Pakistani People Rose To Help Kashmir In Tragedy While India Played Politics In Floods

Quraishi: India Used The Floods To Punish Kashmiris For Demanding Freedom

Hassaan: The Response Of The Pakistani People, The Government, And The Military Was Spontaneous. It Was Natural. We Acted For Our People

Safi: The Way Pakistanis Rose As One Nation And Struggled To Help Kashmiris During The Worst Earthquake The Region Has Seen In Decades Is A Lesson For India

By Our Special Correspondent

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan—The earthquake and the floods in Kashmir show again the deep affinity and connection that links Pakistan to Kashmir. The Pakistani nation rose together to help and rescue Kashmiris on Oct. 8, 2005. In comparison, in India, the government and the people acted with apathy as Indian-occupied Kashmir drowned in the worst floods in a century.

This came in a statement issued in Islamabad, Muzaffarabad and Geneva yesterday by Youth Forum For Kashmir (YFK), Pakistan’s first youth-led Kashmir lobbying group, on the occasion of the ninth anniversary of the Kashmir earthquake.

In the statement, Kashmiri and Pakistani youth condemned India’s use of the floods to punish Kashmiris for demanding freedom. India, they said, failed to meet its humanitarian responsibilities as an occupation power under Geneva Conventions.

“The way Pakistanis rose as one nation and struggled to help Kashmiris during the worst earthquake the region has seen in decades is a lesson for India,” said Shaista Safi, an activist from Baramulla, Indian-occupied Kashmir, who acts as Manager Programs at YFK.

“Unlike Pakistan, we saw in recent days how in India the government and the civil society ignored the worst floods in Kashmir in a century,” Safi added. She said what hurt her most is how the Indian society failed to mobilize itself to a help Kashmiris who were deeply affected in the floods, with complete breakdown of communications, and the failure of India’s military and civilian occupation administrations in Kashmir to respond to the crisis.

YFK’s Manager Operations, Muhammad Hassaan said that the earthquake nine years ago wiped off entire population centers. “Within 24 hours, caravans of foodstuffs, tents, water, clothing from as far as Karachi and Khuzdar were already in Muzaffarabad and other parts of Kashmir to help the Kashmiri people,” he said, recalling one of the largest humanitarian operations Pakistan witnessed in decades.

“The response of the Pakistani people, the government, and the military was spontaneous. It was natural. We acted for our people,” Hassaan said.

In comparison, in India, it appeared as if the country used a natural disaster to punish Kashmiris for demanding end to Indian occupation.

“There is little doubt in my mind that India’s response to the worst flooding in Kashmir’s history was dictated by the freedom movement and the need to punish the people for demanding their rights,” said Ahmed Quraishi, Executive Director of YFK and a renowned rights activist.

“India,” he said, “failed to mobilize its government and civil society to help the drowning Kashmiris, failed effectively respond to the crisis, closed the communication network to prevent images of its failure in crisis management to reach the world, selectively rescued tourists and Indian citizens trapped in Kashmir floods, and closed Kashmir border to international relief organizations.”

“In doing all this,” Quraishi said, “India failed to meet its obligations as a military occupation force under the Geneva Convention and the international law.” Quraishi condemned how India played politics during the floods.

“The India-occupied part of Kashmir was the worst hit by the floods and nearly entirely drowned in water. Yet the Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi found time to offer Pakistan that it allow the Indian army to mount rescue operations in Azad [Free] Kashmir,” he said.

The Kashmiri youth organized itself and nearly all the major humanitarian work was done by the people themselves without help from the Indian army or from the civilian occupation administration in Kashmir, he said.

On the other hand, Pakistan exercised full transparency during the October 8 earthquake in 2005 and during the floods this year.

Pakistan allowed international relief organizations and the international community to participate in the rebuilding effort after the earthquake. This came in addition to the gigantic effort that Pakistan’s civil society, the business community, the military and the government had put into helping Kashmiris overcome earthquake losses.

The YFK is a grassroots lobbying group led by young Kashmiris and Pakistanis working to ensure justice to Kashmiris living under Indian military occupation.

Kashmiri & Pakistani Protesters Gather In Front Of The World Headquarters Of The International Committee Of The Red Cross To Demand India Allow Relief Organizations Into Kashmir To Help Fight Flood Aftermath