INDIA: Indian businesses and religious institutions send aid to the quake-hit Pakistan

Record ID: 1375225

  • Title: INDIA: Indian businesses and religious institutions send aid to the quake-hit Pakistan
  • Date: 17th October 2005
  • Summary: MORE OF RELIEF PACKETS (2 SHOTS)
  • Embargoed: 1st November 2005 08:55
  • Keywords:
  • Location: India
  • Country: India
  • Topics: Disasters / Accidents / Natural catastrophes
  • Reuters ID: LVA8C0H2EMJHL8MV6J7DY5UHHJ9Q
  • Aspect Ratio: 4:3
  • Story Text: South Asia's nuclear rivals have had an opportunity to build bridges out of the ruins of this month's devastating earthquake, and boost their sluggish process. But analysts and many people on the Indian side of disputed Kashmir say it already looks like a missed opportunity.
    Nonetheless, Indian businesses and religious institutions sent tonnes of relief material crossed over to Pakistan on Sunday (October 16) through the Wagah border in India's northern Amritsar city in a sign of solidarity.
    The Indian government has sent aid and sympathy to the people of Pakistan and Pakistani-controlled Kashmir, and even proposed joint relief operations across the frontline -- an offer Pakistan has spurned.
    But, an apex of Sikhs -- Sikh Gurudwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) and the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and industry (FICCI), the largest and oldest apex business organisation of Indian business -- all lined up to send aid to the quake hit Pakistan.
    On Pakistani side, it was members from the Pakistan Evacuee Trust Property Board (PETPB) and Pakistan Sikh Gurdudwara Parbandhak Committee (PSGPC) who received the aid.
    Rawel Singh, a member of PSGPC who received the material welcomed the move.
    "The relief material that has come from India will be distributed all over the affected area in Pakistan. We do require a lot of relief and we are thankful for it," he said.
    Since the earthquake struck a week ago, the death toll has increased day by day. It now stands at around 38,000 people in Pakistan and Pakistan-controlled Kashmir, and 1,300 people in Indian Kashmir.
    Tonnes of relief was dispatched to quake-hit Pakistan by New Delhi in the week since the massive earthquake hit the subcontinent's Indo-Pakistan region.
    "Besides giving this relief material we will go to the affected area, collect the Pakistani doctors and take them there. We will try and provide every kind of help to them be it medicines or rehabilitation," said Baba Amreek Singh, a member of the Indian Sikh Gurudwara Prabandhak Committee who will be crossing over to co-ordinate help.
    Dozens of small volunteer groups from across India scrambled to put in more blankets, medicines, food and tents to aid tens of thousands of Pakistani people left homeless and devastated by the calamity.
    "Unfortunately, the earthquake ravaged an area of Kashmir which inaccessible to us as the roads are damaged and no-one but the Air Force can reach it. The Air Force will fly the material from us and gather it in central place before distributing it to the affected areas," said Dr. Amrit Mitra, FICCI Secretary General.
    Both India and Pakistan have begun to talk about "soft borders" to ease the painful division of Kashmir, and usher in peace.
    Today, amid the suffering, the border remains as hard as ever with ordinary people unable to even telephone the other side to find out if relatives have lived or died during the devastating quake.
  • Copyright Holder: ANI (India)
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