In the days following the Kashmir Quake 8/10, our paper and electronic media created many myths about it. Here are the eight most important ones:
Myth #01: Aid was not reaching the remote villages
The reporters and commentator never visited those villages. (If anyone did, he should have reported it to the nearest center and the relief would have been on its way immediately.) They just repeated wild guesses of the ordinary people in towns, who themselves had not visited the remote areas. Nobody could know until the villagers over there themselves came down to get relief. But then they would be no longer without aid.
Myth #02: There was a lack of coordination in relief work
The government appointed a Federal Relief Commissioner (with Commissioners in all provinces) to get a complete picture of the affected area, find out about its needs and coordinate all efforts to meet them. Yet everybody continues to complain of lack of coordination. There is no remedy for deliberate ignorance.
Myth #03: There was a long delay in relief operations
The Government, under normal conditions, does not keep vast stocks of food, clothing, medical supplies, blankets, tents and other items. In an emergency, these have to come from the people and the suppliers and it takes time. The roads were blocked. The local administration and its infrastructure in the affected areas had been wiped out. Only the army could do the relief work at a large scale and the government deployed it immediately to the maximum extent. The units up in the mountains along the Line of Control found their return paths blocked by slides. Their infrastructure in towns was demolished. They themselves suffered hundreds of casualties. Yet the army units started relief work wherever they happened to be.
Myth #04: Indian helicopters would have been of great help.
There was an obvious mischief in the offer. The objective was to survey in detail with human eyes our army positions along the Line of Control, something no satellite could do. As for relief, those helicopters have not been able to provide relief even on their own side, where the devastation was only in a very small area. And why did India not send right away tents and blankets in large quantity that were needed more than helicopters?
Myth #05: After such a big earthquake, there will be no others
There may not be another big one in the same area but other areas are vulnerable. According to Indian seismologists, the Kangra area in Himachal Pradesh is active again. The epicenter of the earthquake in 1905 was only 200 kms from Lahore. After 100 years, another big one may come any time.
Myth #06: The differences of politicians have disappeared
No opposition leader is missing any opportunity to criticize the government. The leader of the opposition refused to attention the National Security Council meeting that was to discuss just the matters relating to the earthquake. Not even a calamity can stop opposition from its dirty games.
Myth #07: Reporters gave eyewitness accounts of the total picture
Well, how much of reality can a reporter see in an area of 20,000 sq. kms, even if he has a helicopter of his own? Feeling only one leg of an elephant does not tell a blind man how the animal looks like. When a reporter cannot cover more than a very small area in the whole day, the total picture will take a whole team many weeks.
Myth #08: The death toll may be close to 500,000
Many journalists, especially Talat Husain of Aaj TV, insist that the death toll is up to half a million. They do not realize the implications of their sensationalism. Suppose the government accepts their wild guess. It has announced compensation of Rs 100,000 per death. If the actual body count turns out to be no more than 100,000, it will end up paying 400,000 bogus claims. That will be Rs 40 billion down the drain.
In New York, over 8000 were estimated initially to have died on 9/11. The official figure later was 2752. In New Orleans, the mayor claimed that more than 10,000 had died. The actual body count turned out to be only 1,163.
No comments:
Post a Comment