October 23, 2005	Sunday	Ramzan 18, 1426

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MUZAFFARABAD, Oct 22: Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF) chairman Yasin Malik on Saturday made an appeal to the international community to provide generous aid for the speedy rehabilitation of quake victims in Azad Jammu and Kashmir.

“The sprawling capital of this part of Kashmir has been reduced to the heaps of rubble. It has become a sleepy town as most of its residents have migrated while the rest are living in miserable conditions in tents,” Mr Malik told reporters at the President’s House.

Earlier the JKLF chief handed over Rs1 million and a truckload of blankets and tents to AJK President Sardar Mohammad Anwar Khan for quake victims.

“Every locality I have visited presents the scene of a war ravaged site. The streets and markets are filled with debris of collapsed buildings and the air is filled with the stench of bodies,” Mr Malik said.

“Given the magnitude of destruction and devastation, the government of Pakistan cannot cater to the needs of the survivors. Therefore the international community must come forward with generous aid for their rehabilitation,” he said.

Mr Malik was of the view that the aid so far sent by the international community could not compensate even 10 per cent of the losses caused by the earthquake.

He said he was particularly worried as to how the survivors would brave the upcoming winter season.

Answering a question about softening of the Line of Control, he recalled that he had raised this issue soon after the quake struck the region.

“When I was in the last village on our side of the LoC, I wanted to cross over to your part to support the suffering people here but the restrictions prevented me from fulfilling my desire,” he said.

“People are dying here but their relatives on the other side of the divide are helpless. They cannot put their share in aid activities because politics is a great hurdle in their way,” Mr Malik said, stressing that though Kashmir was a political issue but the earthquake had made it a humanitarian issue as well.

The JKLF chief reiterated his demand that the Kashmiris should be allowed to cross the dividing line on humanitarian grounds.

“I am sure once the restrictions are lifted hundreds of thousands of people would come here to participate in relief work,” he said.

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