The battle for hearts and minds in quake-hit Awaran Ammar Shahbazi Thursday, October 10, 2013

AWARAN: The people of Awaran had to brave two massive earthquakes in quick succession and lose 349 lives to get one lady doctor in their district — an area larger in size than the entire Federally Administered Tribal Areas (Fata). Awaran is not only the most backward district in the country’s most resource-rich but deprived province but is also at the centre of a bloody insurgency.Apart from the insurgents, it’s the harsh ground realities that are currently hampering the relief efforts in the quake-hit regions of Balochistan, claim military officials. The two earthquakes that hit Mashkay and adjoining areas on September 24 and 27, affected more than 25,000 families, rendering them homeless.“When a calamity hits an area, the rescue efforts rely heavily on the available government infrastructure like functioning hospitals, schools, communication systems. But in Awaran and other affected areas, the infrastructure is practically non-existent,” said Brig Abrar, the military official in charge of the relief efforts in the quake-hit region, while briefing journalists at an army military camp in Awaran on Monday. Abrar claimed that the military, which reached the area hours after the calamity struck, is also being attacked by the rebels, who killed two soldiers and are ambushing the military convoys with relief goods almost every other day. “We also have guns, but in times like this we are trying to hold back and help the people, who badly need our assistance,” said Maj-Gen Samrez Salik, GOC 33 Div, during the briefing.Much of the area affected by the recent earthquake is a stronghold of separatist Baloch insurgents, who have even shot at the helicopters carrying military and other officials responding to the disaster. In addition, the terrain of the area also makes it difficult for the government to respond, as any aid has to travel through roads that cut through mountains controlled by the insurgents.The rebels, who say they are fighting for independence from Pakistan, accuse the federal government of stealing the province’s rich mineral deposits, thus leaving the province in a backward and undeveloped state. They also accused the security forces, particularly the army and the paramilitary Frontier Constabulary of widespread human rights abuses, as well as involvement in kidnapping of nationalist Baloch youth. The government and the army deny these charges but independent rights bodies say that while the charges may be exaggerated, the involvement of the security forces in such incidents cannot be ruled out completely. Operating in an area considered a stronghold of the insurgency, the army is also clearly on a mission to win hearts and minds in this difficult environment.Maj-Gen Salik claimed that the people of the quake-hit region were being constantly threatened by the insurgent groups not to accept relief from the government and “in some instances they have resorted to burning down truckloads of relief items, which the victims direly needed”. “They are a group of thugs, who claim to fight for their people but are obstructing relief efforts,” he said.“The people of the affected areas are scared of them as these terrorists have threatened the victims of terrible consequences if they take relief goods.” Many Baloch nationalist groups, however, allege that access to the area has been blocked off by the security forces and authorities, preventing aid from flowing in. The NDMA has refused to allow foreign aid teams to enter the area, citing security issues. The officials of the Balochistan government, however, claimed that despite insurmountable odds, the government, with the help of the military, has managed to reach most of the affected families, “in terms of providing them immediate relief and shelters,” said Commissioner Kalat Division Dr Mohammed Akbar. In his presentation to the media at the Circuit House Awaran, the commissioner said that the relief efforts have now reached ‘the rehabilitation phase’. “The people need houses and long-term sustainable programmes to build their lives and stand on their feet,” he said. “Now the real work begins.”However, the locals complained of unequal distribution of relief items, many claiming that the political leaders had been biased towards their clans and voters. Some of the patients who came to a military medical camp at Awaran from far-flung areas said that they are still lying homeless near their destroyed homes without any help from the government. “Our women do not have covered toilets, they cannot bathe or change clothes; that’s the main problem we are facing,” said a patient in the waiting area of the medical camp.Mohammad Ramzan Baloch, the president of the Awaran Press Club agrees. “I have reports that in certain areas the political leaders or influential people have taken away trucks for their kin, which is deplorable.” Ramzan also said that there is a ‘communication gap’ between the people in the affected areas and the army, which needs to be bridged. “We all know that there is a gulf,” he said and stressed that if the army sincerely puts in an effort, “a lot of tension can be quelled.” Some of the senior military officials also believe that the calamity has provided the state with a rare opportunity to reach the rebel-infested areas and win back the “hearts and minds of our angry Baloch brothers and sisters,” as one colonel puts it. “We want to seize this opportunity and send the message to our estranged brothers and sisters here that we care for them,” he said, “the rebels are insecure; they know it well that if we succeed in doing that, then their phony ideology will fizzle out. And trust me we are getting positive vibes.”A great deal hangs on whether this confident message resonates in an area like Awaran. The challenge right now is to reach those most in need of help, regardless of all else.