that the entire nation was backing the endeavour to help the victims of the disaster.
In Uri, former chief minister Farooq Abdullah joined the people in paying tribute to those who died last year and in staging a protest against the government's alleged failure to rebuild the township.
People offered prayers for the dead in several places, including Thandhar and Baramulla. Those living in makeshift shelters claimed they were preparing for a second winter of hardship.
Many of those left homeless by the 7.6-magnitude quake that killed nearly 1,000 complained the authorities had done little to re-build their houses or address other problems.
Thirty-year-old Sakina, a Baramulla resident whose husband died in the temblor, said she and her four sons had no place to build a home. "I am suffering from asthma. My husband would earlier take me to hospital but now I am left with no one to care for me," she said.
{{/usCountry}}Thirty-year-old Sakina, a Baramulla resident whose husband died in the temblor, said she and her four sons had no place to build a home. "I am suffering from asthma. My husband would earlier take me to hospital but now I am left with no one to care for me," she said.
{{/usCountry}}People living at a relief camp near Baramulla said they were worried about their future as they had no means to earn a livelihood. "There are no job opportunities and we demand the government should help us," said camp resident Chaudhury Farooq.