Qazi urges govt to reject ‘peanut aid’ from US, UK
By Our Staff Reporter
LAHORE, Oct 9: MMA President Qazi Husain Ahmad has welcomed the Rs5 billion relief package announced by the federal government for the quake victims, but urged the authorities to reject the “peanut aid” offered by the United States and the United Kingdom.
Speaking at a press conference here on Sunday, the MMA leader also opposed distribution of the aid through armed forces, insisting that the army had lost trust of the nation.
“It is not a popular agency now. People are not satisfied with it, as it is fighting against (patriotic) tribesmen and seminaries.”
Calling for igniting the civil society and utilizing the civil administration for relief work, he said the package should immediately be put at the disposal of the NWFP and AJK governments because people there had been hit the worst.
Criticizing the US and the UK for offering little aid ($100,000 and $50,000, respectively) to their front line ally, the Qazi demanded that the help offer must be rejected for being too low.
Highlighting the miseries being faced by the quake victims, he said not a single house had been reported as undamaged in Balakot while the shelterless people were facing hailstorm and rains.
Qazi Husain, who is also amir of the Jamaat-i-Islami, said he had mobilized Jamaat’s subsidiary — Al-Khidmat Foundation — for carrying out relief work in the NWFP and the Azad Kashmir.
One relief camp each had been set up in Abbotabad and Batgram districts and 20 truckloads of relief goods had been dispatched for them from Rawalpindi. Five truckloads each from Karachi and Lahore were on way to the affected area, he said.
The Jamaat itself had donated Rs10 million from its funds to the relief work while the UK Islamic Mission had offered 50,000 pounds, he said.
