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 A week into the disaster, large parts of Srinagar, the capital of
Jammu and Kashmir, lay under water with many people still trapped
atop their homes, and others crowded in relief camps.
Their misery has added to problems of the administration in a
Muslim-majority region where a revolt against Indian rule has
simmered for nearly a quarter century.
Many complain that the government, which has maintained a heavy
presence in the territory to keep a lid on the revolt, has left them
to their fate.
Residents stranded for days by the floodwaters said that the army
has selectively evacuated tourists and people according to a pre-set
priority list, leaving locals to be rescued later by volunteers.
“Helicopters came, and we waved our arms,” said Aasiya Kutoo, who
was living at a temporary shelter. “Nobody came for us. Nobody in
our area was rescued by air.”
Outside one mosque-turned-camp in Srinagar, food supplies dropped
earlier in the day by a military helicopter were strewn in a gutter,
rejected.
“People said we don’t need this government food,” said Nayeem, who
lives in the neighborhood. He said since the state of India occupied
Kashmir, they were only providing relief out of duty. “If another
state occupied this land, they would be bound to do the same.”
Both the Indian and Pakistan sides of the disputed Himalayan
territory have been hit by extensive flooding since the Jhelum
river, swollen by unusually heavy rain, surged last week. The river
flows from Indian Kashmir to the Pakistan side, and then down into
Pakistan's lower Indus river basin.
The Indian government has put the death toll at 200 in the part of
Kashmir it controls but there are fears that number will rise as the
damage to Srinagar, a city of one million, and villages in southern
Kashmir is fully revealed.
On the Pakistani side, officials put the death toll at 264 on
Friday.
RESENTMENT
Many residents are deeply resentful of what they say has been a
complete absence of their local government and police in the wake of
the disaster.
Others drew a comparison to the thousands of police the Indian state
has deployed in the past to put down public protests against Indian
rule, but were now nowhere to be seen.
“If there is a single stone pelted, there are a hundred police out
beating one person,” said Megha Dar, a teacher living in a temporary
camp. “Where are they now? Where are the ministers?”
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Hundreds of thousands of Indian soldiers are deployed in the Kashmir
Valley, where the army says it has succeeded in putting down the
armed groups that it believes are supported by Pakistan.
A senior army official said it was unfortunate that the rescue
effort had been politicized. “Our air force does not permit
selective rescue,” he said. “The population has been affected by a
tragedy. This reaction is a reflection of their lack of faith in the
civic administration.”
A new generation of young Kashmiris, who have grown up with house
raids and army checkpoints, feel increasingly angry at Indian rule
and champion street protests rather than the violent militancy that
characterized the 1990s.
INFRASTRUCTURE HIT
Several government employees decried that basic needs were not being
met in the capital. Two government doctors said public hospitals
were understaffed, and short on basic supplies and medicine.
“The local government is totally crippled,” added Riyaz Ahmad, an
officer with the labor department, who was volunteering at a
civilian-run relief camp. “There has been no communication from my
superiors. Every department is totally defunct.”
Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah said the severity of
the floods had knocked out his administration in the first few hours
itself. But it had since recovered and was trying to do its best to
deliver aid.
He said part of the problem was people did not heed flood warnings
broadcast from government vehicles and mosques last weekend.
(Editing by Sanjeev Miglani and Jeremy Laurence)
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