No Burial for Balakot

Bhatti Saab #6: ``Hamzaad whole relief effort has become a PR campaign and showng oneself doing better than the next guy. Army wants to save its image...mullahs want to make way to people`s hearts, terrorists are behaving like they never left their salvation army stores, every bhola, sheeda, and rattoo are busy posting links and telling people how they are helping....so some people were wondering where is professor sahib...here he is. but no foTo.``

I don;`t think you are accurate. It really seems to be bothering you that everyone in Pakistan is working together. No one is trying to save their image. The reaction has been too spontaneous to do so.

When a whole area goes down, everyone gets affected. Politicians and their families have died. Brigade commanders and their families have died. Maulvis have died. I don`t know if there is anyone in Pakistan, who does not have an acquitance or two, who have died.

When such an event occurs, everyone jumps on board. Not for propoganda, but for goodwill. I think people outside Pakistan, are in shock, at seeing how the Pakistanis have united.

The Army does not have an image to save in Kashmir. Its image there is already very good. Much of Kashmir`s middle class and lower class is, itself, in the Army. It is quite highly respected there. People know it is their first and last defence against India, there.....And every single person is looking towards the Army for help. They are not looking at anyone else.........

You need to sit back and enjoy your real estate investments. And let the Pakistanis do what they are doing....................Instead of becoming an expert commentator..........The only comment you have made that makes sense is that, after a few weeks, the people may be forgotten. We will have to wait and see for that...........

On the whole, everyone seems to have done all that they can. There will be a few wrong decisions, and a few very wrong ones. People will have to analyse those. Obviously, the pre-planning for any such events was terrible. But the action, afterwards, though disorganized, has been very good...........

Good Article Dr. Hoodbhoy,
Events like this have been going on our planet since last 6-10 million years. I am glad that good people like you exist to help the victims.

For me tragedies like Katrina, EarthQuakes, Tsnuami reminds us that how short is our reach and power. While we are strong, powerful and young we forget that one day we all must die.

Howcome, poor people die ``dime-a-dozen`` and rich leaders/politicians always survive.

Maybe they give Rishwat to nature.....

Re: # 7
And all this time nobody believed me that Sikhs are helping also check my post on UP.

It seems like everyone is trying to use this tragedy to push a political agenda. I wonder why? Is it possible to just comment on the earthquake. Interleaved in many such articles are comments about people`s political priorities. The maulvi brigade is trying to highlight the religious side, somehow, and relate it to this event. The anti-maulvi brigade is trying to ridicule the maulvis by highlighting the later`s shortcomings in predicting doomsday.

This article does the same, to some extent. A knock on the Americans. A knock on the maulvis. A couple of knocks on the Army. On jihad. And, of course, against the govt.

Why not just describe what is going on, on the ground, i.e. aid has not reached such and such place, and has reached such and such place. So and so worked efficiently, and so and so did not............

The TV media in Pakistan, in this case, has done an excellent job. It is truly their coming of age. I have been watching ARY, and they have reported the facts. No political agendas, for or against anyone. Even the politicians, themselves, after having initially taken potshots at each other and the govt., eventually calmed down......

However, the newspaper media has been very below-average. All the main writers are still pushing their agendas, with the earthquake as a background. One wants Benazir`s court cases dropped. Another wants less of more friendship with Indians. Another wants the govt. removed. Another is highlighting a few maulvis who said this is the price of our watching cable TV, etc.

That`s cheap popularity.......

Another thing that should be highlighted is that it is the job of every govt. servant to aid in the earthquake. Not just the Army`s. It is every govt. servant`s side job. If someone is a professor employed by the govt., it is their duty, as much as it is the Army officers, to be there. They should not, all, turn into reporters........

In any case, many of them are doing more than anything we are doing, sitting outside. But they should not all turn into critics. Specifically for pushing their political beliefs...........

The Govt needs to have daily press briefing on the `Progress of Relief work` for information of the general public.

It should include the Army, NGOs Rep and UN Rep briefings.

This should result in a good coordination and a unified focus.

And except for the technical help or the help that is coming voluntarily from outside, Pakistan should stop begging for outside help.

With the great public help and the good work by the media and our own resources, we can pull it off honourably. And for God`s sake, get over this hangup of not giving Visas to the NGOs from India. (let them see it for themselves that there are no training camps)

nhk

Let us clear one thing that destruction is too much and we ( including ARMY, EDHI, etc) are not capable both in experience and equipment to recover. So mismanagement is there. We will see strong (or even unbelieveable) scenes of emotions but we will lack a trained and professional approach.
All will try to use or abuse the time. So lets face it and inspite of tell others to do this or do that just find other ways if one is blocked as in case of not giving visas to indians for relief efforts.
We can find a best possible way considering ones ownself and using all the information available from others who visited the area.
Lastly i will like to paste an email from a person who visited the affected area from our institute.

We went up as far as Balakot yesterday with some good trucks. Some facts so that everyone can make sound decisions:

1. The road upto Balakot and beyond is completely clear. There is no damage up until Shinkiari. Abbottabad has some fallen buildings but nothing substantial. Shinkiari and beyond things get bad, but access is very easy and possible.

2. There is a huge traffic jam now, perpetual and unending, most of it caused by cars accompanying trucks who just want to see. Better to ride in the trucks in case someone wants to go personally.

3. There is tremendous chaos and ill-discipline. No PROJECT OFFICE where all relief organizations can come together and establish a pattern of operation. I think 60% of their time is being spent running about doing nothing.

4. The only two organizations working in a disciplined manner with regard to delivery of goods and establishing services are the Army and Edhi. Their camps are organized, their delivery is substantial and the process seems to be running smoothly. We delivered half the stuff to Edhi and the other half to the Army Camp just short of Shinkiari. Subsequently, one of the trucks was taken directly to a village called ``Ouggi`` which had received very few supplies.

5. There is no need anymore for food. In fact, it is not wise to send uncooked items since there is no means for cooking. What is required now are tents and kafans as first priority, and blankets and epidemic controlling drugs as second priority.

6. Of course, the shortfall is happening seriously in terms of machinery to pull ppl out of the debris. International teams have been very effective, Pakistani teams utterly non-existent except for whatever the Army could pull together in terms of machinery.

7. The first emergency medical camp we saw was in Abbottabad, at Ayub Medical College. It was full of injured and dead. Also quite chaotic but somewhat more organized than the one in Mansehra.

8. The camp in Mansehra needs a PMO! There is all sort of political manouvreing going on to get goods and supplies to specific spots thru specific groups. I saw many politicians there - wont name them! - who were shaking hands and just generally checking up alongw/ their individual camera crews. For the 3 hours that we were there trying to find out who would take custody of our goods, we saw no progress other than doctors who were exhausted with looking after an unending line of injured. I saw more dishonest activity going on than I did serious work other than by the doctors. There were rooms full of medical supplies but they were all
getting wet and dirty due to the rain and hailstorm. I didnt see anyone make an effort to move them to safer, closed structures.

9. In terms of communication etc., cellular service is working all the way to the top, i.e till Sinkiari, in patches ofcourse. Whatever communication network you intend to set up, make sure you put ONE TEAM INCHARGE, to organize it. I would advise do it in collaboration with either Edhi or the Army. There isnt any other organization there that I felt was equipped to handle any substantial cross-town, across-territory work.

Friday, October 14, 2005

Quake unites Sikhs, Hindus, Christians as Pakistanis

MANSEHRA: Radesh Singh, a Pakistani Sikh and his group of Hindu, Christian and Muslim friends have joined forces to help survivors of the devastating earthquake in northern Pakistan.

They hope efforts to provide relief and care would send a clear message of tolerance in the predominantly Muslim Pakistan. “We are here without any religious bias for people who are in dire need of help and care,” Radesh told Reuters in Mansehra, a district in Northwest Frontier Province now in ruins after Saturday’s disaster.

“We are also hoping that our efforts will give out a message that people from different religious backgrounds and communities can live peacefully together and help each other,” he said. An estimated 96 percent of Pakistan’s population are Muslim, about 1.7 percent are Christian and some 2.0 percent are Hindu, while others account0 for less than 0.5 percent.

Minorities in Pakistan have been targeted by Islamic militants recently. Just last week there was a bomb attack on a religious centre of the Ahmadiyya sect in the central province of Punjab that killed eight and wounded more than a dozen.

Radesh, who runs his own business in the province’s capital, Peshawar, came with a truckload of medicines, blankets, clothing and dry food mustered by his Sikh friends Rajinder and Ranjit Singh, Hindus Prakash and Diyaram and Emmanuel, a Christian. “It is simply an effort on our parts for the earthquake victims, who are in dire need of help. We have come here as human beings not as Sikhs, Christians, Hindus or Muslims,” Ranjit said. Rajinder and his Sikh friends were born in Peshawar and say they are Pakistanis first, second and last. “I even ran for the local bodies elections this time but lost,” Rajinder said. On Wednesday night they were faced with a different kind of problem. Having heard of incidents of looting of private relief vehicles and violence in badly hit areas, Rajinder and his friends stopped over in Mansehra, saying he and his friends wanted to distribute the goods under the supervision of the army.

“We just want these goods to reach the deserving people. We have come here as human beings and don’t want to get involved in any violent incidents,” Emanuel said. reuters


http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2005 10 14 story_14-10-2005_pg7_39

Hamzaad whole relief effort has become a PR campaign and showng oneself doing better than the next guy. Army wants to save its image...mullahs want to make way to people`s hearts, terrorists are behaving like they never left their salvation army stores, every bhola, sheeda, and rattoo are busy posting links and telling people how they are helping....so some people were wondering where is professor sahib...here he is. but no foTo.

but here is a foTo....carefully look at the spontaneousness captured in this picture...everything is perfectly aligned for a good view. victims have become a PR tools for various parties to exploit.




on the other hand...CNN dropped earthquake story from top slot....ZTV spent half its time on cricket coup.....I switched channels for 2 hours this evening and could not get a single glimpse of the coverage...and did I tell I pay whopping $60 a month for it.

I fear world will foget in a week or so. already no one talks about NO....if it was not for Rita it would have been already over.

then people will go back to their ruined homes and try to figure how to put a roof over their heads....only hope is political implication might force army to stay engaged a little longer.

Following are some of the comments by Pakistanis posted on BBC.com

This tragedy has changed the nation; everyone is helping out in the relief efforts. Tens of truckloads full of food, medicines are leaving for the affected areas. I was trying to buy blankets in Islamabad but could not find any as all of them have already been bought and being sent to the affected areas.
Junaid Muhammad, Islamabad

I`ve been out all day buying and depositing blankets and clothes with my dad and to be very honest I have never seen such a response by the public ever before in my life. When we first went to the Pakistan Air Force Museum to deposit the clothes and blankets in the morning, there weren`t many cars but the second time we went there were hundreds of cars and the third time we went there must`ve been a thousand cars and hundreds more queuing to get in and deposit things. Trucks, cars, motorbikes, wagons, taxis, Mercedes Benzes, pajeros, FXs, etc, old people, youngsters, children all were present. People who normally wouldn`t give you the time of the day stood in the sun guiding drivers and helping people carry stuff. And that too while fasting. I`ve never seen anything like this in my life. I felt proud of being a Pakistani. Even though we in Karachi didn`t feel anything still people are rushing to help. All of the nation has felt the pain as our friends and relatives have been affected.
Ali Rashid Khan, Karachi, Pakistan

We were so overwhelmed by the news of earthquake and the sights on TV that we wanted to help in any way we could. My 7-year-old son and I immediately sat down and started sorting and separating our winter clothes as we thought we just have these clothes for our yearly foreign trips where as these people need it now. Laden with our carload of clothes, shoes and food stuff, both of us went to the Pakistan air force museum to give it to them for onward shipment to Islamabad. What we were surprised to see that from a mile off there was a steady stream of cars, vans, trucks full to capacity with clothes etc moving in one direction. Not knowing where the air force base was my son advised me to just follow the cars. We did and we finally reached inside the base where we could see streams of cars depositing the goods which was piled like mountains in the car park. Every thing was so orderly, people was so giving and volunteers were so swift that it brought tears to my eyes and I realised that despite our faults we are such a loving and giving nation in our times of needs. I really feel that we are a great nation.
Seema Ahmed, Karachi

(1) `Four days later, they are still not even trying to extricate the dead in the town of Balakot, flattened on the morning of October 8.` (note the moral/utilitarian anguish of `even`)

(2) `The army’s presence is important and positive, but no senior officers appeared to be present. I heard criticism that soldiers did little to stop looting.` (`appeared??`, `heard??`)

kaka is no friend of the government of Pakistan or any bureaucracy, but this kind of whiners` logic has to be mocked and made unfashionable.

A group of people (the pakistan `gorment`), even after nepotism and its evil cousins, have found themselves in the position to manage resources etc. Is it conceivable that even at this difficult time, these people STILL HAVE NO HEARTS to do (1) and no basic political sense to do (2)? Are we to conclude that in the intense haramkhor system in which these people (whatever `they` Hoodbhoy is pointing to) have succeeded, they have no sense to `extricate bodies` or no interest to `appear to be present` per Hoodbhoy`s schedule?

In the madness of recovery and restoring control, could the authorities be.. spread a li`l thin, maybe? Maybe there are more important things to do than to `appear` for a photo-op with Hoodbhoy for his future dejavu memories?

Again, kaka is no defender of state machineries and inept morons at the helm, but this sideline commentary of one`s high-schoolish anguish seems to be the pride and joy of chowk.com.

Can you please let us know in detail how to contribute to the Eqbal Ahmad Foundation Earthquake Relief Fund. Account number, bank name etc. Also can you please give us more details as to who is in charge of this fund. Although I am sure if you are associated with this fund, the money will go exactly where it`s needed, but I just want to have more details. I`ll try to send out as many emails as possible, urging people to donate to this fund.

I konw a month down the road not many people will be interested in the rehabilitation and reconstruction effort. But contrinbuting to this fund for months and years to come will ensure that some if not all houses get rebuilt.

Thank you so much Dr. Hoodbhoy for your efforts!

Great reporting ``from the front lines`` from Dr. Hoodbhoy. In order to be effective, we needs to look at the ground realities - good intentions and donations alone will not be enough. And think of practical ways to make life a little more bearable for the survivors.

dr. hoodbhoy:

thank you for sharing your eye-witness account with us. it does seem rather bleak, even with the good news, and your report highlights the difficulties and problems ahead. i hope that more can be done before the snows arrive. it is all some of us can do from across the ocean, to do our part and hope for plenty of good, if not the best.

thank you again,
ana