ICG says Pakistan spend quake money on "countering Jihadis"

Just came across this article in the morning..

Dont know who this "think tank" is, but to suggest badly needed money to rebuild hospitals, schools, and housing for victims of the quake should be spent on "countering Jihadi influences" is just crazy.

Kashmir is of course an autonomous region, not even one of the four provinces of Pakistan. At least some of the money donated was given as loans, some needing interest to be paid back. Money has of course been given from Pakistan to Kashmir on this, the relief operations were basically coordinated by Pakistan (which the ICG also finds to have been below par) - yet the quake cut off roads to remote villages in the mountains so it was basically impossible for them to reach those areas with a limited supply of helicopters (Pakistan invests more in helicopter gunships than troop transporters). 

By countering Jihadi influences if it's meant to mean to create a civil war when there is not one and no need for one, then there's not much thinking going on in the tank. 

Anyone helping in the reconstruction effort should be welcomed. In many ways Mush would be damned if he does and damned if he doesnt. If he doesnt allow them, then what? The sympathies would still go out to the banned groups as they are willing to help in the reconstruction, but  being prevented from doing so by the government - making them the bad guys. If he allows them to participate sympathies will go out to the banned groups also and the government wont get a tarnished image either in the eyes of the people on the ground, so what sort of thinking is it to "martyr" the banned groups and make a villain out of the government? Comments? 

Sunday, April 02, 2006

ICG slams Pakistan on post-quake relief record

* Criticises �inadequacies� of Musharraf�s authoritarian rule
* Urges donors to end �embedded relationship with military�

Staff Report

PESHAWAR: A European think-tank has slammed Pakistan�s post-earthquake policy of allowing Islamist radicals to bolster their presence in the affected areas of the North West Frontier Province and Azad Kashmir, warning that the move could ultimately pose �threats to domestic and regional security�.

According to an International Crisis Group policy briefing entitled �Pakistan: Political Impact of the Earthquake�, the fact that banned jihadi groups such as Lashkar-e-Tayyaba and Jaishe-e-Muhammad are participating relief efforts either under new names or through front organisations, proves that their infrastructure remains in tact.

�To rebuild trust, the Pakistan government must disband the networks of these and all other banned organisations,� asserted the policy briefing released on March 15 and obtained by Daily Times on Saturday.

On October 8 2005, an earthquake measuring 7.6 on the Richter scale destroyed entire cities and villages in NWFP and AJK, killing approximately 88,000, injuring 100,000 and displacing millions.

�Should jihadi groups that have been active in relief work remain as involved in reconstruction, threats to domestic and regional security will increase,� the ICG warned.

Although Pakistan�s decision to allow banned militant outfits to participate in earthquake relief efforts drew fierce criticism from the West, President Pervez Musharraf remained adamant that his government would not stop anyone from delivering relief to the victims.

The ICG also criticised international donors, charging that their decision to �accept military directives and priorities, willingly or reluctantly, has also empowered extremists and, if extended to the reconstruction phase, could further undermine the prospects of democratisation in Pakistan and Pakistan-administered Kashmir�. It recommended that donors use their massive reconstruction pledges to counter jihadi influences.

The brief criticised the Pakistan Army�s �slow� response to the humanitarian disaster, pointing out that even though thousands of Pakistani soldiers were already stationed in Kashmir, the army took three days to reach major towns and far longer to reach many remote villages.

The ICG criticised the exclusion of elected bodies from humanitarian relief efforts, contending that the army should not have been put in exclusive control of relief, rehabilitation and reconstruction plans.

Responding to the policy briefing�s assertions, military spokesman Maj-Gen Shaukat Sultan slammed its charges as �absurd�, stressing that the army�s handling of the post-quake situation had gained it worldwide recognition.

�The army�s response was acknowledged throughout the world, with the World Economic Forum describing it as a text-book response to managing natural disasters,� he told Daily Times.

However, the ICG brief claimed that the government�s �ill-planned and poorly executed emergency response to the October 8 earthquake highlighted the inadequacies of authoritarian rule� in Pakistan.

As the Musharraf government embarked on three to four years of reconstruction and rehabilitation work, the absence of civilian oversight as well as inadequate accountability and transparency mechanisms threatened to seriously undermine the process, the think-tank warned.

It urged international humanitarian organisations to therefore shift their approach from an �embedded relationship with the military� to an effective partnership �with elected officials and credible and moderate civil society organisations�.