MUZAFFARABAD: Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) Prime Minister Raja Farooq Haider on Thursday said the devastating earthquake of 2005 was a big test for the affected people, who went through it with utmost resilience, fortitude and determination with the unforgettable support of the government and people of Pakistan, the United Nations and the international community.

“The exceptional role of the government, people and institutions, particularly the armed forces, of Pakistan in the aftermath of the harrowing earthquake is etched on our minds,” he remarked at a ceremony in K.H. Khurshid Mini Stadium in the old city.

The ceremony was held to mark the 15th anniversary of the calamity that claimed more than 73,000 lives in the northern districts of AJK, mainly state capital Muzaffarabad, and some parts of the neighbouring Mansehra district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

The stadium that had sheltered hundreds of survivors for a long time after the disaster now also houses a memorial to the martyrs built with black marble.

Ceremony held to mark 15th anniversary of the calamity

Mr Haider, his minister for civil defence and disaster management Ahmed Raza Qadri and World Food Programme’s (WFP) country director Chris Kaye laid floral wreaths at the monument before making supplications, while a police contingent offered salute on the occasion.

The AJK premier recalled that apart from the people of Pakistan, residents of Mirpur division extended generous support to their affected brethren.

“We are beholden to everyone, from governments to institutions to individuals, who took our suffering as that of their own and helped us build an infrastructure better than what we had prior to the quake,” he said.

Mr Haider pointed out that AJK was a calamity-prone area as compared to other regions which warranted extraordinary precautionary measures by its residents.

“Apart from the natural disasters, we are also facing, almost constantly, shelling by Indian army from across the ceasefire line. Nevertheless, the morale of our people facing aggression by the coward Indian army has never ebbed,” he said.

Earlier, sirens were sounded exactly at 8.52am following which one-minute silence was observed as a mark of homage for the martyrs of the earthquake.

Also on Thursday, Mr Haider inaugurated the building of a high school for girls in Plate neighbourhood, rebuilt at a cost of Rs51 million provided by the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) and Islamic Development Bank (IDB).

The ceremony was told that the OIC and IDB had provided funding for reconstruction of more than 315 educational institutions throughout AJK that were damaged or destroyed by the quake.

Later in the day, the AJK premier inaugurated a “Humanitarian Response Facility” built by the WFP on the outskirts of Muzaffarabad.

The ceremony was attended, among others, by the envoys of Canada, Australia and the European Union.

Mr Haider said he was delighted that even 15 years after the earthquake the international community was helping AJK people and expressed the hope that this support would not stop.

Earlier, Mr Kaye of the WFP said that his organisation had built four emergency storage facility centres and as many mobile units to cope with an emergency situation in the event of any calamity.

Published in Dawn, October 9th, 2020