YES; He is absolutely right. After Saturday’s calamity, Azad Kashmir’s sprawling capital of Muzaffarabad has been reduced to rubble. Bagh and Rawlakot towns have been entirely wiped out. There is death and destruction in most parts of the area around Muzaffarabad. Sardar Sikandar Hayat says he is indeed the Prime Prime Minister of a graveyard. The tragedy that has struck the people in Hazara Division of Frontier Province and most parts of Azad Kashmir has brought in its wake untold human sufferings. Thousands including children are still lying buried under debris of collapsed houses, schools and other buildings. Tens of thousands of injured are crying for help. The survivors are without water, edibles and shelter. The dead bodies in thousands are lying unclaimed and unattended. There is no one to bury them.
The Army Spokesman Major General Shaukat Sultan has aptly remarked: A whole generation is lost. Thousands of school children have been buried alive. Due to landslides, roads network is in a shambles. A few helicopters are seen hovering over the devastated area. A few hundred injured have since been shifted to hospitals in Rawalpindi and Islamabad. Some more have been flown to nearby hospitals. Local and foreign doctors along with paramedics and medicines are rushing to worst hit areas. Field hospitals are being set up. NGOs are rushing supplies to the earthquake victims. The armed forces are trying to help every where. Volunteers are heading towards areas devastated by the killer earth tremors. The entire nation is out to provide succour to the victims. Relief camps set up by various organizations are overwhelmed by public response. One Karachi citizen who declined to be identified has donated Rs. 100 million alone. Donations in the form of clothes, tents, beddings, edibles and medicines are being generously given However, their transportation upcountry is posing serious problems to relief agencies. Transportation cost is prohibitive. Tent manufacturers have raised prices of their products.
Foreign response is heartening. China, U.S., Iran, Britain, Japan and a number of other counties have already sent their relief teams with necessary equipment and supplies. UAE and Kuwait have donated U.S. $ 100 million each while Washington has announced an initial; donation of U.S. $ 5o million. Other countries including India have also announced various donations in the shape of goods and cash. The high-profile rescue operations at the collapsed Margala housing tower is continuing in Islamabad. The local rescue workers with the help of British experts have pulled out alive a number of persons trapped under the debris. So far 30 bodies have been recovered from the scene of tragedy. However, school children trapped under the collapsed roofs of their school buildings in Garhi Habibullah, Balakot and elsewhere are dying inch by inch as rescue workers gathered at the spot neither have the tools nor the strength left to pull them out. The thousands of buds have withered before these could blossom into flowers. The calamity hit the innocent children the hardest. While the Government is faced with the gigantic task of coordinating relief efforts, it is time the political parties rose above political considerations and joined hands to help alleviate miseries of the quake affected survivors. We must realize that such calamities throw up an opportunity for the people to unitee. They must seize the moment.

Job for ElBaradei

FOLLOWING the surprise Nobel Peace prize for Mohamed ElBaradei, Iran has urged the Egyptian head of the IAEA not to let the policies of the nuclear watchdog dictated by global movers and shakers. Iran has been remarkably slow in its response to the Nobel honour for ElBaradei and the IAEA. Although the Iranian Press saw a definite ‘conspiracy’ in awarding the world’s most respected prize to the UN agency and its chief especially its timing, officially Teheran chose to ignore the development. And now it has come out with a guarded response advising ElBaradei to tread cautiously. The IAEA and its soft-spoken chairman indeed face a dangerous road ahead.
ElBaradei has so far done a great job of his critical responsibility inviting grudging praise even from the bitterest critics of the IAEA including the US. Under him, the IAEA has tried to maintain its independence without fearing or favouring any country. On both Iraq and Iran, the agency has consciously refused to be bullied and coerced by big powers. While urging Iran to cooperate with the IAEA, ElBaradei did not fail to draw attention to another nuclear threat to the Middle East - from Israel. Even ahead of the crucial meeting last month, when the IAEA board surprisingly voted to refer Iran’s case to UN Security Council, ElBaradei had argued that Iran hadn’t violated the NPT regime. Of course, his voice was lost in the rising chorus against Iran. It was a tribute to ElBaradei’s leadership that he has been retained in the job for a third term despite some reservations in Washington.
However, with the Nobel feather in his cap, ElBaradei has come under greater pressure to ‘perform.’ As many in this part of the world —and in the West — see it, the Nobel honour for ElBaradei and IAEA comes with major strings attached. If the IAEA now turns the heat on Iran, it would be accused of trying to please the West. On the other hand, if it fails to ‘deal’ with Iran, it could invite the charge of failing to do its job despite the international community’s ‘trust’ in the agency. So ElBaradei finds himself in a decidedly tricky and unenviable position. However, the IAEA and its chief do not have to change their approach towards Iran or for that matter any other state flirting with nuclear power just because they have been honoured with the Nobel Peace prize. ElBaradei should continue doing his duty as he has been doing until now: honestly, objectively and without fearing or favouring anyone. There is no better way of going about the job of saving the world from nuclear extinction. As for critics, you can never please them.

—Khaleej Times