The move to my new place finally got done last week, and I expected to get back to writing up my running stories tonight - but these past couple of days, things have been shaken by news of the earthquake in South Asia. As you all know - on Saturday this massive quake hit the North Pakistan/Kashmir region, resulting in tens of thousands dead (and still counting), many of them school children - the lives of millions devastated. Friends of South Asia, a South Asian community organization in the SF Bay Area that I am involved with, along with other Indians/Pakistanis in the area are trying to figure out what we can do to help. At the very least we can all donate generously. Go to the earthquake wikipedia/wikicities page at http://pakistan.wikicities.com/wiki/Earthquake_10-05 to get latest news, info, photographs, personal accounts, etc. as well as various donation options.
more running stuff coming tomorrow...
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2 comments:
Dude....
Be sure you are donating to the right organizations; there are a lot of fake ones out there to make money on such tragedies.
I'm sure you must have read that Pakistan accepted India's help in the relief effort... do you think these friendly gestures will reduce the tension and help them in the negotiations over Kashmir?
anonymous, I wish you'd identify yourself, and then I'd be more comfortable having this conversation.
Anyway - your point is well taken. Yes, we all must donate responsibly. For example, we at Friends of South Asia are committed to establishing contacts with grassroots organizations in the affected regions and follow through on where the money is going, and ensure that it is being used effectively.
In general, all of us thinking of donating should do our homework. We should in particular be wary of organizations that have a sectarian/hate-based agenda.
Re: Indo-Pak cooperation in the relief effort and what that means:
- first of all I think that a LOT more cooperation is needed, and that's not happening mainly because Kashmir on both sides of the border has been heavily militarized. What little cooperation that's happening out there is not nearly enough.
There was comment on this question on Democracy Now!, an independent radio show. It featured an interview with Tariq Ali - a renowned Pakistani author and activist, and Moeen Cheema, a professor at the Lahore Institute of Management Sciences. See http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=05/10/10/1335215
Amy Goodman actually asked them the above question during her interview.
I totally agree with their conclusion, which is that this particular instance is not likely to change the situation on the ground all that much. There are a lot of other factors that need to be resolved before real progress on Kashmir can be made. The areas are still heavily militarized, etc.
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