Pakistani earthquake victimes sit next to their homes

Pakistani earthquake victimes sit next to their homes

An earthquake victim reaches his destroyed home

An earthquake victim reaches his destroyed home

Earthquake victims - images

A Pakistani soldier carries an earthquake injured girl for medical treatment at the rawalpindi militar airbase Chaklala, following her evacuation by a military helicopter.

Blair assures long-term assistance

British Prime Minister Tony Blair assured Pakistan that the United Kingdom would extend full help and assistance to Pakistan in its long-term process of reconstruction in the earthquake-devastated areas.

He gave the assurance during a 30-minute meeting with Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz here. The two leaders decided to strengthen bilateral cooperation in fighting terrorism and promoting trade economic relations between the two countries.

Talking to the media after the meeting, the British prime minister said the UK and other members of the EU would continue their help to Pakistan in its relief and reconstruction work. Blair said he once again expressed his solidarity and sympathies with Pakistan. "We will continue to help Pakistan, and our help and assistance will continue in future," he added.

He paid tributes to the government and people of Pakistan for facing the quake tragedy with courage and resilience. He said the people in UK had also expressed deep sense of solidarity with the people and government of Pakistan.

Referring to Pakistan’s role in the fight against terrorism, Blair said he also discussed the issue of terrorism with Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz and added that they agreed to further boost the cooperation between the two countries to tackle the menace globally.

The British prime minister said that regional issues—including Kashmir and Afghanistan—were also discussed during the meeting and he appreciated the continuing dialogue process between Pakistan and India and expressed the hope that both the countries would find a peaceful solution to the Kashmir issue.

Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz said, "We had very useful discussion including on terrorism, trade, bilateral relations, Pak-India relations and other regional issues." He said that terms of terrorism he explained that Pakistan opposed terrorism in all its forms and manifestation. "We have fought the whole war against terrorism because we believe that the world needs peace."

The prime minister said: "We stand together, we have to share security information. We have to go after the elements who are trying to destabilise the world. He said the cooperation between the two countries was really exemplary and added it would continue because, "whatever we do together will help world peace and security".

Shaukat said Pakistan was a country committed to peace in the region and the world and added, "We see our self as anchor of peace and stability in the region." The prime minister said he briefed his British counterpart, Tony Blair, about his recent meetings with Indian external affairs minister and added that Pakistan believed in settling all issues through dialogue and discussions and these were complex issues including the issue of Jammu and Kashmir, where Pakistan had talked to Indian government and leadership to find a solution to this major issue.

He said, "We are making steady progress and I think overall the relations between the two countries are moving in right directions, but we do believe that sustainable peace in South Asia will be achieved when the issue of Kashmir is addressed in line with the wishes and aspirations of the Kashmiri people."

The prime minister said with Afghanistan, Iran and the whole region, Pakistan was engaged to promote policy of peace, promote economic cooperation and to promote the ability that the whole region could live with each other in peace.

Replying to a question, Prime Minister Blair appreciated the dialogue process between Pakistan and India and said the opening of five points across the Line of Control would help ease tension in the region. "We all want to see progress on the issue of Kashmir," he said. The relationship between Pakistan and India is lot better today and we want to see it make progress."

He said India and Pakistan were two great countries with enormous contribution in the region and the world and its very important that their disputes were resolved. Blair said, "We and other members of the international community, we want to do anything we can to help this process."

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz and his Malaysian Counterpart, Abdullah Badwai, held talks here on Friday on the sidelines of the Commonwealth summit and discussed bilateral issues and ways to promote trade and economic relations between the two countries.

The prime minister also discussed the forthcoming OIC meeting being held in Saudi Arabia next month. They agreed that the OIC should be made more effective and vibrant body to resolve the problems of Muslim Ummah and to project Islam and its true values. The two prime ministers discussed promotion of agricultural relations between the two countries and decided to make Hong Kong round of talks on this topic to develop the agri sector.

Glimpse into a nation's soul

The earthquake that demolished towns, villages and hamlets across Azad Kashmir and other northern areas, has also provided an almost unique glimpse in to the very soul of the nation.

The window opened up offers sights that say a great deal about the nature of both State and society today. Through the same window can be seen many truths about how we interpret history and perceive relations with other countries around the world.

In the first place, it is quite obvious, given the scale of the disaster, that tackling it is a truly mammoth task. It is one that lies far beyond the capacity of any government and possibly any military anywhere in the world.

As such, while there is no doubt that crazed chaos has persisted now for days and into weeks, it must be noted that it is easy to criticize; very difficult to actually streamline operations, especially given the number of groups and individuals involved at various levels. The fact that management efforts have improved since the initial days is important, and it can only be hoped, more improvements will keep coming.

In this aspect, it is also clear that the Pakistan army, for all its limitations in terms of efficiency, training to tackle crises and narrowness of vision, is doing all that it possibly can. In some areas, the efforts of individual officers have been simply outstanding, going far beyond the call of duty. In others this has sadly not been true. Attempts to hide the ugly truths have overshadowed efforts to offer relief. Soldiers posted along many roads, such as the congested, chaotic highway to Mansehra, have seemed apparently clueless as to how to handle the anarchy erupting all around them. Each day, more and more looters mount trucks, hoarders line roadsides in the guise of victims and literally dozens of organizations, their volunteers packed into the shabby tent city that Balakot has been reduced to, all set out in their own directions, often squabbling bitterly amongst themselves and refusing to abide by the kind of centralised command vital in any crisis.

The mountains of crates, packages, sacks and bundles of relief goods reaching into the skies of Balakot and Muzzafarabad too say a great deal.

The extraordinary efforts of people across the country have been unprecedented. The philanthropic outpourings exceed all expectations. The essential 'good' that lies within so many in the country has been evidenced too in the thousands of volunteers who have taken on work in the most testing of situations. Young doctors, working 24-hour stints without even the most basic equipment, have made truly heroic efforts to save lives against enormous odds. Housewives and college girls have trudged up mountain passes, some dressed in no more than the thin suits they donned in Karachi, to deliver parcels of food. While rationality or discipline has not always prevailed, the good will and genuine distress of people is undoubted.

But, the involvement of virtually the entire nation in the effort, and the isolated, uncoordinated endeavours being made as a result, has, sadly, added to the pandemonium that prevails on so many roads and in centres such as Muzzafarabad, Abbotabad, Balakot and now Bagh. And, amidst the pandemonium, tales are being told that reveal the dark side of the nation's soul -- a side that has sadly grown larger over the decades, and has been encouraged to expand due to decades of mis-governance, the callousness of the State and the breakdown in law and order. Looters and hoarders have begun to take increasingly blatant advantage of the situation. People in Azad Kashmir maintain even provincial ministers, apparently unmoved by the sea of human misery stretched out around them, are too involved in this game of profit, using armed guards to commandeer trucks filled with relief goods and divert them to their own warehouses. Reports have started to trickle in of girls and children being abducted from camps, of traffickers moving stealthily among the vulnerable people left literally without any protection. The arms of women are being found hacked off bodies, apparently by those after their gold bangles or other ornaments. Attempts have been made to molest young girls, particularly those left without any surviving male family members.

Instances such as these are bound to grow with each day that chaos continues. The dark side of human nature is visible too in virtually every city, as prices of items soar, manufacturers of vital items taking immediate advantage of the situation to cash in on the crisis. But, beyond the television pictures, beyond the stories circulating everywhere, there are also other issues to ponder. The almost uniform perception that the earthquake is the biggest natural disaster in the nation's history, a claim repeated almost daily by the media, by members of government and by numerous commentators, says a great deal about how we perceive history. The fact that Bangladesh, previously East Pakistan, was till 1971 a part of the country has apparently been completely forgotten, effectively erased from memory. While there can be no question the earthquake is an immense calamity, the biggest ever disaster in Pakistan's history took place here -- in 1970 -- with the cyclone that killed at least 350,000 people and affected millions more.

It is important to remember this, because the outcome of that disaster and its eventual political repercussions, shaped the nation's political destiny. The deep-lying perception that not enough had been done by the West Pakistan administration to aid victims played a key part in the uprising of popular sentiment that eventually resulted in the birth in 1971 of Bangladesh.

Already, it is obvious the earthquake and its aftermath will have an impact on the politics of Kashmir. The deep anger being expressed by people there against a government that they believe, did too little, and acted too late, has key significance for the future.

Adversity can also, of course, build deep bonds. The move to open the Line of Control (LoC), allowing divided Kashmiri families to reunite in this time of crisis, is an immensely significant development. The softening, by the Pakistan government, of what seemed initially to be a reluctance to accept Indian aid, and the reports that medicines, vaccinations and other items are to be brought across the border could also build new, and lasting ties between the two countries.

But, of course, the future has still to unfold. Efforts to use the present crisis to help ease the Kashmir situation are on at various levels. The steps towards opening the LoC obviously come as a result of hectic lobbying and negotiations in both Islamabad and New Delhi. Perhaps such efforts will succeed despite resistance on both sides, spurred on by the will of Kashmiris on both sides of the Line of Control (LoC). It is hard for the present to tell what the case may be. In the same way, it is impossible to predict what will happen in the crucial days ahead. Will relief efforts become streamlined enough to prevent the needless loss of lives? Will the master-plan urgently needed, immediately to shelter people already facing the first, bitter winds of winter and in the longer-term to build settlements where the thousands disabled are able to live, and work and earn a livelihood, be chalked out and implemented?

These are questions to which only the coming days will provide answers and also throw up further clues as to the nature of governance and society in the State of Pakistan today.

Education in ruins

One of the most important and discernable issues arising from the Oct. 8 disaster is the startling collapse of the public sector buildings of schools, hospitals, offices, etc. Destruction of schools, colleges and university buildings at their busiest hour was perhaps the single most heart-breaking episode of the overall devastation caused by the killer earthquake. Thousands of students of all ages and their teachers never found the time to leave their classes and make it into the open. The buildings collapsed so suddenly and swiftly that the students and teachers were caught between floors and crumbled roofs. Nobody could come to the help of these hapless people as there was no heavy machinery to lift heavy concrete slabs nor were there enough people to start digging into the buildings. The calls for help and sounds of agony gradually died away leaving only silence and the stench of death interrupted only by wailing mothers and sisters keeping a vigil over the massive concrete graves!

Astonishingly, the same happened at other buildings constructed by government and semi-government departments including offices, official residences and public facilities. It seems that public officials, supervisors, contractors and everybody else involved in construction in the public sector were either a totally indifferent lot, or stupid or thieves and after Oct. 8, they became murderers. What happened to children in their schools was repeated in public buildings and offices which swallowed everybody on duty along with members of the public who had come there for myriad purposes. They all perished except some very lucky ones.

The destruction of most public buildings in an earthquake was not something that would go unnoticed. One has heard that the President, upon seeing the ruins of a building in the quake-hit areas, remarked that it must be a public building. The first thing that everybody following the aftermath of Oct. 8 noticed was the mass destruction of buildings that were educational centres and the instant obliteration of the youth of Azad Kashmir. Simultaneous devastation of official buildings adds to the questions raised about the quality of buildings and those responsible for sanctioning their construction. However, whatever might be the cause; the loss to people of the area will never be recompensed -- emotionally and physically. The emptiness created by the departure of the most vibrant members of families and bread-winners, who perished at their place of work, will continue to haunt survivors for the rest of their lives.

There have been demands for a thorough inquiry into the construction of these buildings. One thought that it was too early to raise the point. However, nearly two weeks after that fateful Saturday, one decided to raise the issue before it is relegated to the back-burners of policy making. An inquiry into the collapse of public buildings especially those of schools and colleges and the administrative departments is a must. We should know the circumstances under which such fragile and poor quality buildings were constructed. A high-profile inquiry, perhaps under a Supreme Court judge with foreign technical experts as members, may be able to give an objective judgment. There are basic policy issues which will have to be resolved if future construction at the local level has to be standardised.

Those who are familiar with the system under which projects are approved, funds secured, location determined, construction contracts awarded, quality of materials checked and maintenance carried out, would know the possibilities of distortions and financial and administrative bungling at every stage of the project. Construction of buildings at places far from the capital is more amenable to nefarious designs of the influential. Since their support is valued at the federal, provincial or state level, they can get away with murder. The location of a project, apart from social and economic considerations, could be decided by the land provided by a local land-owner. If it is to be purchased, there is a scramble among the local elite who would try to sell their inferior land at a good price besides making a name that the local institution was built on one's land.

Suitability of soil for a building already decided, the real contest starts over the allocation of funds by the government. Selection of an architect, approval of his design and construction plan, award of contract for construction, completion certificate for the building, purchase of furniture, laying of garden, etc are well known opportunities for kickbacks and other corrupt practices. In a country where making quick money has become a major occupation, there would be a few people who would not exploit the development programmes and projects spread before them. That should explain the main sources of weaknesses in the public sector buildings. That should also explain the sturdiness of the old public buildings which were sanctioned and constructed when the term "quick buck" was not even known to the public and civil servants.

In the context of public buildings, especially of the educational institutions, there are three issues which need to be resolved. First, the discussion on defective construction has been confined to Azad Jammu and Kashmir while equally large destruction of educational institutions took place at Balakot and Gharhi Habibullah which are in the NWFP province. Even in Rawalpindi, school buildings suffered various degrees of damage. Is not the generally low priority accorded to education also a reason for this? The same mentality might have worked in Azad Kashmir and parts of NWFP. And there is a good possibility that school buildings in other parts of Pakistan may also be equally fragile!

Educational buildings were not the only ones that collapsed. A number of military buildings including the largest hospital in Azad Kashmir also suffered the same fate. Although, the armed forces will definitely hold their own inquiry about their buildings, yet could it be that the material for these came from the same source? This aspect needs to be examined.

An important aspect of weak buildings is their maintenance. Who was responsible for their upkeep, repairs and periodic examination? And how regularly this essential exercise was undertaken in the quake-stricken areas or elsewhere, besides carrying out standard repairs?

To conclude, the loss of life in the educational institutions in areas ravaged by the Oct. 8 earthquake is one of the most traumatic events. As explained, development programmes, especially educational projects are subjected to pressures and neglect. It is no use conducting an inquiry if those found responsible for the Oct. 8 collapse of public buildings are not punished and the entire system of government controlled construction is not revised to make it clean and honest. It will be a tribute to the memory of all those students who lost their lives in classrooms, libraries and laboratories of their schools.

Quake shakes parts of country including Islamabad

Strong intensity quake jolts Islamabad, Rawalpindi, Lahore, Peshawar, Quetta and other parts of country. No casualty has been reported so far.

Quake jolted Islamabad and Rawalpindi at 08: 53 am that lasts for 23 seconds followed by several aftershocks. Officials are colleting data but intensity of the tremor couldn’t measured at Richter scale. According to reports, people running out of their homes in panic.