 | |  |
 |
|
|
|
Aid
Workers Struggle To Reach Earthquake Survivors |
Posted:
10.24.05
|
|
|
More than two weeks after a destructive earthquake centered in
the Himalayan region of Pakistan, aid workers are struggling to
shelter more than three million survivors before the harsh winter
sets in.
Printer-friendly versions: PDF
|
|
|
|
|
Officials estimate that at least 50,000 people were killed and
more than 75,000 injured when the earthquake struck the mountainous
area in South Asia Oct. 8.
Now, officials fear a second wave of deaths if the survivors,
many with no place to go, do not receive immediate shelter.
"It's the most difficult humanitarian crisis ever,"
Andrew MacLeod, chief operations officer for the United Nations,
told the New York Times. "because the scale is huge, the
logistics are so difficult and there's such a brutal winter coming
on."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Treacherous
terrain |
|
|
|
|
|
Many survivors are isolated in small hillside villages with few
roads. Aid workers are dependent on slow moving mules to send
food and medicine to many of the more remote locations.
Although there are relief camps in low land areas, many are too
weak or injured to make their way down the mountains.
 "You've
got Darwin's fittest coming down and moving into tents,"
Unicef spokeswoman Katey Grusovin told the New York Times. "But
you've got children, you've got elderly still remaining very high
up."
Helicopters, which are in short supply, are often the only way
to quickly reach those affected. Only 60 are operating in the
region now. Pakistan's neighbor -- and longtime regional rival
-- India has offered to supply helicopters but Pakistan will not
accept Indian pilots.
India and Pakistan have fought two wars over the disputed Kashmir
region, one of the hardest hit areas.
|
|
|
|
Kashmir history |
|
|
|
|
|
Just over fifty years ago, India and Pakistan were part of the
same British colony -- similar to what the U.S. was before the
revolution. 
For 200 years, British rule kept conflicts between the two dominant
religious communities, the Hindus and the Muslims, at bay. But
when Britain granted the colony its freedom in 1947, it decided
to split the territory into two parts -- India and Pakistan.
Although the official transfer of power went smoothly, the partition
itself -- into predominantly Hindu India and Muslim Pakistan --
pushed 10 million people out of their homes.
Some estimates put the number slaughtered in the hideous fighting
that broke out in both countries at as many as a million. Many
Muslims rushed out of Hindu dominated India and Hindus fled from
Pakistan .
Kashmir, located in the northern area along the border of the
two countries, was ruled by a Hindu maharajah. It was up to him
to decide which new country his state would join. In 1947, he
chose India despite the fact that most people who lived there
were Muslim.
 Fighting
between the Hindu ruling class and the Pakistani-backed Muslim
majority followed his decision. A year later, the U.N. stepped in
and negotiated a cease-fire, but the tension remained. Another
war broke out in 1965.
Kashmir is today divided between the Pakistani area of Kashmir
and the Indian State of Jammu and Kashmir. But Muslims have continued
to protest violently, carrying out bombings and other attacks
against police, officials and civilians. And human rights groups
have criticized the Indian troops in Kashmir for torture, rape,
and killing.
Estimates of deaths since the fighting began range from 30,000
to 50,000.
Besides the fact that Kashmir has a Muslim majority, Pakistan
is fighting for control of several rivers, which are important
in the irrigation of the plains of Pakistan.
Many fear that the dispute could escalate into a regional atomic
war, as both India and Pakistan have nuclear weapons.
|
|
|
|
International
aid |
|
|
|
|
|
With winter looming experts are saying there is limited time
to save lives.
"There are three to four weeks of window available to us''
to provide shelter to survivors, General Farooq Ahmed, the chairman
of Pakistan's Federal Relief Commission, told reporters 
in Islamabad yesterday.
Kofi Annan, Secretary-General of the United Nations, has called
upon world leaders to increase the amount of aid for the quake
region. Of the $312 million sought by the U.N., only $43 million
had been given and $43 million pledged, according to Annan.
But some aid experts fear that the many large-scale natural disasters
in the past year, from the Asian tsunami to Hurricane Katrina
in the United States, have slowed aid.
"I think perhaps it's just too many disasters, one following
the other, but, you know, one doesn't control nature. These things
happen," Iqbal Noor Ali, chief executive officer of the Aga
Khan Foundation USA, told the NewsHour.
--
Compiled by Annie Schleicher for NewsHour Extra
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Junior Arman Gupta's father was initially shocked when he brought up the idea of military school, but his father warmed to the idea.
