An Eyewitness’ Account of Death, Horror And Misery

veeresh,

Thanks for putting this together for us.. I don`t have words to express my feelings... my heart goes out to all those who have lost so much in Gujrat. I will do whatever i can to help. indeed, we need to be aware that these people need support on a long term basis and we need to think about what can be done to ensure that they are not left on their own once the news of earthquake dissappears from front pages of newspapers.

I would request Sadna & Mohajir Inc. to keep this thread clean. At least show respect to the dead and dying if you are not capable of doing anything else.

Lashkar-e-Toiba is strictly an Indian problem created solely due to the stubborness, lack of compassion, and gross disregard of human rights by the Indian Government of their own people. I wouldn`t blame LeT for their comments. They are like cats; fragile and timid; but when cats are cornered in claustrophobic (metaphorical) rooms they come right at your eyes.

But this is not the time and place. Try to save people, or help those who are saving people or at least pretend to look sad.

Dear Veeresh:

Your piece has once again touch my human sensibility. Please let us know how we could alleviate the current and future difficulties of the earthquake victims.

Sincerely, Bilal Ahmad

Pehlay Aap? Pakistan Calling!

From The Hindustan Times today:

Quake breaks silence: PM, Musharraf talk
Udayan Namboodiri
(New Delhi, February 2)

PRIME MINISTER Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Pakistan’s Chief Executive General Pervez Musharraf on Friday held their first ever telephonic conversation marking an end to over 20 months of total absence of high-level contact between the two countries. Musharraf later expressed the hope that this contact would lead to resumption of stalled dialogue between the two countries.

The Gujarat earthquake was the subject of the five-minute conversation. It was General Musharraf who placed the call at 7.10 p.m. He expressed his sympathy at the great loss of life caused by the disaster of January 26.

Vajpayee thanked him for Pakistan`s assistance for the relief effort and said the gesture was ``greatly appreciated by the people of India``. He also assured Musharraf of ``India`s continuing desire to build a good neighbourly relationship with Pakistan``.

The conversation was conducted in a mixture of Hindi and Urdu. Sources in the Prime Minister`s Office said Vajpayee was in ``his usual cheerful mood``.

This was the first contact between Musharraf and Vajpayee after the October 1999 coup in Islamabad. The coup had exacerbated the deep freeze that set in bilateral relationship since the Kargil conflict of May-July 1999.

These two happenings (coup and Kargil) had effectively killed the hopes raised at the beginning of that dramatic year by Vajpayee`s historic bus ride to Lahore.

In the interregnum, India spurned several Pakistani offers of negotiations on the vexed issue of Kashmir made by the Musharraf regime, which toned up its so-called ``diplomatic and moral support`` to the jehadi elements undertaking acts of terrorism in Jammu and Kashmir and other parts of India.

New Delhi had linked the revival of high level talks to the stoppage of ``export of cross border terrorism and hostile propaganda``. The SAARC Summit, scheduled to be held in Kathmandu in November that year, was put off indefinitely.

Significantly, it was Vajpayee who sent the Capital into a state of anticipation by announcing that a telephonic conversation would be held during the day. He told reporters at a function to release a weekly Urdu journal: ``I will speak to Musharraf on phone and inform him of the magnitude of the devastation.`` But when pointedly asked whether the opportunity would be used to discuss other issues, he said, ``it is at the time of distress that people come together and share grief.``

He once again linked the possibility of resumption of the stalled bilateral dialogue process after the ``right atmosphere`` had been created. ``Violence, killings and terrorism must stop and the climate must be such that fruitful and meaningful parleys can take place.``

He stressed: ``At this juncture the only subject of our talks will be Gujarat. Musharraf wants to express condolence over the death and devastation.``

The Gujarat earthquake of January 26 led to General Musharraf pledging Pakistani support in the form of relief material. After initial ambiguity, India accepted the offer and two planeloads of tents and blankets were dispatched to Ahmedabad by the Musharraf regime. Vajpayee told reporters that more relief material is expected from Pakistan.

I never thought I would weep for Indians.

Yasser

Dear Veeresh,

I really do not have words to say right now .What i read has made me completely speechless.Thank you for such a vivid description.May God have mercy on the people.I think i would like to publish this article in our local news paper. I live in the Pacific Northwest [Canada ], but thought it appropriate to take your permission first. Do let me know how you feel about me doing this, at your earliest convenience.I was very happy to see that people here in my hometown are helping in every capacity.Today there was a bake sale at my son`s school, to raise money for this earthquake .Mind you , in his school probably there are about a handful of Indians and he is the only pakistani boy.It made me feel very good .The children must realise of this catastrophe,and also made to realise from a very early age that to help human sufferings is beyond race and caste .We can encourage them to do fund raising in school, selling lottery tickets , or something like that . The local merchants are always helpful in donating stuff, or i could always do something to that effect,that is not an issue.I completely agree with Faridinkum in reply to #1, that we must not overlook this lightly.It is easy to forget as soon as it disappears from the ``front pages of newspapers ``.Besides my own checks , i will try and get local fund raising from the neighbourhood community .Charity dinners organised in few of the popular restaurants usually have proved very helpful.What some people do is to advertise that this is a fund raising event.They usually do a buffet at cost price , and leave envelopes on each table , for donations .These kind of events in the past have raised quite a sum , especially when there have been cases in the treatment for little kids , which have been out of scope in canada , but a referral has had to be made to the u.s. , which obviously was an expensive alternative to tratment here in canada , where socialised medicine prevails.The end result was that the little girl got her treatment , and mashallah is well and hearty now .Some of you might have read about her case ``Baby Autunmn ``.It was in the news sometimes last year.

Human lives are so precious .I remember once , while visiting a convalescent home ,a geriatric patient of mine, whom unfortunately i had to gently break the news that she had lost a daughter .[her daughter had been suffering from a terminal illness. ] The patient replied to me ``I have 8 children, now 7 , and none to spare ``! so true !

At this stage as i write i can pray for the souls of those who have departed us , and for the courage who have lost near and dear ones in this event, and a support for the ones who have survived the great catastrophe and have been an eyewitness to this gruelling episode.

Inshallah will do all that i can in my humble capacity .

Regards,

Shirin

Veeresh: On belalf of myself and all chowkwallas, please extend our admiration to Umang and other volunteers. They are real human in a sea of men. I salute them.

Umang`s narration and your writing of it is really moving. Thanks for publishing it here.

Sameer

Hello Everybody . . . this piece was written by our 19 year old daughter Shauravi, childhood classmate and deep friend of Umang Bhattacharya . . . people are welcome to communicate with Umang through me at veeresh@chowk.com and I will pass the messages on to him surely . . . Umang`s response to a friend from a news wire agency on being asked whether they could speak to anybody in Anjar on phone was `` well I know the phone numbers but they are all dead`` (not the phones, which also true, but the people) . . . people who wish to reproduce this article are welcome to do so and I don`t think chowk would have any objection if you please credit chowk . . . no time for tears, YLH, though I like your spirit (every aspect and extreme range of your spirit) please do placing your views on board but do something . . . for the rest, thank you, the tributes should go to Umang and Shauravi . . . in an aside, Shauravi organised and led the first college group from Delhi on ``the bus`` to Lahore in late 1999 and shall probably be back this summer too . . . Umang is back in Anjar.

Dear YLH . . . I always knew I would salute you. Your youthful exuberance and loyalties will get a wider panaorama someday soon, and I will be your fan regardless of the truth you follow, as long as it is your truth.

Dear Bilal & others . . . please help by writing to Umang c/o veeresh@chowk.com . . . please also help by motivating people to understand that the borders between our countries are so frail . . . nobody is even talking of how cross-border movement by land and by sea in Kutch has opened up totally and informally in the last few days (good or bad, I don`t know . . .)

``Death is not the enemy of life, but its friend,

for it is the knowledge that our years are limited

which makes them so precious.

It is the truth that time is but lent to us which makes us,

at our best, look upon our years as a trust handed

into our temporary keeping.``

-- Joshua Loth Liebman

These are the times when Man is helpless and then the only tool of making survival have a purpose is to pray. I`m really sorry that this happened.

Aisha F Sarwari

Death is misery for the survivors, not for the dead.

This article was heartbreaking.

Veeresh,

Thanks for the article. It is one thing to read about things in the newspapers. It is another to read about individual suffering in the way described in your write-up. I see one good possibly coming out of this: the two governments have shown they can work together quite easily, and the two leaders have started talking. Let us pray that we see this as the start of a peace and reconciliation process between India and Pakistan. That would not only be a profound memorial to the lives that have been lost, but also a blessing for hundreds of millions of poor people in the sub-continent and for coming generations as well.

Thanks very much for this article.

``But you must not underestimate your ability as an individual to help.`` and `` Just trying to be a little more proactive than reactive.``

I like these quotes the most, its great to hear this from someone so young and I salute the interviewer, too.

Incidentally, The New York Times has been covering the earthquake and its aftermath daily in extremely painful detail. Today`s article is at
http://www.nytimes.com/2001/02/03/world/03QUAK.html and links can be found for the earlier ones.

The very first day, there was a photograph of a young boy 10 years old or so, trying to get his mother(who was no more) out from under the concrete which had fallen on her. I donot think anyone or anybody can ever compensate that child for the world having caved in on him. It also highlighted how frustrating is the inability to assist human being-to human being(rather than merely with cold cash). Umang is extremely courageous and compassionate in that he personlly returned to Gujarat do all he could.

I strongly believe we should take advantage of having a `300 million-strong middle class`( of which 10 million-odd are able to gather in an organized fashion at events like the Kumbh) and train ourselves to be organized and mobilized when needed most, ie in national emergencies.

We should set up a volunteer corp of ordinary citizens trained for emergencies and disasters, perhaps in major towns and cities. This corp could be like a reserve force which would respond swiftly and automatically to emergencies like the Orissa Cyclone and the Gujarat earthquake and provide organized manpower in the earliest moments after such events when the most lives can be saved. This would help supplement government/relief agencies efforts which are usually delayed by breakdown of administration at the site of the disaster, lack of preparedness and procedures and logistics.

Sadhana

Remember, it also took an earthquake for a good many Greeks and the Turks to realize that the other side wasn`t as made out to be.

Even though this is scary, the only thing worse in magnitude would be a nuclear attack and this is something both sides should realize.

Hopefully...

Do they not see that they are tried every year, once or twice? Yet they turn not in repentance, and they take no heed`` [Tawbah:126]



Bismillah al-Rahman al-Rahim

On the night of the 17th of August, 1999 at 3:02 after midnight, the earthquake (measuring 7.4) struck violently in the Marmara region in Northwest Turkey. The quake`s epicentre was in Golcuk, the site of the naval and armed forces bases (these bases have played an important role in what is called the `period of the 28th of February` i.e. the place from which Islam is fought).

``Those before them indeed plotted, but Allah struck at the foundations of their building, and then the roof fell down upon them, from above them, and the torment overtook them from directions they did not perceive`` [al-Nahl:26]

``Do then those who devise evil plots feel secure that Allah will not sink them into the earth, or that the torment will not seize them from directions they perceive not? Or that He may catch them in the midst of their going to and fro, so that there be no escape for them (from Allah`s Punishment) Or that He may catch them with a gradual wasting (of their wealth and health)`` [al-Nahl:45-47]

This is to strike fear and remind the people so that they take heed and fear Allah. Allah (swt) sends it according to the laws of the universe with which Allah has organised the motion of the universe.

In this earthquake approximately 40,000 people died and a similar number were injured. Tens of thousands of houses were destroyed and many industrial complexes (such as that in Tibrash) were terribly damaged. Many roads were also damaged. This earthquake inflicted damage on the whole of Turkey, billions of dollars have gone to dust and the state is planning to impose taxes on the people ...!!

Indeed, if the people do not take a lesson from the earthquake that took place in Turkey and return to their Lord, then their hearts have been seized by sins and evil deeds. Especially, the people in power and authority who, since 1924, have been publicly declaring their open Kufr and committing Munkar. The situation has gone from bad to worse:

1. On the 3rd of March, 1924 the Khilafah was destroyed, the foundation for applying the Shari`ah. Through its abolition Islam was removed from the battlefield of life and the Jahili system became dominant. The birth of the republic was announced and Shirk against Allah was committed. They rejected and attacked the Khilafah and still (to this day) continue to attack it. For society`s part it did not defend the Khilafah and nor did it adopt it. It even joined the enemies of Islam in their (evil) deed and the republic came to be considered a good thing.

2. After this, secularism was adopted and Islam was in actuality removed from life. They declared a comprehensive war on Islam, the basis of which was secularism, considering the application of Allah`s rules and the adoption of Islam as a basis of the social and political life to be of the greatest sins. They disbelieved in the Law (Shari`ah) of Allah under the name of secularism and the society took the stance of an onlooker until, at times, it even defended secularism.

3. They forced the Azan to be given in the Turkish language and for worships to be performed in Turkish and forged other such lies. With these lies they wanted to distance the people from their deen. Also they wanted to introduce `Turkish Islam` or `Islamic Turkism` so as to distance the people from what they called `the Islam of the Arabs`. They forbade the Azan to be given in Arabic (in the beginning) and they prohibited the learning and teaching of the Qur`an. Even today, the learning of the Qur`an and its teaching is banned for those under the age of 12. All of this takes place, and the society stands as a bystander as if nothing had happened.

4. They forbade the lawful Hijab of women. Up to the present moment, most women, female students and employees are banned from wearing the legally prescribed dress. Many women wearing Hijab have been compelled by force to take off their Hijab and the society does not show any reaction. As if that has no effect on its emotions. The reactions came only within the framework of human rights and the freedoms and other such un-Islamic sayings.

5. The usury that Allah forbade is still openly used in bank transactions, as if they are declaring war on Allah and His Messenger. Allah (swt) said:

``O you who believe! Fear Allah and give up what remains (due to you) from riba (usury) (from now onward), if you are really believers. And if you do not do it, then take a notice of war from Allah and His Messenger`` [al-Baqara:278-279]

The society does not budge an inch until even some government Shaykhs gave Fatwa permitting it.

6. At a time when schools for the memorisation and teaching of the Qur`an have been closed down, places such as clubs, casinos and brothels still operate publicly day and night. The state even, at times, does not hesitate in rewarding them with badges and medals. The society does not move in the slightest, adopting the stance of an onlooker. Thus in Turkey, the consumption of alcohol increases, in this she is at the forefront amongst the countries of the world. Indecency and fornication spreads and the people`s morals are corrupted.

7. At a time when the state bans people from saying the truth and fact, it allows the publication of books by apostates such as, Salman Rushdie, Aziz Naseen and others, under the slogan of freedom of thought and expression. The society remains apathetic adopting the position of a spectator.

8. In all transactions the orders and prohibitions of Allah are not heeded. All treaties and contracts are concluded on an invalid basis. The haram continues to spread, there is hardly a belly into which a morsel of haram has not entered.

9. Since the period of 28th February and until today the state has incessantly taken decisions under the slogan of what is called fighting against backwardness. They declared a comprehensive war against Islam and the Muslims. This war still continues in all its guises. On the other hand, the society does not support the truth, even to the point of not defending those who do speak the word of truth.

These, in short, are the actions which are undertaken by a handful of the Jews of Dunma (the hidden state) who are in charge of the affairs of this country and afflicting it with a horrible torment. We have noticed the reactions shown by sections of society in terms of the leaders, organisations, wealthy, Ulama and writers that they are not what should be, and that they have not stood in the face of oppression and Munkar as they ought to have done.

The potentials today are plentiful and many, the society has the ability to show its reaction on the level demanded of it in the face of the oppressive group. However, this has not happened. The people are silent, they do not say the truth. They have displayed humiliating and disgraceful attitudes. Thus, this reminder has come to them from Allah (swt):

``And if the people of the towns had believed and feared Allah, certainly, We would have opened for them blessings from the heaven and the earth, but they belied (the Messengers). So we took them (with punishment) for what they used to earn.`` [al-A`raf:96]

And He (swt) says:

``And fear the Fitna (affliction, trial) which affects not in particular (only) those of you who do wrong, and know that Allah is Severe in punishment`` [al-Anfal:25]

Abu Dawud has narrated on the authority of Qays b. Abi Hazm: ``That Abu Bakr (r.a.) after he had glorified and praised Allah (swt) he said: O people! You read this ayah but you do not understand it: ``O you who believe! Guard your own souls: If you follow the right guidance none can hurt you from those who have gone astray`` [al-Maida:105] I heard the Messenger of Allah say: ``The people when they see the tyrant and do not restrain his hands, Allah will be about to punish them all``. And I heard the Messenger of Allah say: ``Any people amongst whom sins are committed, and they could change them but they did not (change), Allah will be about to bring a punishment which engulfs all.`` [Abu Dawud: Book of Battles/3775]

And the Messenger of Allah said: ``By the One in Whose Hands my soul rests, you must enjoin the good and forbid the evil or Allah will be about to send upon you a punishment. Then you will make du`a to Him and He will not answer you`` [Ahmad b. Hanbal:22212]

The Messenger said: ``The example of the person abiding by Allah`s order and restrictions in comparison to those who violate them is like the example of those persons who drew lots for their seats in a boat. Some of them get seats in the upper deck, and the others in the lower. When the latter needed water, they had to go up to bring water (and that troubled the others), so they said, `Let us make a hole in our share of the ship (and get water) saving those who are above us from troubling them`. So, if the people in the upper deck left the others to do what they had suggested, all the people of the ship would be destroyed, but if they prevented them, both parties would be safe`` [Bukhari: Book of Partnership/3775]

* O leaders and politicians!: Take heed of what has befallen you, fear Allah and leave your transgression and oppression. And be servants of Allah so that you may gain success. If you do not take heed then perish in your rage. And know that you and your Kufr system will be in the lowest depths of the hellfire. And your end will come at the hands of the Muslims in the immediate future. In shaa Allah.

* O officers and people of responsibility in the army!: Fear Allah and be His servants and not the servants of the republic. Be a guard over the Aqeeda, the source of your power and dignity. Do not be the agents of Shaytan but the army of Allah. Do not be a puppet in the hand of a handful of the Jews of the Dunma but defenders of the Ummah. Know that martyrdom can never be attained except by fighting jihad in the path of Allah to raise the word of truth. Do not shed your blood in vain in the path of Shaytan. Strike on the hands of the Jews of Dunma in the army. Know that if you go with Shaytan your fate will be one of utter loss in the Hereafter.

* O Ulama and Imams!: Fear Allah and do not hide the truth while you know the truth. Or else you deserve the curse of Allah, His Messenger and His angels. Be good Imams to the Ummah and let not your knowledge and establishment of the prayer be a means for earning a living. Do not sell the Ayaat of Allah for a filthy price. Know that the torment of Jahannam is severe and that Power belongs to Allah and not to the republic. Speak the truth and be firm. Do not clothe truth with falsehood. And do not utter what the state has written for you in terms of the Khutbah`s that are filled with Kufr and falsehood from the Minbar on the day of Juma`a. Do not call to falsehood but work for the establishment of Islam, you will attain success in the Dunya and Akhira.

* O leaders of groups!: Fear Allah! Be an example of Taqwa and not disobedience. And instil in the hearts of people the vitality and courage of Iman, not cowardice or fear. Put an end to your obstinacy and do not slacken in applying what Allah has obliged on the Muslims. Work sincerely to establish the Khilafah state, to establish the sovereignty (Hakimiyya) of the deen of Allah and carry the Message of Islam as a guidance to the world. Be among the believers and do not stand as an obstacle between your groups and those believers who are working to establish the rule of Allah on earth by establishing the Khilafah.

* O writers and publishers!: Fear Allah! Let your books be for the truth and do not mix the truth with the falsehood in your books. Do not publish or propagate what the Orientalists and the enemies of the Ummah carry in terms of poisons and diseases.

* O wealthy people of the Ummah and landowners!: Fear Allah and know that whatever you possess will run out and whatever Allah owns will last forever. Defend your deen more than you defend your property. Spend your money in the path of Allah and work, using your wealth, to establish the righteous Khilafah state in order to carry the guidance and light of Islam to the whole world. Fear the Day when no wealth or sons will be of benefit to you.

* O Muslims!: Fear Allah and know your enemy from your friend. And know that this republic is your enemy and the reason for the calamities and disasters that have befallen you. As long as the republic is above your heads you will not be rid of these calamities. It does not attach any importance to you. So in most government circles you see for yourself the bad treatment you face. It keeps raising the price for you. It hates your deen and beliefs and bans you from Allah`s commands, His Messenger and His Book under the slogan of backwardness. Thus, they consider Hijab to be a dress that is incompatible with the time and they prohibit it from entering government circles. The book that you believe in `the Qur`an` they have banned it from being taught to your children. Just as you have witnessed in the recent earthquake, that the Republic was not concerned about your dead or injured. Your dead were left in the courtyards until one could smell their stench. Without any value or respect given to them they were discarded in mass graves using bulldozers! Is it reasonable for a state which does not attach any importance to you while you are living that it should see you as important after you are dead ?! If that is the case, then why do you carry the burden of the Kufr state on your necks?

* O Muslims!: If you desire power, dignity and respect then work for the rule of Allah`s Shari`ah on the earth by establishing the righteous Khilafah. Otherwise your end in the Dunya will be one of dishonour and dismissal from the Mercy of Allah in the Akhira.

Answer the Da`wa carriers who call you to that which will give you life, and lead you to the path of happiness and liberation. Do not listen to those who forbid you from this and do not attach importance to those they call `Ulama` if what they wish is to forbid you from the Call to Allah. Because those people do not fear Allah but fear the state. They will make you fear imprisonment, torture, poverty and hunger. It is incumbent on you, O Muslims, that you do not fear any of these but fear Allah only.

O strange Da`wa carriers who call to Allah!: Have patience and put your trust in Allah and know that Allah is your Helper. And work until you deserve the glad tidings of Allah. And know that Allah does not break His promise. He (swt) says:

``The decision of the matter, before and after is only with Allah. And on that Day, the believers will rejoice. With the help of Allah, He helps whom He wills, and He is the All-Mighty, the Most Merciful`` [Rum:4-5]

The Messenger of Allah said: ``Verily, the deen began strange and it will return strange. So, blessed are the strangers who make good what the people after me have corrupted of my Sunnah`` [al-Tirmidhi:Book of Iman/2554] And he said: ``Then there will be a Khilafah on the way of the Prophethood`` [Ahmad b. Hanbal/The book of Kufans:17680]



12 Jumada I 1420

24/8/1999

Hizb ut-Tahrir

Wilaya of Turkey



for more details visit

http://www.khilafah.com.pk

RE #15

What a crock of BS