On Wednesday October 26, the regimes on both sides of the India-Pakistan border finally allowed three truckloads of relief goods to enter Pakistan from India. These items were collected by three Indian parliamentarians, Ms. Nirmala Deshpande, Mr. A.R. Shaheen, and Hannan Mullah. The supporters of the PTUDC in India also contributed generously to this collection, collecting the necessary goods. The relief items include tents, warm clothing, utensils, blankets and other necessities for the earthquake victims.

The caravan was brought over by comrades Ramesh Yadav and Raja. It was received at the Wagah border checkpoint by Pakistani MP and PTUDC president comrade Manzoor Ahmed, Hina Zain, Adam Paul and several other comrades of the PTUDC and YFIS. The relief goods had to be unloaded from the Indian trucks and reloaded onto Pakistan trucks as the regimes do not allow vehicles to cross the border from one country to another. Such is the sinister nature of the ruling classes of the subcontinent that even in the midst of this great human tragedy they will not allow the swift movement of relief goods for the victims of this calamity.

It took a total of seven hours to unload and reload the relief goods and to pass through customs. The members of Parliament from both countries were personally involved in the loading and unloading of goods.

The caravan started to move towards Islamabad at about 1:00 am. Comrade Ilyas was in charge of delivering the trucks to Islamabad. At Islamabad it was received by comrade Manzoor Ahmed and other comrades of the PTUDC & YFIS in Kashmir who would then take it to Kashmir.

After arriving in Islamabad the caravan started its journey to Muzaffarabad and Bagh, two of the most devastated cities in Kashmir. The first PTUDC caravan started from Kasur and the second went from Peshawar on October 18. This third caravan is very important because it is the first class-based solidarity effort between the people of India and Pakistan. No government or NGO is involved in this effort. The workers of India have collected these relief goods as a gesture of class solidarity and revolutionary unity. As the time of writing this report, the caravan is just beginning its steep climb through the Himilayas.

Our solidarity and relief efforts in Kashmir have been a tremendous success. We have treated over 1000 people in our medical camps and some 400 people are in our relief camps. The PTUDC’s solidarity caravans are bringing in supplies from across the subcontinent, exposing the callousness of the rulers of the subcontinent. We will soon be publishing reports on the work of our doctors in the medical camps as well as reports of the money we have raised so far. We have managed to raise a good amount of money. But more is needed! The UN has reported recently that there are only two to three weeks left to finish the majority of the relief work as winter is about to hit Kashmir. If goods and relief cannot get to some of the outlying villages by then, the roads will be closed and no one will be able to get in until the spring. We appeal to all those who can to please donate as much as you can to keep our efforts running smoothly!