Quake, Balochistan, Kalabagh, 9/11 are worrying Pakistani-Americans
By Irshad Salim

NEW JERSEY, JAN 11 - "As an American citizen from Pakistan who wants better relations between Pakistan and the United States, I look at it like this: We're going to spend half a trillion dollars in Iraq. If we spent one-20th of that amount in Pakistan, it would have a tremendous impact on our relations. It would be a new beginning. The U.S. would be seen as a long-term ally and not just a country that wants to manipulate and control Pakistan, stated Agha Saeed, a Pakistani-American resident of Fremont, California to a local newspaper The Argus.

Saeed, is the chairman of the Newark-based Pakistani-American Democratic Forum, which helped spearhead local relief efforts in the Bay area. An estimated $250,000 to $500,000 has been raised to date.

Working on its own, the Pakistani-American community has been able to collect as much as $77 million in USA.

In addition, dozens of the 10,000 Pakistani doctors who practice in the United States and Canada have gone to Pakistan to provide medical assistance through organizations such as the Association of Pakistani Physicians in North America.

Many Pakistani expats in USA and Pakistani Americans lost relatives and friends in the Oct 8th devastating earthquake. Many have relatives who were seriously injured, and children without elders left in the destroyed homes.

But distressed by reports that huge warehouses of relief supplies in Kashmir's capital of Muzaffarabad have yet to reach more remote villages at higher elevations, Saeed said "If you went to Wal-Mart, talked to the manager and asked how many hammers they had, they would be able to tell you the total, how many are in back order, how many are being delivered, and account for everything," Saeed said. "But the Pakistan Federal Relief Commission lacks the software to keep track of everything, so they cannot put together a complete picture of what's happening."

According to the newspaper, for one month, Syed Wahid, a 51-year-old Pakistani-American physician, traveled in an SUV through the earthquake-stricken areas of Kashmir.

As temperatures dropped, Wahid saw men, women and children suffering from scabies, chicken pox, measles and other skin infections; families of 15 to 18 people crammed into single tents; and health clinics reduced to rubble while hundreds of survivors still waited for help.

"So many remote regions have not been reached," Wahid said. "People are in shock, and there are no psychological services. It's astonishing. We saw whole villages suffering from epidemics, kids and adults. They're still in tents with single sheets and it's getting cold. Many people don't have proper food or shelter."

Pakistan is a poor country, but it has a considerable middle-class population overseas, specially in the United States and the Middle East. Over 120,000 Pakistani Americans live in the New York boroughs alone.

Three months after the earthquake, many Pakistani-Americans such as Wahid say they feel obligated to help their native country and keep this tragedy in the spotlight.

"We've had fund-raisers almost every week in our community, given that it's our country," said Raana Faiz, a Pakistani American and host of a local radio program in Urdu. "But it's very sad that the media here has not paid attention, especially because children were affected. We still don't know how many more children are going to die due to the cold (weather)."

More than 87,300 people died in the 7.6 magnitude earthquake in northern Pakistan on Oct. 8 that left more than 3.5 million people homeless, - more than 2 million of them living in tents.

United States have pledged $510 million — and more may follow.

Saeed said helping earthquake survivors is not only the right thing to do, it's also important symbolically to come to the aid of the second most populous Muslim country in the world.

Saeed added that it is better for aid to come late than never. As both he and Wahid noted, the survivors are going to need help for a long time.

Today, these quake survivors observed the Islamic feast of sacrifice, Eid ul-Adha, marking the day with prayers for the dead. Sheep, cows, lambs and camels _ some donated by aid organizations _ were sacrificed as part of the holiday.

Celebrants, however, were soon served a jolting reminder of the earlier devastation, when another earthquake rattled northern Pakistan at midmorning today. The 5.1-magnitude aftershock was felt in the capital Islamabad, as well as part of Kashmir and the country's North West Frontier Province.

There were no immediate reports of casualties or damage from the quake, one of more than 1,500 aftershocks to have hit the region in the past three months.

Pakistan's Meteorological Department has already issued an avalanche warning for the earthquake zone later this week, especially for towns and villages higher up in the Himalayas where freezing temperatures are expected.

Temperatures have already dipped to 5 degrees in some areas.

Wednesday's aftershock was a reminder that the Meteorological Department has warned of more earthquakes in the coming months, although their frequency is expected to decrease.

Meanwhile, a funding shortfall – the U.N. still has only received about half of the money needed to cover its $2 million-a-day expenses until early April – has fueled suspicions that international relief agencies have exaggerated the gravity of the situation to pressure donors for more money.

"We are worried, we love Pakistan. What else can we do, tell me", asks a Pakistani-American.

Unfortunately, he's not the only one.

"Our perception due to the quake and its aftermath, Balochistan insurgency, Kalabagh Dam's divisiveness, and constant media spotlight on us Pakistanis and Pakistan is affected...we fee lonely, we are disturbed, concerned," says another Pakistani expatriate.

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