MUZAFFARABAD: Disasters by their nature tend to defy norms. But the earthquake that devastated northern Pakistan has produced more than its fair share of contradictions, from the sight of American troops unloading Iranian relief supplies at a Pakistani air force base, to a debate about whether aid should be accepted from Israel or India.
Stranger still, perhaps, has been the US military working to help quake survivors while at the same time aid workers from Jamat-ud-Dawa, an Islamist charity linked to the outlawed Lashkar-i-Taiba militant group Washington accuses of terrorism, are doing the same thing.
While US military helicopters based in Afghanistan have been flying blankets, tents, medicines and food to Muzaffarabad, workers from Jamat-ud-Dawa have been helping thousands of victims on the ground.
Jamat-ud-Dawa spokesman Muhammad Yahya Mujahid sees no contradiction between the work of its jihadi volunteers and that of the Americans, even though they oppose the US wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
“This is a time of disaster, and under such a situation, anybody who is coming to help us and provide aid is welcome. Anyone coming to support the relief work is our guest and has our respect, be it the Americans or whoever.”
Mujahid, though, was non-committal when it came to Israel or India — Lashkar-i-Taiba, one of the main pro-Pakistan militant groups fighting Indian rule in divided Kashmir, was officially banned in Pakistan after it was blamed for a 2001 attack on the Indian parliament that brought India and Pakistan close to a fourth war.
“As far as India and Israel is concerned, they have only said that they would help, but have not done anything. As for the Indian helicopters coming in, it is the problem of the government,” he said.
Pakistan has accepted a small amount of aid from India, whose side of Kashmir was also hit by the earthquake, but has declined Indian helicopters, despite a shortage to bring aid to millions.
Opinion among quake survivors was divided but some expressed frustration about the refusal to accept Indian helicopters.
Muhammad Khan Awan, a local councillor in his 60s who trekked for two days to reach Muzaffarabad to seek aid for his devastated village, was incensed that politics should get in the way of help.
He said many villages in his native Neelam Valley had not seen a Pakistan soldier since the disaster, while the chief minister of Indian Kashmir Mufti Mohammad Syed was offering help.
“At this time what we need is aid and relief, no matter who is providing it and wherever it is coming from,” he said.
This view was echoed by Abdul Qayyum Qureshi, owner of a hardware shop in Muzaffarabad, where barely a building was unscathed.
“Everything has been destroyed here and we need a lot of support from other countries. I think there is no harm in getting support from India, as we are already moving towards peace.”
But Qureshi drew the line at Indian soldiers joining aid efforts.
Tax collector Syed Sadiq Shah Kazmi called the debate absolutely absurd.
“It’s true we need help, but how can we accept help from India when it is killing our brothers on the other side of Kashmir?
“We do not need any help from India and can survive and stand up again without.”—Reuters
