Kashmir worst hit region with over 21000 casualties already reported -
Wide swathes of destruction - Many towns and villages wiped out -
Hundreds and thousands of people still waiting for rescue and food.

Rescue work following last weekend's devastating earthquake, is
proceeding at a snail's pace and the death toll is rising far too
quickly. The weak infrastructure of Pakistan and Pakistani
Administrative Kashmir has been fully exposed by this disaster. The
main roads in Hazara division [district], in North West Frontier
Province (NWFP) province, and in Kashmir, are still blocked by almost
continuous landslides.

On Saturday, an injured Socialist Movement member phoned us in
Lahore, from his hospital bed, using a mobile phone borrowed from a
doctor. He told us dreadful news. Initial reports are that the entire
branch of the Socialist Movement members and many of their relatives,
in the village of Kalam, North West Frontier Province, died in the
earthquake. This news is not confirmed. Other Kashmiri members of the
Socialist Movement, now living in Pakistan, have possibly lost all
their relatives in their home villages.

Kashmir

Pakistani Occupied Kashmir has been terribly affected from this
devastating quake. At least 21,000 deaths, so far, are reported, and
the figure is rising as body counting continues. The worst affected
areas in Kashmir are the capital city, Muzafarrabad, Rawalakot and
Bagh, including its surrounding districts.

According to official sources, more than 10, 000 deaths are recorded
in Bagh. The whole city and surrounding villages are completely
destroyed. No rescue operation has yet started in this whole area.
Members of the Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front, who visited the
area to see if their local members were safe, said there were many
more dead bodies than live people in the area. Local commentators say
that up to 30,000 people could have perished in this district alone.

The military say they have not been able to reach these areas because
there are no helicopters available for rescue operations. People are
still under the rubble of destroyed houses waiting for rescue.
Schools and hospitals are destroyed. There is no water, electricity,
shelter and food available to the injured and the few survivors.
Looting is taking place in the area. Government representatives state
that the rescue operation will start tomorrow!

Profiteering from people's misery

The most disgusting thing in this terrible situation is the
profiteering out of peoples' misery that is going on. This fills
people with rage. No normal transport is running between the federal
capital city, Islamabad, and Bagh. The usual fare is Rs120.00
(£1.20). However, because people are desperate to try to get to their
home villages, vehicles are available for hire. But a single fare now
costs between Rs600 - 800 (£6 - £8). This represents a 600% increase
in costs!

A representative of the Edi Foundation, which provides ambulance and
emergency medical aid, was interviewed on television and he said Edi
managed to get its two helicopters operational in the first day of
the earthquake, while the army generals dragged their feet over the
question of providing military helicopters for emergency medical use.
In the interview, he ironically attacked the big pharmaceutical
companies when he said, "We know the drug companies are desperate to
help the injured but we don't need their normal type of 'aid' - which
are drugs whose expiry date has gone. We need drugs which can be used
for a few months".

The earthquake victims are mostly women, children and young people,
as many men were out at work. If the rescue work is delayed further,
many injured will die. People desperately need help, which the
authorities have, so far, failed to deliver.

Rawalakot city is also been severely affected by the disaster. Sardar
Khalid Mehmood, President of the Paramedic Staff Association Kashmir,
reported from Rawalakot that 95% of houses were completely destroyed.
All the schools and hospitals were damaged.

"I am the only survivor in the hospital staff colony. I never saw
such devastation in my whole life. We are without food, medicines,
water and electricity. We desperately need medicines, warm clothes
and tents. Please help us otherwise we all will die," Sardar Khalid
Mehmood said.

This important political center of Kashmir is completely destroyed.
According to reports we received from this area, thousands of people
are waiting on the roads for food and help.

People are trying to help each other but there are very few people
who really can help the injured. The main task is to provide medical
treatment to the injured, to clear housing rubble and to collect the
dead bodies to bury them.

The government has started a rescue operation in Muzafarrabad. Eighty
per cent of the houses in the city were destroyed. Four hundred young
women died in a school when the roof collapsed. There is no road link
between Muzafarrabad and the rest of Kashmir and Pakistan because of
landslides. Military helicopters that are available are used to
rescue the most seriously injured people. But the army has still not
been able to reach many areas, so far. More than one million people
in Kashmir spent last night in the open without shelter. Many people
became ill after forced to sleep in the open in hailstorms and rain.
Many will also spend their second night without any shelter.

These people need immediate help to save their lives. The government
should take immediate steps to start the rescue operation now, in all
areas, not just the capital of Occupied Kashmir. Further delay will
put thousands more lives in danger. The government should mobilise
all state resources to help the victims of the earthquake. There is
no shortage of resources but they must be fully utilised and should
be used for the needs of the quake victims.

The mountainous region of Hazara (Hazara Division of North West
Frontier Province) was also been badly damaged by the earthquake. The
historic city of Bala Kot is completely destroyed. This was a city
with a population of one hundred thousand. It is has disappeared.
There is no house to seen standing. Seven hundred children died in
three different schools because of school roofs collapsing. These
children are still under the rubble. Whole villages are wiped out.

The government response in these areas is very slow. One of the main
reasons for this is that successive governments have never prepared
for such disasters, even though earthquakes are not uncommon in the
region. Previous governments cut funding to civil organisations,
which are responsible for providing emergency help and rescue in
these situations. This negligence created a situation in which no
government department or organisation is in a position to provide any
sort of help. Civil defence, fire brigade and health departments are
not in a position to do any thing without the help of the military.
There are no emergency centres at local level which can provide help
and rescue immediately.

Socialist Movement organises aid

The Socialist Movement (CWI in Pakistan), the Trade Union Rights
Campaign (in Pakistan and Kashmir) and the Socialist Liberation (CWI
in Kashmir) have started a campaign to collect medicines, food,
clothes, blankets and tents. We were able to collect and buy material
worth up to Rs800, 000 rupees [£800 sterling], in just one day, which
shows the practical solidarity of working class people. We have also
launched an appeal inside trade unions to donate generously in the
campaign. Tomorrow, we plan to send the first lorry load of aid to
Bagh and Rawalakot. Of course, this is only a drop in the ocean,
given what is needed. We will continue this campaign and will expand
it to the schools and colleges.

There is growing anger at the government and its failure to provide
funding over the years for civil defence agencies and emergency
services. There is also tremendous bitterness against the Western
imperialist powers that have provided peanuts worth of aid. For
example, the US and British governments have pledged $100, 000 and
£100, 000 respectively in aid, so far. And yet Bush has spent over
$66 billion on military operations in Afghanistan - also in the
earthquake affected region. Following an appeal by the Pakistani
authorities, the US administration has agreed to send a miserly ten
helicopters to help out in the affected region. But they must have
many more at their disposal for military operations against the
Taliban.

It is facts like these which make a response from socialists,
activists and trade unionists vital.

Socialist Movement members active in the Trade Union Rights Campaign
will be launching an international campaign to provide direct help to
workers, trade unionists and their families affected by the
earthquake. This aid will also be used to help strengthen, build and
rebuild trade unions in the affected areas, which can campaign for a
proper response from the authorities and against profiteering and
corruption, which is so often the hallmark of international
capitalist aid appeals.

This terrible disaster has overwhelmingly made victims of working
class people and the poor. But it has also shown the spirit of the
working class, with help and solidarity provided by working people to
the devastated areas. The earthquake also demonstrates clearly the
callous disregard for the lives of the majority by the ruling class
and the imperialist powers. If ever there were an argument to get rid
of the system we live under this it!

Rukhsana Manzoor and Khalid Bhatti of Socialist Movement Pakistan, Lahore, report in socialistworld.net.

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