Tsunami reliefs dark side (from ATSNN), page 1

This article shows the astounding proliferation of scams, obscene waste and unfairness in the tsunami aid program.
It is enough to make anyone sick.
Child trafficing, fraud, political scandal, unfair distribution and the situation of the forgotten untouchables that do all the work of corpse collection and burial, and are then often beaten for there efforts.
the whole thing is enough to make you think twice before giving any money to agencies that can't control distribution or to governments that would treat their citizens with such disrespect. This part of the story is about the forgotten victims, the dalits.
other article links that

www.infochangeindia.org
Even as people’s lives, livelihoods and property were swept away by the devastating December 26 tsunami, age-old caste barriers in India still stand firm. Reports are coming in of dalit -- the lowest caste in the Hindu social hierarchy -- survivors being denied relief supplies and forced out of relief camps in Tamil Nadu by higher caste survivors from the fishing community.

In Nagapattinam, the worst affected area in India’s badly-hit state of Tamil Nadu, where nearly 6,000 people died, dalit families from 63 affected villages -- 30 of which were completely flattened -- who survived the tragedy have been spending their nights out on the streets.

They have been banned from drinking water and using toilets at facilities provided to survivors. Some have even been muscled out of food, water and aid supply lines, and given only the leftovers, by the Meenavars, a fishing community whose members, naturally, constitute the largest number of survivors in this coastal area.

Dalit activist K Darpaya says: “Dalits are not allowed to drink water from tanks put up by Unicef.” The Meenavars say they “pollute” the water.

Elsewhere, dalit fishermen said they were being edged out of relief and compensation queues. “We are inside the camp but kept in the far corner. Whenever officials and trucks come to give food, we are left out because nobody allows us to get near the trucks. Some men form a ring around us and prevent us from moving ahead in the queue,” says Saravanan, a dalit survivor.

Please visit the link provided for the complete story.

remember... the dalits are the lowest caste, they do all the dirty work and get non of the rewards...
there is also good info on the political scams, the child trafficking and other offenses to decency in the above story archive (follow the link). The writers are very bold for speaking bluntly about the violations and tragedys in this humanitarian process.
I applaud the whistleblowers and I pray for the survivors... I hope that the spirit of Karma overcomes these predjudices... and enables a strong nation to rise from this tragedy.

Related News Links:
news.bostonherald.com
www.chowk.com
www.infochangeindia.org