Earthquake in Pakistan exposes rottenness of regime

Upwards of 40,000 people are thought to have died and hundreds of thousands injured in Pakistan, northern India, and Kashmir as a result of the earthquake that hit the region Saturday morning. The devastation caused by the quake has exposed the rottenness of the Musharraf regime and has left millions stranded with no shelter, food or water.

The 7.6 magnitude earthquake, the epicentre of which was in Muzaffarabad, the capital of Pakistan-controlled Kashmir, was felt across the entire region from central Afghanistan to Bangladesh. The worst affected area was northern Pakistan and Pakistan-controlled Kashmir. At midday today, Monday October 10, the Pakistani government released an incomplete death count from both Pakistan and Pakistan-controlled Kashmir, putting the number of dead at 30,000. Some 17,000 people are expected to have died in Pakistani-controlled Kashmir alone.

Indian-controlled Kashmir seems to have been spared the devastation seen in other areas, though some 800 people have died and the border town of Udi was virtually destroyed. Pakistan’s North-West Frontier Province was badly hit. Many villages and roads have been completely destroyed, making transport impossible. Pakistan's military spokesman, Maj. Gen. Shaukat Sultan, told CNN that, “In certain areas, almost entire towns, they have vanished from the scene.” CNN also reported that nearly every building in Balakot in the North-West Frontier Province, a tourist city of 250,000, had been destroyed.

The worst hit city was Muzzaffarabad, the capital of Pakistan-controlled Kashmir, where it is thought that some 11,000 people died. A Turkish search and rescue team has said that 80 percent of the region was destroyed in the quake. Residents have said that they face food and petrol shortages. There is no water or electricity. People have been forced to get water from a nearby mountain stream and to eat local fruit, of which there is little. Hospitals have been destroyed and there are not enough doctors -it has been reported that surgeries and emergency medical care are being administered on soccer fields.

Sadly, it seems that many of the victims were young children. Maj Gen Shaukat Sultan has declared that, "It is a whole generation that has been lost in the worst affected areas. The maximum number affected was schoolchildren.” It is feared that thousands of children died as the schools they were in collapsed upon them. Relief and rescue operations have yet to reach nearly half of the affected areas and the UN has warned that more than 2.5 million people are in need of supplies and shelter after the earthquake.

The scale of this disaster is enormous. Some in Pakistan have said that the devastation caused will be as great, if not greater than that caused by the Asian Tsunami nearly one year ago. Earthquakes cannot be predicted. There is no way of knowing how big an earthquake will be, or when it will strike. However, preparations can be made, and a lot can be done by way of prevention.

Similar to the devastation following the tsunami that struck South East Asia last year, much of the devastation and loss of life could have been prevented. The government of Pakistan has been forced to admit that it has been overwhelmed by the disaster and that it does not have the resources or infrastructure to deal with the humanitarian crisis. General Musharraf announced that the military had been mobilized, but because many roads have been blocked or destroyed in landslides the army was forced to use helicopters to fly in aid. This has put enormous pressure on Pakistan’s “limited” transport and helicopter resources.

The reports coming in from the various regions affected reveal the complete destruction and collapse of infrastructure in Pakistan and Kashmir. Across wide areas there is no food, water, or electricity. Unknown numbers of people are sleeping out in the open in freezing temperatures. Frustrated by the lack of aid and assistance, people have begun their own searches for loved ones – which the government is now trying to stop, in order to prevent total chaos. Those who did not lose everything have been camped out on the streets, afraid to return home for fear of aftershocks – one of which registered 6.2 on the Richter scale.

Pakistan will spend Rs 277 billion on its military by the end of 2005. For the same period, Pakistan will spend Rs 11.7 billion on education and Rs 4.128 billion on health.  From this it is easy to tell where the priorities of the Pakistani state lie – with the protection of the interests of the ruling class. The little money that Pakistan spends on social services and infrastructure has left the country with little or no means to deal with the crisis and the massive amount of money spent on the military has not been able to provide enough soldiers, or helicopters to deliver aid.

The rottenness of the regimes of the subcontinent has been exposed for the whole world to see. Rather than spend money on decent roads and buildings that can withstand earthquakes (such as those they have in Japan and California), and rather than provide hospitals and healthcare that could adequately deal with the daily needs of the people let alone a disaster, the rulers of the subcontinent have preferred to sink money into their swelling armies in a dangerous game of brinkmanship and bigotry.

A devastating natural disaster such as this could have revolutionary implications for Pakistan. The backwardness, rottenness and corruption of the regime will be exposed for all to see by the earthquake. The country has been smashed and the Musharraf regime is incapable of doing anything. Bureaucracy and lack of supplies is hindering the relief effort. People will see that the real interests of the ruling class and their cronies in the state are profits – they will be able to see that the rulers of Pakistan would rather spend millions on arms and military hardware, to protect their interests against their bitter rival India and against their own people, than on resources and infrastructure.

Already there are reports of angry protests from those affected by the disaster. The BBC reports that, “anger is mounting in communities where significant outside help has yet to arrive, amid fears time is running out to find survivors.” The BBC world service site also reports that “Some rescue efforts are starting to step up here but still far less than what is needed for the scale of the devastation… People have spent two consecutive nights out in the open. There are no tents or blankets. People are getting very angry because the authorities are unable to help.” It is easy to tell that the Musharraf regime is worried about the angry reaction of the people – he has begged for calm and patience. When meeting with emotional victims he begged, “For heaven's sake bear with us. There are certain limitations. We are trying our best”

This angry reaction is not confined to Pakistan. CNN reports that, “Many survivors have been critical of the government's relief operation. They say thousands still need help, and with only a trickle of aid, angry Kashmiris were blocking roads and demanding relief.” Kashmiris in Indian-controlled Kashmir have been eating rice mixed with dirt to stay alive. One man in Jabla explained that, "Here, in our village, we are only a few hundred people who need help ... water, tents, blankets… but we have not seen one single soldier." The Indian military has between 500,000 and 700,000 troops in Kashmir. Yet it has been reported that they are not helping in the aid effort, but are caring only for their own. Some 50 soldiers were killed when their barracks collapsed upon them. Military hospitals around Kashmir are giving priority to soldiers and their families over civilians. Angry, some 200 gathered to protest and block roads at the inadequate relief aid effort, which has been called “non-existent”.

The relief effort may be non-existent, but one thing is not – security in Kashmir. Time South Asia Bureau Chief Alex Perry has publicly said that despite the widespread damage and humanitarian needs, security was paramount in Indian-controlled Kashmir. He explained that, “There's no doubt at all that it's still a military zone," adding that checkpoints were holding up the passage of aid to the region. The Indian government is officially concerned that militants might use the disaster as an opportunity to start pouring over the border from Pakistan. What they are really worried about is a stream of refugees coming over the border in search of food and shelter that they cannot provide, and the possibility of mass demonstrations against the government’s handling of the disaster. Another fear, is that the disastrous handling of the disaster on the part of both the Pakistani and Indian governments, could unite the Pakistani and Indian workers in protest.

The West has arrived in typical fashion promising helicopters, aid, and money. As with the earthquake in Iran two years ago and the Asian tsunami last year, very little of this promised money will arrive and next to none will help the people that need it most. Most of the money will be pocketed by corrupt politicians and their associates in the government and in business, the rest will disappear into the black hole of charity and NGO groups. Most of the money will be in soft loans – or linked to the purchase of goods. To add insult to injury, the total amount of money donated will pale in comparison with the money spent by the US and the UK on the wars in neighbouring Afghanistan and in Iraq. The goodwill of millions of workers around the world, moved to donate their hard-earned money to help those in need, will be wasted on bureaucracy and the middle-man.

Capitalism has failed the people of Pakistan and Kashmir. The earthquake has fully exposed the rotten nature of the regimes in Pakistan, India, and Kashmir. The interests, well-being, and lives of millions of people mean nothing to rulers of the subcontinent, who are really only concerned with safeguarding their profits, and power. The workers and poor of the subcontinent cannot rely on the rulers of the subcontinent to provide them with the infrastructure and social services they need – in daily life or in times of great crisis such as now. The earthquake could possibly, like no other event, make the people of the subcontinent realize that unless they control the means of production, they will never be able to provide themselves with the necessary resources and infrastructure to deal with natural disasters or to improve their day-to-day life. If millions live in dire poverty on a day to day basis, if capitalism cannot provide the people of the subcontinent even a modicum of health care, education, housing, etc., then how can the system possibly deal with a disaster on this scale?