The recent earthquake back home has left pakistan in a very sad helpless state. it is frustrating cause sitting here i cant do much to help them. still, the pak/indian community in boston are working things out and im pressing for a charity concert. lets see what happens. my email is overflowing with letters and fwded mails, one of them which id like to post up on the modern guitars blog. here it is.

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My Dear Friends:

I am sure many of you are following the recent tragedy that has befallen Pakistan, India, and parts of Afghanistan recently. I wanted to thank several of you who have written to me, personally, and expressed grief and condolences on the tremendous loss of life and property in Pakistan. Yes, my immediate family is safe but I've lost an ex-colleague. There is probably no one in Pakistan that hasn't lost or known someone who has lost a loved one. I am constantly in touch with people in Pakistan, and the Pakistani Diaspora here. The loss of life and property is really beyond expectations. The unofficial estimates right now put the total death toll at 40,000 and many insiders are expecting that to double as some of the more inaccessible areas in the North are accessed. Around 50,000 people have been reported to have injured and over 2 million people are homeless.

The most tragic part about the whole thing is that, like the recent devastation by Hurricane Katrina, this calamity too has fallen upon the most poor and improvished people of Pakistan. Of that already vulnerable population, the most tragically affected are small school going children. Saturday was a school day in Pakistan and entire schools, both girls and boys, have collapsed with hundreds of children inside them�many of whom are still alive, buried in the rubble. The news media is talking about an entire generation being eliminated from the face of the earth. Parents with no children and children's bodies with no parents to give them a decent burial. Only today, a French team of rescuers helped retrieve 5 children from under a school's rubble who only had minor injuries and would have died in a day or two. Many many more WILL die in the next few days.

The magnitude of the crisis has overwhelmed the Pakistani authorities who have desperately sought international assistance. Pakistan urgently needs helicopters and heavy earth moving machinery to rescue those lying under the rubble and are still alive. People are literally calling on cell-phones from under the rubble desperately begging those outside to rescue them but the progress on that has been very slow. We've also seen unbelievable scenes of magnanimity as people within Pakistan and around the world have opened their hearts and purses for
those in need. In a solitary incidence, for example, the Pakistani Air force asked the people to deposit relief goods�food, blankets, tents, water, medicine etc.�at an airbase in Karachi for uplift to the disaster area. They were expecting to get a plane-load worth of goods ready to be shipped by the end of the day. By last count, they had 25 plane-loads of relief goods and they are still figuring out how to fly all of that to the disaster areas. Yet, more is less in the disaster of this magnitude. Winter is just round the corner and winter is often very cruel in the Himalayan mountains. Many people are going to die if not provided with adequate shelter and immediate assistance.

I would like to thank all of you, my friends and all Americans, for remembering Pakistani people in this time of need and tragedy. There are two definite ways any of you, who may wish to actively help out, can do so:

1-- Donate Generously, if you can, to one of the several Charities and Relief Efforts that are actively engaged on the ground in Pakistan. Several Pakistani and International Charities have set up operations to support this great tragedy. Several American companies (Intel, Sun, Cisco, Qualcomm, to name a few) have set up programs to match employee donations. You can donate online or send a check indicating the purpose of the donation. Even a small donation of $5 can make a difference of life and death to an individual. You can save a life, literally, by sacrificing a fraction of your lunch money, provided you make a donation as soon as possible. Some suggested charties are President's Relief Fund (http://www.embassyofpakistan.org), Mercy Corps (http://www.mercycorps.org), Islamic Relief Worldwide (http://www.irw.org), Hidaya Foundation (http://www.hidaya.com) and International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (http://www.ifrc.org).

2--Use your influence, in whatever shape and form, to encourage American political leaders to step up their relief package as well as logistical support for relief operations. An unspecified amount of relief assistance has thus far been offered to Pakistan. While President Bush has said that America would send Helicopters to aid in the rescue effort, the last reports (per NPR) indicate that those helicopters have not yet reached Pakistan. In a day's time it might be too late. In a week's time, it may not be needed at all. If there was ever a time to win the hearts and minds of the people, this is it. Let the Americans' magnanimity, generosity and caring nature show the very people who are on the border of going the extremist way a real ray of hope in the dark clouds. Wouldn't it be best to repay OBL's deadly ideology by giving life to a people, instead?

I cannot over emphasize the importance of this moment � the largest natural disaster and relief operation in Pakistan's history � in building bridges of understanding and support between peoples, nations, and civilizations. I hope Americans, and people around the world, would open their hearts as we pass through this most critical juncture of our lives. Thanks once again for all your support and generosity.

Best Regards,

Athar Osama,
Doctoral Fellow,
RAND Graduate School for Public Policy,
Santa Monica, CA 90401
Tel: 310-430-4726

Arooj Aftab
Berklee College of Music
Boston, MA