Expatriate Sikhs set up tents for quake victims in
Pakistan Kashmir
Muzaafarabad, December 02, 2005
ANI
Several groups of Non-Resident Indian Sikhs have
started relief operations in the quake-ravaged regions
of Pakistan Kashmir.
Sikhs from America have set up makeshift camps and
are also organizing community meals for the people
living in remote villages of Muzaffarabad, the epicentre
of the October 8 earthquake.
The American Sikhs have raised as much as 40 million
rupees in aid for the quake victims, majority
of whom are still living out in the open in biting
cold and snowfall. The amount will be distributed
to the affected people both in cash and kind.
Pritpal Singh, co-ordinator American Gurudwara
Prabhandak Committee, said that they have under
the aegis of the "Gurudwara Relief fund"
also distributed medicines and blankets to the displaced
people.
"I am very grateful to those who have helped
us disburse all aid we had collected in North America
in the name of Guru Nanak Relief Fund. We will
try our best to see that all our displaced brothers
and sisters here are settled back in their homes.
We will continue running these camps and try and fulfil
their needs," said Singh.
Amir ul Azim, a Pakistani resident, thanked the Sikh
community for providing them with the much-needed
aid.
"All Pakistanis are thankful to the NRI Sikh
community for providing us with tents. It is a very
important role that the Sikh community has played
to provide us with relief. We have been given not
only refuge but also enough food provisions,"
said Azim.
Aid officials fear sickness, as a result of dropping
temperatures, will cause a second wave of death. However,
a UN spokesman said there are deaths in the region
every winter from cold-related ailments, but it would
be a tragedy for a second wave of fatalities from
the cold now, after the quake.
Pakistan has also won pledges worth more than six
billion dollars from world donors for relief and reconstruction
operations in the quake-hit zone. But most of that
is earmarked for long-term reconstruction, while the
UN, and other bodies have said that funds are short
for a six-month emergency operation to keep survivors
alive through the winter.
