The devastation caused by the 8 October 2005 earthquake is unprecedented in the history of Pakistan. Official figures keep on rising and we should be prepared for around 100,000 deaths, although some estimates mention the staggering figure of 250,000 and more. Around three million people have been rendered homeless.

We have to go back 70 years to find something of comparable magnitude hitting parts of the Indian subcontinent that became Pakistan. On that occasion, it was the capital of Balochistan, Quetta, which bore the brunt of the cataclysmic tremors. As a consequence some 50,000 human beings perished in 1935.

But death and destruction struck very close to us in 2001 when the Indian state of Gujarat suffered a major earthquake. Thousands of people died and many more were rendered homeless. Parts of Sindh were also affected and some deaths took place in Pakistan too. This time Azad Kashmir suffered the most but in the Indian Kashmir too several hundred died or were injured.

Except for the obscurantist who saw signs of God’s displeasure in the earthquake, implying that the victims received some collective punishment, most people have felt great sympathy for them and have been helping in all possible ways. The government response was slow and uncoordinated initially but the news is that it is improving all the time.

Where do we go from here? What will happen to the orphans and those parents who will never see their children again? I can’t imagine a worse fate than to be orphaned at a tender age or to grow old longing every day for the children who will never come back. Funds should be earmarked for their benefit exclusively and a public authority created to see to it that they are provided proper shelter and food. I would even suggest that the dogmatic Islamic law on adoption be discarded and childless couples enabled to adopt orphans with full right to inherit their property.

The earthquake has also had repercussions for the Indo-Pak peace process. India offered generous help, including helicopters, which President Pervez Musharraf had so fervently pleaded for in his appeal to the world. Pakistan initially refused the helicopters, but now is willing to accept the helicopters but not Indian pilots. How that can work is a mystery. We also rejected the Indian proposal that the armed forces of the two nations should carry out joint operations to bring quick relief to the people of the two Kashmirs. I wonder how many thousands of lives could have been saved if we had accepted that idea.

Apparently to deflect criticism directed towards its rejection of Indian helicopters, the Pakistan government has said that Kashmiris from both sides will be able to move across the LoC and India has agreed. That both military administrations are reluctant to make the movement of people completely free for reasons of security is understandable.

I was really touched when I saw on Zee Television an Indian train on its way to Lahore with a consignment of goods for the victims. The train started from Ambala and was going to take the route that once joined the Punjab together. The carriages bore the simple message

"From the people of India to the people of Pakistan".

Some commentators have suggested that more than 3,000 militants were based in areas hit by the earthquake. Many of their camps were destroyed. That could mean that they must have suffered heavy casualties, but the international press agency, Reuters, reported that hundreds of bearded men carrying Kalashnikovs belonging to the Jamaat ud Dawa, a group known to have had affiliation with the Lashkar-e-Taiba, were active in the relief work in Muzaffarabad. We should see to it that the extremists are not allowed to politically exploit the opportunity.

What lessons can we and the extremists learn from the great human tragedy that has befallen our people? If anything, we should learn that no man is an island and no nation self-contained. Not only the Muslim ummah but also Christians, Jews, Hindus, Buddhists, Sikhs and people who do not identify with any religion but with humanity — all came with whatever they could offer. The International Red Cross, Doctors without Borders, Oxfam, and many other humanitarian organisations and charities came out to help.

I have read the list of foreign religious organisations helping Pakistan with medicine and other requirements and several Christian and Jewish humanitarian bodies are among them.
There has been some criticism of the Arab response — only Kuwait has made a significant contribution, while the Turks were the first among the ummah to help and made the biggest contribution. We need to remember who did what for us. Just as for individuals so for nations the rule is: a friend in need is a friend indeed.

In any case, we need to dismiss as utter rubbish the theory that non-Muslims want to destroy Islam and the ummah. If those who speak on behalf of the ummah were really serious they would now change their ways and give the Muslim people a chance to create another world order based on mutual respect and sympathy. For too long a time they have succeeded in associating terrorism, extremism and fanaticism with the image of Muslims. That stranglehold must be broken.

The tragedy of Kashmir shows that death and destruction caused by nature does not distinguish between Muslim and non-Muslim. It is only logical that national calamities can be confronted if we stand united, especially those who are affected. I am reminded of a verse attributed to the late Makhdoom Mohiyuddin, but which I have never been able to verify. The verse belongs to all humanity and its creator deserves our gratitude. The poet writes:

Ye khoon na Hindu hai, na Muslim hai

Ye tera khoon hai, ye mera khoon hai

(This blood is neither Hindu nor Muslim

It is your blood and it is my blood).

It is time to move forward as good and caring neighbours. India and Pakistan should learn to function as one family in normal as well as abnormal times. This is the only way forward. There is no other alternative worth the name. It is not only foolish but criminal to keep two nations — one comprising a billion and the other 160 million individuals — hostages to a culture of militarism and national chauvinism.

The author is an associate professor of political science at Stockholm University. He is the author of two books. His email address is Ishtiaq.Ahmed@statsvet.su.se