Tuesday, October 18, 2005
Quake Widens Rift in Families Across Kashmir - N.Y. Times [free registration required]
[This is an excellent article to read to learn about the effects of the long war, as well as the earthquake; here are a few excerpts:]
So great was the earth's fury on Oct. 8, Hakim Ali Khan said, pointing up above this village, that even the mountains cracked. Three waterfalls were born. Huge boulders were dislodged from the Himalayas, sending cattle to their deaths in the ravines. Every house crumbled, leaving at least 300 dead and an immeasurable grief.
No strangers to loss, the people here in Kamal Kote, a cluster of villages pressed against the disputed Kashmir frontier, have survived three wars in the last half-century. They were shelled from across the cease-fire line, when the two countries nearly went to war a fourth time, in late 2001. Kamal Kote's men were hounded, beaten and killed by Indian soldiers fighting a guerrilla war that began in the late 1980's, and in droves, they crossed over into Muzaffarabad, the capital of the Pakistan-controlled part of Kashmir. The line has divided Kashmiri families for 50 years.
...
The earthquake does not seem to have entirely crushed the legacy of mistrust. Kashmiris on either side still have no way to communicate with their relatives across the line. The one connection across the province - a bus service begun six months ago ... has been indefinitely postponed. The so-called Peace Bridge that connects the divided province is itself badly damaged.
...
"There is definitely a lot of sorrow," [Mr. Bucch] said. "I don't have any words."
His daughter, Samra, in her mid-20's, who lay trapped in the rubble next to her lifeless mother, was pulled out alive after four hours. The body of his wife, Sabia, was extracted a day later. Her body showed no injuries. The family consoles itself by saying she died of a heart attack.
Mr. Bucch refused to surrender to grief. He had overcome calamity before.
"Things get better each time," he said. "We work hard and things get better." ...
[This is an excellent article to read to learn about the effects of the long war, as well as the earthquake; here are a few excerpts:]
So great was the earth's fury on Oct. 8, Hakim Ali Khan said, pointing up above this village, that even the mountains cracked. Three waterfalls were born. Huge boulders were dislodged from the Himalayas, sending cattle to their deaths in the ravines. Every house crumbled, leaving at least 300 dead and an immeasurable grief.
No strangers to loss, the people here in Kamal Kote, a cluster of villages pressed against the disputed Kashmir frontier, have survived three wars in the last half-century. They were shelled from across the cease-fire line, when the two countries nearly went to war a fourth time, in late 2001. Kamal Kote's men were hounded, beaten and killed by Indian soldiers fighting a guerrilla war that began in the late 1980's, and in droves, they crossed over into Muzaffarabad, the capital of the Pakistan-controlled part of Kashmir. The line has divided Kashmiri families for 50 years.
...
The earthquake does not seem to have entirely crushed the legacy of mistrust. Kashmiris on either side still have no way to communicate with their relatives across the line. The one connection across the province - a bus service begun six months ago ... has been indefinitely postponed. The so-called Peace Bridge that connects the divided province is itself badly damaged.
...
"There is definitely a lot of sorrow," [Mr. Bucch] said. "I don't have any words."
His daughter, Samra, in her mid-20's, who lay trapped in the rubble next to her lifeless mother, was pulled out alive after four hours. The body of his wife, Sabia, was extracted a day later. Her body showed no injuries. The family consoles itself by saying she died of a heart attack.
Mr. Bucch refused to surrender to grief. He had overcome calamity before.
"Things get better each time," he said. "We work hard and things get better." ...
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