LAHORE, Oct 8: MMA president and Jamaat-i-Islami Amir Qazi Husain Ahmad has expressed deep sense of grief and sorrow over the loss of men and material in the tremors which jolted many parts of the country on Saturday morning.

He has directed the party workers and the Al-Khidmat Foundation to immediately start relief operation especially in the worst-hit remote areas.

Calling for blood donations in nearby hospitals, he said relief camps should be set up throughout the country to collect donations and goods for the victims.

Initial reports suggest colossal losses in Muzaffarabad, across the NWFP and in parts of Punjab. Severe earthquakes have destroyed communication network besides razing scores of houses to ground where people are trapped under the debris.

The MMA leader said: “The natural calamities are nothing but a warning and test for the humanity, an indirect call from Allah to review our deeds as a nation.”

Punjab PPP president and opposition leader in the Punjab Assembly Qasim Zia said the destruction had been caused because of starting the holy month of Ramazan with rigging and white lies by the government.

The rulers, he demanded, must repent for their sins and provide all kinds of relief to the quake victims.

PTI: Pakistan Tehrik-i-Insaaf chairman Imran Khan and general secretary Air Marshal Shahid Zulfikar have expressed their grief over the losses in the quake and have directed party activists to extend all out help to the quake victims by establishing relief camps.

Meanwhile, Lahore chapter of the Jamaat-i-Islami has set up relief camps in all towns of the city for collecting donations for the quake victims.