Scream

Here’s an excerpt from an essay appearing on today’s AlterNet. Please click on the URL for the entire story…

Pakistan`s Invisible Quake Victims
By Jalal Ghazi, Pacific News Service
Posted on November 2, 2005, Printed on November 2, 2005

http://www.alternet.org/story/27691/

Viewed through the lens of Arab media, world relief efforts for the earthquake in Northern Pakistan were far less than other natural disasters because the victims are Muslims, many pundits said. The Oct. 8 quake killed at least 55,000 people and injured tens of thousands. With winter settling in, millions will be left homeless and vulnerable, Arab media warned, unless more actions are taken by the world.

The October 21 issue of Asharq Al-Awsat, a London-based Arab daily newspaper, reported that the Indian Army has played an ``active role in providing relief to hundreds of families.`` Riad Ahmad from Tanghdar village near the border that separates the Indian and the Pakistani Kashmir, told Asharq Al-Awsat, ``Seven of my family members were killed and no one helped me but the Indian soldiers. They helped me to pull out the dead bodies from underneath the rubble, preparing the coffins and burying the dead.``

Similar reports came from the village of Jblah, where all residents praised the kindness of Indian soldiers for providing food and shelter to afflicted families. One villager said, ``We will remember this forever.``

Al Jazeera television reported on Oct. 17 that that Islamabad had agreed to allow Indian military planes to help in the rescue efforts as long as the pilots are not Indian. The agreement coincided with the arrival of the third cargo of Indian aid to the Pakistani part of Kashmir.

Pakistan was probably humbled into accepting aid from its nuclear enemy and neighbor, partially due to the lack of international response. The Pakistani government announced that it will need $5 billion to rebuild what the earthquake destroyed. But it only got a half billion dollars promised from foreign donors, most of which have not yet arrived.

Romair,
Do you get now why world is paying no attention to your SCREAMS? they understand that any help going to Pakistan is actually going to end-up in hands of Jehadis.

An excerpt from the Nov 1 Asia Times:

http://www.atimes.com/atimes/South_Asia/GK01Df02.html

India and Pakistan push on, despite blasts
By Ranjit Devraj

NEW DELHI - While Saturday evening`s serial blasts in the Indian capital claimed at least 60 lives, they have not officially stopped India and Pakistan from going ahead with plans to open the border in divided, insurgency-hit Kashmir to facilitate relief operations for the survivors of the October 8 earthquake.

Suspicion for the blasts has fallen on the Lashkar e-Toiba (Soldiers of God) jihadi group, which is based in Pakistani-administered Kashmir and sworn to liberate Muslim-majority, Indian-administered Kashmir or have it accede to Pakistan. But authorities were determined to allow relief work across the Line of Control (LoC) that separates the two regions

A scream will soon turn into a shout

A shout into a quiet voice

A quiet voice into a whisper

A whisper into utter silence

Re: #170 by behram1 on October 27, 2005 1:31pm PT

``You are not sitting in the corner somewhere that I can ignore you. I wish that I could ignore you, but I can’t.``

But, yes, you can! It`s just a matter of editing your profile and typing in the ``nickname`` of those you want to ignore - you can type in up to 16 different ones. Then you have to be sure and sign in before reading any of the ``Interacts.`` Without signing in all interacts appear, even those you want to ignore.

Re: #168 by mohammedamjed on October 27, 2005 10:44am PT
``Dear Chowk Editors:

Please keep Umair Khan`s SCREAM on the front page.``

A hearty second to this suggestion!!!!

Dear Umair Khan
It is not the SCREAMing that is required at this time, it is action.
It is given to understand that one of the Pakistani Senator has donated his three years senate remuneration to the relief fund. That is ACTION if true. All the other politicians should do the same.
It would be considered sacrilegious in the realm of the “religious institution” to suggest that the thousands of potential Pakistani Hajis should donate their Haj expenses to the relief fund and acquire many fold thawaab of the pilgrimage.
Further, all the money spent on killing thousands of animals for qurbani should be spared their life and money donated to the fund.
Again in order to acquire the true benefit of the fasting in Ramadhan, the lavish expenditure on Eid should be curtailed and the spare monies given to the fund for the reconstruction. THAT WOULD BE A REAL SCREAM. Hasanah for akhiraa is acquired in this dunya. Your article made me scream! ! Keep it up.
Rashid

Dear Umair Khan
It is not the SCREAMing that is required at this time, it is action.
It is given to understand that one of the Pakistani Senator has donated his three years senate remuneration to the relief fund. That is ACTION if true. All the other politicians should do the same.
It would be considered sacrilegious in the realm of the “religious institution” to suggest that the thousands of potential Pakistani Hajis should donate their Haj expenses to the relief fund and acquire many fold thawaab of the pilgrimage.
Further, all the money spent on killing thousands of animals for qurbani should be spared their life and money donated to the fund.
Again in order to acquire the true benefit of the fasting in Ramadhan, the lavish expenditure on Eid should be curtailed and the spare monies given to the fund for the reconstruction. THAT WOULD BE A REAL SCREAM. Hasanah for akhiraa is acquired in this dunya. Your article made me scream! ! Keep it up.
Rashid

Romair,

Please your interacts are distateful on this board. its not time and this baord is not the place for your blurps.
we neet to concentrate on what happening on relief front and what can we do about it.
Please dont waste space on this baord

Now, this is another attempt to send some tents to Pakistan. Please check it out. If you have any questions/concerns/issues or suggestions, please send your responses to HDF directly. Thanks.


> Easier way to Doanate Tents for the Earth Quake
> area in Pakistan
> >>
> >>One of the most desperately needed items in
> Pakistan these days is
> >>winterized tents. For those of us abroad, now
> there is a way to
> send
> >>tents to Pakistan without any hassle. Yes ladies
> and gentlemen,
> someone is
> >>actually using their head! :)
> >>
> >>The Human Development Foundation has opened a gift
> registery with
> >>Sears that lists all the items badly needed. If
> you follow the
> >>instructions below, the items will be available
> for pick up in a
> Sears
> >>store right next to the JFK airport and there will
> be no
> transportation
> >>cost. Pakistan International Airlines has agreed
> to pick up and
> deliver
> >>these tents to Government Rescue Center setup in
> Islamabad free of
> cost.
> >>Can`t beat this deal! :)
> >>
> >>Believe it or not, the winterized tents needed so
> badly cost around
> $100,
> >>not $1000 as I had heard on some news websites.
> For those who`ve
> already
> >>donated oodles of money, perhaps they can still
> spare another $20
> to buy
> >>atleast a sleeping bag...or 100$ for a big weather
> resistant tent
> that can
> >>house upto 10 people.
> >>
> >>Do a complete cut and paste (from http: to 0&)
> >>
>
>>http://www.sears.com/sr/gr/getGiftListBuyer.do?BV_SessionID=@@@@0299288263.1130135725@@@@&BV_EngineID=cciladdgddlmimmcegecegjdghldfoo.0&
> >>
> >>If the above link doesn`t work, follow these
> instructions to have
> the
> >>items delievered to the people in desperate need:
> >>
> >>1) Log on to www.Sears.com
> >>
> >>2) Click on Gift Registry
> >>
> >>3) Click on Buy Gift (Not just Gift!)
> >>
> >>4) Select ``Special Occassion``
> >>
> >>5) Enter the First Name: Meena, Last Name :
> Siddiqui
> >>
> >>6) Select 11 for Month and Year 2005
> >>
> >>7) Click on Find Registry
> >>
> >>8) You`ll see the following items and numbers
> required etc.
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >>Swiss Gear 13 x 17ft Dome Tent 00674115000 501497
> $99.99
> >>
> >>Swiss Gear 6 person Dome Tent 00675420000 501492
> $89.99
> >>
> >>Hillary 78 x 60 in. Queen Airbed $14.99
> >>
> >>Swiss Gear 33 x 77 in. Sleeping Bag $19.99
> >>
> >>Swiss Gear 33 x 84 in. Sleeping Bag $24.98
> >>
> >>Click on Add to gift cart
> >>
> >>9) Click on `In Store Delivery` and select Rego
> Park store #1544
> >>
> >>10) Fill in your payment info., print a copy for
> your records.
> >>
> >>Every tent you send ensures six people will be
> protected from a
> very harsh
> >>and possibly fatal winter. Please donate all that
> you can. Yes,
> even if
> >>you think you`ve done your share! Also pass this
> on to your friends
> and
> >>relatives.
> >>
> >>Thanks.

Behram1 #163: As I stated earlier, if you want to interact with someone, then accept the writing style of the individual. If you don`t like the writing style, don`t interact with them. I am not trying to get you to change your writing style. Please don`t try to change mine........

Institutions are nothing more than the people who are their members. And there are honest poeple in every institution and group. But as a whole, Pakistan is a very corrupt country. And in any corrupt country, it is the affluent and the powerful who will be carrying out the most corruption, as a group. Since they have access to the most resources. And all of us on Chowk, are part of the affluent group. We must take responsibility, instead of always passing it onto others.......

The business community is as corrupt, as anyone else. The business community works through various institutions, and it works with various institutions. This includes the various Chambers of Commerce, Securities Exchanges, various Business organizations, Income Tax, Wapda, Customs etc. If you don`t think these organizations are corrupt, then I think both you and I have a different idea of how business gets done in Pakistan.

Just a simple customs collector in Pakistan can make a fortune. How exactly does he do that? He does it by accepting bribes on items that come into the country for various business houses. Similarly, how can the Income Tax dept. be corrupt, without someone on the other end, who is carrying on tax evasion? The larges amount of tax evasion is by the business community.........

The highest level of corruption, in a poor society, will always occur amongst the most affluent group. In Pakistan, the dice is heavily loaded in our favor. And unfortunately, we, as a community (which includes Chowk crowd) have let the society down. There are individual stories of success, and perhaps as you claim you maybe one. But as a whole, we, the group, have been a failure............

In any case, let`s agree to disagree..........If you don`t feel you have to take responsibility for the problems and corruption in Pakistan, that is your choice. But I do take responsibility. That is my choice........And I doubt we will be able to convince each other, of our views..........

Re: # 169

Romair #169: Interacting with someone who stands at a street corner is different than interacting at this site. Generally, your interaction at almost all sites, it seems to me appears from left field. You build your arguments gradually with references of other people’s post, and that is interaction. You control the discussion unnecessary and twist and turn in whichever way you do, and that is interaction. You are not sitting in the corner somewhere that I can ignore you. I wish that I could ignore you, but I can’t.

And you call all of this your writing style. Why don’t you just write articles for the chowk and see how that makes you feel when others tear you down. Sitting in the corner and poking all convoluted points does not carry the conversation forward.

I will continue to expect that you will provide some respect to others, because you are part of this conversation whether one likes it or not. It is not enough, just to say that one has a foul mouth that is easily detectable. What about an opinion that is expressed and cannot be contained to decipher what the heck it is.

Your mumbo jumbo continues between institutions (that is corrupt) and people of Pakistan. The two are not the same and should never be evaluated in the same breath. The custom’s officer that you cited is part of an institution and as such takes baksheesh. Totally wrong, I agree. People who have nothing to do with that particular institution will not give baksheesh. And the example can go on and on.

It is the collective nature of institution that promotes corruption. And that has been my argument from the onset of this issue with you. If the enforcement of construction were as we find in California, then your example would be bogus. The death in San Francisco was limited in their recent earthquake. I know you would bring a new variable of low level on the Richter scale, etc, or whatever your argument would desire.

[Institutions are nothing more than the people who are their members.] Correct, but institutions have their own identity of their own where corruption breeds. You want to suggest that every single person of Palestine was corrupt, because of the shenanigans of their leadership.

Please do not mix the institution with group. I have known individuals in United Bank as corrupt but I would not call the whole Bank as corrupt. This is because Banks are in commerce and they can never be corrupt. You want to suggest that BCCI as an institution was corrupt.

Once again, I am assuming that you are defining corruption as financial corruption.

I completely disagree with this rubbish talk about [And in any corrupt country, it is the affluent and the powerful who will be carrying out the most corruption, as a group. Since they have access to the most resources.]. Then why do we not ask the National Accountability Board make up their freaking mind, and indict somebody? They are trying to create a corrupt institution. And that has been my argument all along.

How can an ordinary thellah walla be corrupt when the police are pounding up for the bhatta? He might be doing something illegal, and he should not. The police as an institution asks for, nay demand, and get away with corruption.


[If you don`t feel you have to take responsibility for the problems and corruption in Pakistan, that is your choice. But I do take responsibility. That is my choice...] You are not taking responsibility by claiming that “shucks everyone in Pakistan is corrupt”. I am not corrupt and will not allow you or anyone else to argue such a ridiculous thought. I will not agree to disagree with you.

Dear Chowk Editors:

Please keep Umair Khan`s SCREAM on the front page.

Iowa Asian Alliance Foundation, a subsidiary of the Iowa Asian Alliance, a network of fifteen Asian communities in Iowa has established SOUTH ASIAN EARTHQUAKE RELIEF FUND to help provide emergency medical relief for victims of earthquake in Kashmir and northern areas of Pakistan. This fund will be used to provide focused medical care in affected area. Doctors rotating on 2-week basis take necessary medical equipment such as orthopedic cases, antibiotics, pain killers, bandages, sutures.

Funds will not be handed over to government functionaries or organizations with large overheads. We will buy medical supplies as carry on luggage to be transported to Pakistan by Pakistani doctors providing emergency relief in the hard to reach areas. Donations are tax-deductible and can be mailed to: Mohammed Amjed, 12841 Sunset Terrace, Clive, Iowa 50325, Phone 515-223-9202; e mail: amjed12841@hotmail.com. Write your checks to: SOUTH ASIAN EARTH QUAKE RELIEF.

We need US government`s immediate help in airlifting winterized tents, sleeping bags, blankets, mobile X-Ray machines, electric generators, orthopedic cases, pneumatic drilling machines with hoses. Please call the governor in each state and your Congressman to line up support. America is capable of doing a lot more.

=== Interact Filtered ===
view this users filtered interacts

=== Interact Removed ===

The scream is being heard and repeated ....

Today`s editorial from WashingtonPost

Uncharitable Charity


Thursday, October 27, 2005; Page A26

RICH COUNTRIES should give more money to poor ones. But it`s even more obvious that, when they do give money, they should do so in a helpful way. The United States, for example, should not promise food for famine victims half a world away, then allow those victims to starve because it insists that the food must be bought domestically and shipped across the ocean on American vessels. Yet this and other forms of ``tied aid`` are common. A Bush administration plan to untie part of U.S. food aid is being held up in Congress.

The latest example of uncharitable charity comes from the Kashmir earthquake. Some 80,000 people have died as a result of the quake, nearly all of them in Pakistan, but relief workers say that the death toll is sure to rise further unless help arrives immediately. About 3 million people are homeless, many of them in inaccessible mountain villages, and the punishing Himalayan winter arrives soon. People need shelter and food to survive the freezing temperatures, but bad weather is already hampering helicopter relief missions, and once the winter sets in, further relief may become impossible. Medical help is even more urgent. At least 75,000 people were severely injured by the quake, and many are suffering infections for lack of timely medical care. Limbs that could have been saved must now be amputated.


Against this background, the United Nations convened a conference of donors yesterday. Rich countries stepped forward with pledges of $580 million. But less than $16 million of that was for immediate relief, leaving the United Nations with just a fifth of what it says it needs over the next few weeks. A new $251 million pledge from the Islamic Development Bank is supposed to be spent on long-term reconstruction, and the same is true of an earlier pledge for $333 million from Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Kuwait. The European Commission has promised $96 million for reconstruction, but just over $2 million for immediate use. In a rare instance of understatement from a relief official, Jan Egeland of the United Nations commented: ``It is, in my view, not right to sit with reconstruction money for one year from now if we`re not sure whether those people will be alive one year from now.``

The earthquake was a natural tragedy; the postdated checks from donors are a man-made one. What`s needed now is cash that can be spent immediately, along with more helicopters; the relief agency Oxfam has also called for tents to be released from military stockpiles, because suitable ones can`t be procured on the world market fast enough. Pakistan`s government could help by setting aside historical suspicion and accepting India`s offer of helicopters, rather than objecting to the fact that Indian helicopters come with Indian crews. But the outside world, and particularly the United States and its allies, have an interest in doing their part. Kashmir is home to Islamic terrorists whose war against the Indian government does not preclude attacks on Western targets. If the West stands by while thousands die from infections and hypothermia, it will fuel the anger from which the terrorists gain.