President spurs nation to rise to occasion
Declares Friday as Yaum-e-Dua - Says disaster beyond Govt’s capability; impediments removed in relief goods distribution - Thankful to World leaders for providing assistance - Praises Opposition, political parties for joining hands in rescue efforts
DM Monitoring

ISLAMABAD—Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf has appealed to the nation to offer special prayers on Friday for the families afflicted by the worst earthquake in the country’s history that left 23,000 people dead.
“I pray for all those who lost their lives in this tragedy. This is the blessed month of Ramazan,” President said in a nationwide broadcast Wednesday evening.
“I therefore appeal to the nation to offer special prayers on Friday for the afflicted families that Allah Almighty may grant them courage to bear the loss”.
A grim-looking Musharraf said: “Pakistan today is faced with a massive calamity. An earthquake of 7.6 magnitude and the resultant devastation is the worst tragedy in Pakistan’s history”.
Nearly 23,000 have been killed, some 50,000 people injured and millions of people were made homeless by Saturday’s quake. The disaster struck just after the start of Ramadan, the holy month in which Muslims fast during the day.
“This tragedy is much bigger than the capacity and capability of the government as a whole. We have to face this challenge,” he said.
Musharraf also prayed that “Allah Almighty may guide the government and the whole nation to overcome this calamity in an effective manner”.
President Pervez Musharraf on Wednesday expressed gratitude to the world for help after Pakistan’s devastating earthquake and asked for more, saying the country remained in “dire need”.
In an evening address to the nation, the Pakistani leader said that relief operations were finally in “full swing” after initial delays, four days after the country’s worst quake.
“For all these activities we are in dire need of financial aid,” Musharraf said.
“I appeal to the international community to donate funds, give financial assistance and donate to the president’s relief fund,” he said of a fund he set up for donations.
The general turned president said the toll remained at nearly 23,000 people dead but he raised the death count among soldiers to 450 from an earlier figure of 226.
Musharraf expressed “Pakistan’s gratitude for all the assistance that we are getting from the international community”.
He mentioned specifically the aid from historic rival India, saying its Prime Minister Manmohan Singh “was very kind to ring me up and offer all possible assistance”.
Musharraf also praised other countries including Turkey. He said a Turkish medical team was already in the badly hit city of Muzaffarabad when he visited within the first 24 hours.
But Musharraf acknowledged that not all survivors received treatment immediately.
“I know there was a delay in it but it was due to the fact that roads were blocked, there was no army and the administration itself was among the victims and, therefore, it took a while to reach these areas,” he said.
“But now as the roads are opened, army has reached there and we have plenty of helicopters, I assure you the rescue operations will be conducted in a more effective manner,” he said.
He said that the Pakistani army did not have enough helicopters to deal with the situation but that the country had benefitted from choppers provided by the United States.
Text of President’s speech: Pakistan today is faced with a massive calamity. An earthquake of 7.6 magnitude and the resultant devastation is the worst tragedy in Pakistan’s history. As a result of this, nearly 23,000 have been killed and some 50,000 people are wounded. Millions of people have become homeless. Balakot and Muzaffarabad cities are the worst affected areas. Communication infrastructure, roads, power, water and telephone system all have been destroyed. This tragedy is much bigger than the capacity and capability of the government as a whole. We have to face this challenge. In this connection, I pray for all those who lost their lives in this tragedy. This is the blessed month of Ramadan. I therefore appeal to the nation to offer special prayers on Friday for the afflicted families that Allah Almighty may grant them courage to bear the loss. And also pray, in these trying times, that Allay Almighty may guide the government and the whole nation to overcome this calamity in an effective manner.
My dear countrymen, we have to face this catastrophe with courage, confidence and unity. We have to confront this calamity as a courageous nation and a confident government. We should not be cowed down by this disaster. We have to face it with determination and transform this catastrophe into betterment of the people. Those who died cannot come back, but it is in our hands to work for the better future of the affected areas and their people. And, Inshallah, we will succeed. I know it is the people of these affected areas who are facing all the problems and we have to mitigate their sufferings. I would like to say here that in such a situation, criticising others and indulging in mud-slinging is a sign of defeat and helplessness.
Pakistan, its people and the government are those who cannot be defeated. Therefore we have to face this tragedy with courage, patience, determination and confidence. Therefore, it has to be reflected in our media and in our actions that we are a confident nation and facing this problem courageously. I would like to, first of all, pay tributes to the people. I don’t have words to praise their passion, determination, sympathy and solidarity that they have showed. The entire nation has emerged as one. Then, I would like to pay tributes to the army, specially the engineers and doctors who acted promptly to restore the communication network and treated the wounded. I would also like to acknowledge and appreciate the contributions by the NGOs, specially the Edhi Trust, who immediately started the relief work.
I pay tributes to all the political parties, including the opposition, for their response and attitude. I would also like to express Pakistan’s gratitude for all the assistance that we are getting from the international community. We have been given a lot of donations. We have been assisted in relief and rescue operations and several medical teams and field hospitals have been established by various countries. May I specifically mention the names of Turkey, UAE, the United States, the U.K., Saudi Arabia, China, Germany, Russia, France, Japan, Switzerland, Spain, Iran, Azerbaijan, Hungary and Bangladesh. May I also say that Indian Prime Minister was very kind to ring me up and offerred all possible assistance. We express our gratitude to him and we have accepted Indian aid in certain form and inform them.
I would also like to mention the number of telephone calls and the number of letters that I have received from various heads of state. We express our deepest gratitude for all your words of kindness, words of sympathy in our hour of need. Thank you very much. Lets see where the problem lies and how it has to be dealt with. This tragedy has occurred in two regions, specially. First, the Azad Kashmir region, Muzaffarabad, Bagh and Rawalakot and beyond Muzaffarabad, in Neelam river valley and Jehlum river valley. Secondly, in the Hazara division in the North-West Frontier Province. Here an access is going from Mansehra towards Balakot and Kaghan. There has been lot of damage in these areas. And the second access is Batal, Shangla and Batgram areas. In this area specially, the damage and the loss is maximum. Besides, a building collapsed in Islamabad and there is some damage in Lahore. It is very important to understand what is the magnitude and the kind of damage.
First, all the communication infrastructure and roads have been destroyed. There are two access roads to Muzaffarabad — one from Murree and the other from Abbottabad, Mansehra. Both roads had been destroyed and no traffic was possible on these roads. And beyond Muzaffarabad, roads to Neelam and Jehlum river valleys are closed. Apart from roads, there are many villages which are located away from these roads in valleys and in the mountains. These are not accessible even in the normal circumstances. There has been a lot of damage in those areas. And we don’t have any precise estimate of losses there. As the roads were closed, helicopters were the only means to access these areas and villages where roads are totally non-existent.
And Pakistan army does not have enough helicopters to deal with the situation. As far as the army is concerned, it was already present in Azad Kashmir, in Muzaffarabad, Bagh and Rawalakot. But they themselves suffered by the quake. Some 450 armymen were martyred and nearly 700 wounded. So they were also not in a position to help others. There is no army in the area of Mansehra. Fresh troops had to be sent there. I would like to say here that no country in the world is prepared to face catastrophe of this magnitude. It has to react and efforts are to react and react quickly and help the people. So this was the magnitude and the kind of the disaster we faced. Now we look at the response. What we have to do, what we are doing and what we need to do in future. In my view, our response to this tragedy is in two phases. Immediate Response — relief and rescue of the people — and second is the Longer-term (response) — rehabilitation and reconstruction.
The government has to take action in these two phases. First of all, take the immediate response — what we did immediately and what we have to do. In the first 8 to 12 hours, we were only getting information and we did not have an idea of the magnitude of the destruction.
So, immediately we reacted to the collapse of a building in Islamabad. And I would like to pay tributes to the public, CDA, army and civil organizations for their swift response who put their lives at stake to save others. Later the British rescue team joined these efforts and they have shown excellent performance and I would also like to pay tributes to them. Now we come to the Azad Kashmir, Mansehra and the adjoining areas. First of all, the most important task was to clear the roads. Here, I would like to say that within 48 hours, the six engineers battalions opened up Murree-Muzaffarabad and Abbottabad-Mansehra roads. Now even heavy transport can ply on these roads. I also pay tributes to these engineers.
Side by side, the second important operation to be taken immediately was to rescue people, specially in Muzaffarabad and Balakot areas, who were buried under the rubble and bury those who were killed and treatment and evacuation of those who survived or wounded. I know, there was a delay in it but it was due to the fact that roads were blocked, there was no army and the administration itself was among the victims and, therefore, it took a while to reach these areas. After clearing roads, the immediate task was to evacuate the survivors from under the wreckage and bury those who were killed. I would like to say that there had been some delay as, because of lack of helicopters and dilapidated roads, it was impossible for the army to reach there. But now, the rescue and relief activities are in full swing as roads are now opened and besides our army helicopters we have also got more helicopters, specially Chinooks and Black Hawks helicopters from the United States.
Here, I would like to say that within 72 hours (three days), the entire army has been mobilized. A full division from Gujranwala has been moved to Mansehra, after travelling 300 miles, and set up its divisional headquarters there. One brigade has been deployed in Mansehra, one brigade has been despatched to Batgram and two brigades are currently present at Balakot. A company — 100 to 150 army troops — is positioned at every 15 to 20 kilometers on the road. It will cover either side of the road into mountains and villages and carry out relief and rescue operation. In Muzaffarabad area, a divisional headquarters under the command of a major general has been established in Murree and a second division has been deployed in Rawalakot from Mangla. They also had to travel hundreds of miles to reach there. The army is there now and they have started the rescue and relief operation. This action has been taken within 72 hours of the tragedy.
For me, it is not a slow movement but we have rather acted very promptly. People did suffer in the first one or two days for which we, myself, the entire nation, the army, the people and the government are sad about it. But now as the roads are opened, army has reached there and we have plenty of helicopters. I assure you the rescue operations will be conducted in a more effective manner. These were the main areas. But there are other villages in remote areas and in the mountains and we are sending helicopters to assess the damage.
In this regard, we have arranged for the satellite photographs, which may have been received by now. Through these satellite photos we want to analyze the extent of damage in small remote areas so that we can access them and provide help. Now, the most important goods to be transported are tents and blankets as specially in the areas of Muzaffarabad and Balakot, people have no shelter. There has been delay here also but again as I said earlier, roads were blocked and helicopters were scarce. As the roads are opened, we have more helicopters and PAF’s C-130 are also flying, and I am confident that tents and blankets are now reaching the people in large quantity. I would like to mention here, that tents in Pakistan are manufactured in a very small number and there is a shortage of tents all across the country and we are importing them. This relief was immediately needed.
Besides, we had to send medical aid as it was also very important. I pay tributes to all doctors, including army and foreign doctors. When I visited Muzaffarabad within the first 24 hours, a Turkish medical team was already there. There were also civilians doctors from all over the country, some of whom reached there within 48 hours and I pay tributes to all of them. When I went to Muzaffarabad, Rawalakot, Bagh in the first 24 hours, nearly 100 operations had already been carried out on the field and nearly 1000 people had been evacuated to hospitals. Medicines from all over the world are reaching Chaklala base, where they are being sorted out and sent to the affected areas by roads and helicopters.
Whereas there were many doctors, the problem was that there was no arrangement for surgery in forward areas. So we sent mobile surgical teams, fields hospitals in Mansehra area and Muzaffarabad so that medical treatment is immediately provided to the injured on the spot. Those requiring surgery are being brought to the field hospitals while more critically wounded are being shifted to hospitals by air and roads. There is also a need to provide foodstuffs in these areas which is being done. Food packets containing atta, pulses, rice, ghee, tealeaf, milk powder and sugar are being prepared and distributed among the affectees. There has been a delay in this regard but it was due to time consumed in preparing these packets and delivering them in the affected areas.