Survivors of the earthquake that buried Bhukari village have one major concern if relatives from the Pakistani zone of divided Kashmir come look for them -- they will not recognize each other.
Bhukari is a short walk from the final border village of Teetwal in Indian-administered Kashmir where the government plans to set up one of three centers so people from the Pakistan side can get relief and meet relatives.
"It is hard. I must admit I will not be able to recognize them as I have not seen them at all," said Abduk Rashid, 56, from a camp set up for survivors by the army and government in agricultural fields amid the haystacks.
PHOTO: AP
"I came to know from some friends that two of my relatives died in the quake. If they open the border I can send word with [someone] to find out," Rashid said.
Indian and Pakistani officials were slated to meet in Islamabad yesterday to thrash out the practicalities of opening the Line of Control that divides Kashmir.
The nuclear-armed rivals claim Kashmir in full and have fought two wars over the territory.
India says survivors from the Pakistani zone can visit the relief camps in daylight hours, be treated and gather supplies, and then cross back again. Pakistan has proposed five crossing points where relief can be facilitated.
But those in Bhukari were unaware of the plans to open the border and some didn't even know it was officially known as the Line of Control.
"What is the Line of Control?" asked agricultural laborer Ali Akbar. "We know if we walk for under an hour we can reach Pakistan. Are they allowing us to the other side? When? If they open I will go to enquire about my relatives.
"I do not know how to reach them. They too do not have a telephone and the last letter they wrote came about a year ago. I do not know if they are alive," Akbar, who was stitching his old and torn clothes inside a tent, said.
VAGUE: The criteria of the amnesty remain unclear, but it would cover political violence from 1999 to today, and those convicted of murder or drug trafficking would not qualify Venezuelan Acting President Delcy Rodriguez on Friday announced an amnesty bill that could lead to the release of hundreds of prisoners, including opposition leaders, journalists and human rights activists detained for political reasons. The measure had long been sought by the US-backed opposition. It is the latest concession Rodriguez has made since taking the reins of the country on Jan. 3 after the brazen seizure of then-Venezuelan president Nicolas Maduro. Rodriguez told a gathering of justices, magistrates, ministers, military brass and other government leaders that the ruling party-controlled Venezuelan National Assembly would take up the bill with urgency. Rodriguez also announced the shutdown
Chinese President Xi Jinping’s (習近平) purge of his most senior general is driven by his effort to both secure “total control” of his military and root out corruption, US Ambassador to China David Perdue said told Bloomberg Television yesterday. The probe into Zhang Youxia (張又俠), Xi’s second-in-command, announced over the weekend, is a “major development,” Perdue said, citing the family connections the vice chair of China’s apex military commission has with Xi. Chinese authorities said Zhang was being investigated for suspected serious discipline and law violations, without disclosing further details. “I take him at his word that there’s a corruption effort under
China executed 11 people linked to Myanmar criminal gangs, including “key members” of telecom scam operations, state media reported yesterday, as Beijing toughens its response to the sprawling, transnational industry. Fraud compounds where scammers lure Internet users into fake romantic relationships and cryptocurrency investments have flourished across Southeast Asia, including in Myanmar. Initially largely targeting Chinese speakers, the criminal groups behind the compounds have expanded operations into multiple languages to steal from victims around the world. Those conducting the scams are sometimes willing con artists, and other times trafficked foreign nationals forced to work. In the past few years, Beijing has stepped up cooperation
The dramatic US operation that deposed Venezuelan president Nicolas Maduro this month might have left North Korean leader Kim Jong-un feeling he was also vulnerable to “decapitation,” a former Pyongyang envoy to Havana said. Lee Il-kyu — who served as Pyongyang’s political counselor in Cuba from 2019 until 2023 — said that Washington’s lightning extraction in Caracas was a worst-case scenario for his former boss. “Kim must have felt that a so-called decapitation operation is actually possible,” said Lee, who now works for a state-backed think tank in Seoul. North Korea’s leadership has long accused Washington of seeking to remove it from power
RSS