Kashmir in turmoil

[HStorm]

One of the longest, mightiest earthquakes since records began has torn across North Pakistan, North India, and East Afghanistan. So enormous is the affected area that the shaking was felt in cities as remote from each other as Jalalabad and New Delhi.

The long-disputed territory of Kashmir is at the very heart of the devastation. Many towns in both zones of the area are in ruins; a number of small villages have simply been flattened out of existence, all in the space of around six minutes.

The capitol of the Pakistani-administered zone, Muzzafarabad, is all-but-destroyed. In a move that is eerily-reminiscent of the Superdome during Hurricane Katrina, the city's cricket stadium is now being used as a refuge point for the homeless and injured.

The capitol of the Indian zone, Srinagar, was also affected, though losses on the Indian side have been far lighter.

The confirmed death toll has rocketed in a little under twenty hours. It was around two thousand at about 6pm on Saturday evening BST. It now stands at a horrifying nineteen thousand deaths, and is still climbing. Further, at least forty-two thousand people have been injured.

The Pakistani Prime Minister, General Pervez Musharraf, has called for more aid from other countries. Especially needed are helicopters, "the larger the better" for transporting stocks of food, medicine and clean water to the dispossessed of Kashmir.

In this light, the initial aid sent by the British Government, a single sum of one hundred thousand pounds, sounds like a mean and insulting gesture.

[modeski]

I remained wilfully ignorant of all current affairs over the weekend, only to come into work and read this yesterday. It's pretty horrific, it's hard to visualise 30,000 people dying. I mean, those are actual people, not just stats. Maybe it's an indication of how cynical I am, but my second thought was how religious fundamentals (of whatever stripe) will jump on this as a sign of the coming apocalypse, or some kind of divine retribution. My *third* thought was that I bet this disaster will be better handled than the aftermath of Katrina was in the US. I'm a horrible cynic, and now isn't the time to be politicising what is ultimately a human tragedy.

And yes, £100,000 is a slap in the face. Blair could afford that out of his own pocket for goodness' sake.

[HStorm]

Seeing that the United Nations has launched an emergency appeal for £200 million to help victims, I'd call £100 thousand a clatter in the gob with an iron mallet.

[HStorm]

In the last 24 hours, the estimated death toll in Kashmir has leapt from 57,000 to over 73,000.

[HStorm]

Seven months on, and another disastrous quake in Asia, this time on the Indonesian island of Java. The city of Yogyakarta was left devastated on Saturday with over five thousand deaths, over twenty thousand serious injuries, and at least two hundred thousand left homeless, without shelter, and with food supplies dwindling.

Compared with the events in Kashmir, the reaction of the International community has perhaps been sharper and more urgent this time around, providing swift disaster relief aid in the form of money and technical expertise. Japan has committed a creditable $10m, the UK a respectable $7.25m, and let's even be fair to Saudi Arabia, which has offered $5m plus large stocks of food and equipment. But you have to wonder if all that will be enough, especially when you consider some of the other pledges; the USA and China have offered a measly $4.5m between them (albeit with staffs of medical experts), the EU only around $4m, and Australia just $2.2m.

Is this enough?

[modeski]

It's a start, but it'll never be enough. Most of the leaders of the countries you mentioned have personal fortunes many times more than the amount donated. I think the problem is that sadly, natural disasters of this scale most often happen in the developing world, far outside the scope of western society.

Had this been france, or the USA, I think we'd have seen much more urgent action and substantially higher aid. Regardless, any help is welcome and much needed.

[HStorm]

Another Tsunami, this time caused by an earthquake 7.7 on the Richter scale, has struck the Isle of Java. So far over 330 people have died, over 450 have been injured, and around 53,000 have been made homeless. The emergency response from the rest of the world has so far been at a truly comatose level of inertia.

[modeski]

Well hey, at least we got to test the new Tsunami warning system.