2005 earthquake: ‘Mera school kab baney ga?’

Victims converge on Islamabad to highlight their plight.

ISLAMABAD/ BALAKOT:

Hand in hand, schoolgirls lead a small rally towards the D Chowk in Islamabad. They hold just one banner, with a simple question, summarising their plight. “Mera school kab baney ga?” or, in English, “When will my school be made?”

Seven years since a devastating earthquake levelled entire villages and cities in Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) and nearby areas in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, many are still struggling to rebuild their lives. To get back to the way things were.

Some have grown into makeshift buildings, with promises of schools that are yet to be delivered. About a hundred of such students, flanked by their teachers, gathered at Jinnah Avenue to raise their voice against delay in reconstruction of schools in quake-hit areas.

The students, from Abbottabad, Balakot and AJK, marched towards D Chowk carrying banners and placards demanding the completion of school buildings destroyed in the earthquake. The demonstration was organised by Tehreek Tameer-e-Nau, a body constituted following the 2005 earthquake.

“It has been seven years but the government is yet to complete the reconstruction work on our school, where hundreds of children [were enrolled],” said Amna Iqbal, a schoolteacher at Government High School Harora in Hazara Division.

Ahmed Ali, a fifth grade student, complained about the difficulties he faced in winters, when he would sit under the open sky during class.

The protesters were joined by some political figures, who expressed solidarity with the children. Jamaat-e-Islami AJK President Abdul Rashid Turabi said, “These children are the future of the country and should not be ignored.”

Dr Tariq Fazal Chaudhry, a PML-N MNA, also criticised the government for its failure to deliver on a number of reconstruction projects. “Seven years is a long time and the government should prioritise these projects,” he said.

Another protest was organised by the Contractors Association working in the earthquake affected areas at D-Chowk. They chanted slogans against the government for failing to release funds to them for the projects that they are working on.

Protest in Balakot

Participants of another protest in Balakot demanded the completion of housing and other projects. The protesters marched on roads, chanting slogans against the provincial government.

They criticised the slow pace of reconstruction in the area, saying that the government received billions of dollars from the foreign donors but “most of the survivors have yet to be rehabilitated”. They said the survivors are still living in prefabricated houses.

Moreover, they criticised the provincial government, ERRA and PERRA for their “lack of interest” in the issue.

Government representatives including Minister of State Sardar Shahjehan Yousaf assured the participants that they are trying to attract donors, to get funds for the delayed projects.

Remembrance

Ceremonies were held at Syed Ahmed Shaheed mosque, Government High School Garlat and Balakot main bazaar to remember the people who lost their lives in the earthquake.

The ceremony held at the Garlat high school, which houses graves of 70 students who died in the earthquake, was attended by Yousaf, special adviser to prime minister Syed Qasim Shah and MPA Ahmed Hussain Shah.

At all three places, bereaved families and others observed a moment of silence at 8:52am, followed by collective prayers for the victims.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 9^th, 2012.