AHMEDABAD, Aug 12: India’s new president, A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, began a two-day visit to Gujarat on Monday, his first official trip since taking up the post, as local authorities continued frantic efforts to clean up areas he would see.

Local Muslim leaders said the government had suddenly fast-tracked efforts to help people affected by the riots, in which more than 2,000 people, mostly Muslims, were killed earlier this year.

“Suddenly there is a flurry of activity in the government organization to speed up the rehabilitation work,” said Mohsin Kadri, a local Muslim leader.

“Not only are the places which are going to be visited by the president being spruced up, but even compensation cheques are being distributed so that the victims do not complain to the president.

“Twenty families were distributed compensation cheques on Sunday at the Haj House, one of the places on the president’s visit list.”

The announcement last week that Kalam would go to Gujarat created waves in political circles because of the prospect it would embarrass Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee’s BJP, which controls both the federal and Gujarat governments.

During his visit, Kalam intends to visit the Naroda Patia area of Ahmedabad, the city worst affected by the violence.

Around 12,000 people are still living in relief camps after their homes were destroyed in the violence.

One camp volunteer said the organizer of one of the camps, Sharif Khan, had been arrested to prevent him from speaking out against the state government to Kalam.

“The crime branch told us that Sharif Khan has been arrested only for a day and will be released as soon as the president leaves,” said Nayeem Shaikh, a volunteer of Shah Aalam Relief Camp, the largest refugee camp in Ahmedabad.

“He has been detained so that he does not speak out against the government to the president.”

Police in Ahmedabad said that Sharif Khan was detained to ensure there was no “disruption of peace” during the president’s visit.

“He was trying to forcibly get riot victims who have returned to their homes to go back to the relief camp,” said Assistant Commissioner of Police A.S. Chudasama.

Kalam began his trip by visiting the Sabarmati Ashram, a research center set up by Mahatma Gandhi.

While there, Kamal spoke to an audience of 1,500 schoolchildren about the necessity of development in India.

“You must transform India into a developed country. We must dream, dream, dream and only then you will get thoughts for action,” Kalam said.

“I realise that small gains are a crime and I will work and sweat for greater goals. Nothing is impossible.”

Kalam was considered a shrewd choice for the largely ceremonial role of president by the BJP because of his religion.

He was elected as India’s 12th president by an overwhelming margin on July 25.

Besides Ahmedabad, Kalam will also visit the regions of Bhuj, in western Gujarat, the area worst hit by an earthquake that killed 25,000 people and left 1.2 million others homeless in January last year.—AFP