BBC: " Kashmir quake - do Indians care?"

agni5454

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Indojingai

You sir ... ask interesting questions.

What do they expect? Hand all of Kashmere to Pakistan?
Some of Indian Kashmere was shaken as well...

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adiyar

I have been reading about this "indians do not care"!! a lot. am trying to explain my view point.

i admit unlike the tsunami the urge to do something is much less this time.

The major damage is in Pak. and PoK.

from what i read and heard from my friends in india unlike the tsunami the damage in india was much much smaller from initial estimates of 200 to recent ones of 1400 or so. for pak. the inital estimate was 2000 to now 18000 (ballpark figures)

so correlating the total (ind + pak) damage to the indian response is a misuse of statistics for mischief. i feel the indian response is proportional to the indian damage.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2005_Kashmir_earthquake
"Most of the casualties resulting from the earthquake were in Pakistan where the official death toll is now approaching 30,000 and is expected to continue to rise. 1,300 deaths have also been confirmed in India."

lotus blossom

quite distressing that politics stands in the way of helping innocent victims in a disaster, just as we witnessed in hurricane rita. shameful.

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crimsonriver

Well the scale of disaster here has been on a much lesser scale. Compared to Gujarat and other places Kashmir has an elaborate Army presence and they did respond as fast as possible. So much so that several BRO ppl died while clearing landslides in some areas. India even air lifted several tonnes of supplies to Pakistan.

BBC calls this indifference?
And these so called aid organizations can't move a shovel in the mountains.. Just cribbing and more cribbing.. and these separatist leaders.. just know how to derive political mileage.. again selfish interests.

Rather than armchair discussions.. first go to Kashmir and see how hard the Army and BRO works there.. and you call it indifference!!

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adiyar

apologize for multiple posts. but the same article posted by OP has good explanations!

"But if the public response has been muted, there may be less sinister explanations.

Tsunami site
Agencies say initial response to the Indian tsunami was bigger

The scale of the disaster is clearly smaller. Fewer than two thousand have been killed in Indian-administered Kashmir. In the tsunami, many thousands from India died.

Also, much of the public's attention has been focussed on Pakistani-administered Kashmir where casualties have been far greater.

"The level of sympathy may have suffered by comparison with the Pakistani side," PJ Chacko says. The Pakistan embassy in Delhi has now opened a special bank account to process donations.

Some analysts also suggest there are fewer informal connections between Indian-controlled Kashmir and mainstream India.

Tourism has improved recently, since the launch of the peace process, but the region's image has suffered because of on-going militant-related violence and security concerns.


India is one of the most disaster-prone nations in the world
Azmat Ulla, Red Cross and Red Crescent

The fact that Indian-administered Kashmir is heavy militarised - as well as the remote, inaccessible terrain - may deter people from travelling there independently, as they have to disaster-struck places in the past, such as the Gujarat earthquake in 2001.

"In Gujarat, you could take a car or jeep, load it up with relief goods and drive to it," said Azmat Ulla. "This is a more militarised area, with more army personnel."

There may also be an element of compassion fatigue, he added. The media has continued to focus attention on the plight of survivors of the tsunami.

'Clear image'

India has also seen severe flooding in states like Bihar and Assam.

Not as many people were killed but an estimated 20 million affected, he said.

"India is one of the most disaster-prone nations in the world," Azmat Ulla says.

Accurate information about affected areas has also been slower this time.

"In Kashmir, even today, it's still not clear how many villages and people have been affected," said Oxfam's PJ Chacko.

"There still isn't an overview of the destruction. So we're not projecting a clear image to the public," he said.

Others have suggested the fact the last two days have been public holidays in India, with many people away, may also have dampened down the public's response. "
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/south_asia/4338614.stm

GoanCanuck

Lotus blossom that is a very misinformed statement that you have made. Would be better if you got your facts correct before making any conclusions.

lotus blossom

which statement? actually, my facts can be backed up, both of them. Musharref debated for 2 days before accepting aid from india. now, how is that not based on politics?

crvlvr

I think the headline " Kashmir Quake - Do Indian Care?" is inflamatory and just poor journalism. the entire "allegation" is based on comments of some aid agency. No facts have been provided. Shame on BBC.

GoanCanuck

I agree. The BBC really dropped the ball on this one.

lotus blossom

now, with this i agree. seems india was quick to offer aid from what i understand and it was pakistan who balked while people were and continue to be dying. that is indeed shameful.

bongdongs

It is not just bbc, but other news organizations such a reuters and AP are putting out similar reports. For instance look at Rueters main news page, which has this story:

http://in.today.reuters.com/news/new...a-219457-1.xml

Also see this AP report that tries to improve the image of APHC members:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/worldlates...334953,00.html

The Kashmiri seperatist movement is a significant "asset" to certain western countries. It is a lever of control to exert over India. Explore the creation of the APHC and see who was involved (Robin Raphael ring a bell?).

At a time of crisis such as this, the APHC has been revealed to for it is, a group of Srinagar based politicians who are good at getting rich off international money and giving vitriolic press conferences, but with no base of support across the valley. This combined with the inept and corrupt state government leaves the Indian Army as the only organization with the resources and logistical ability to provide relief.

As the real stories of the Army's relief work comes out (as in Uri where people were demanding that all relief work be handed to the Army) the propaganda of "army of occupation" is collapsing.

Articles such as these represent a determined reargaurd action mounted by expatriates and their supporters at the US state department and British foreign office to retain their control over this "asset" and prevent their chosen Kashmiri politicans from being completely sidelined.

Banarasi at heart

Elsewhere I had wondered if BBC cares about India. I feel that such an article is more likely from BBC than any other service (I may still be wrong as was pointed out the other thread). I rarely visit BBC site nowadays anyway. Obviously BBC will not dwell upon Pakistani government's aid for the Tsunami.

agni5454

he he. i did not ask that question. Jill Mcgivering asked it.