EARTHQUAKES - Nepal, the Reconstruction Blockage

"How politics got in the way of needed Nepal earthquake relief" PBS NewsHour 4/25/2016

Excerpt

SUMMARY:  One year ago, the first of two massive earthquakes ripped through Nepal, killing more than 8,000 people.  Some $4 billion of assistance was pledged to the rebuilding effort, but political gridlock and corruption have left the displaced survivors to largely fend for themselves.  Special correspondent Fred de Sam Lazaro reports in partnership with the Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting.

FRED DE SAM LAZARO (NewsHour):  Kathmandu still bears scars from the quakes, but many people in Nepal's bustling capital have pushed the rubble aside and started rebuilding their homes and lives.

That's not possible in the quake's worst-hit regions, villages high up in the rugged Himalayan landscape, places that were hard to reach even before the disasters struck.  Most people here were displaced into makeshift camps miles away in valleys miles away.

On April 25, 2015, the village of Mailung literally slid out of existence; 38 people died instantly as boulders rained down from the mountainside.  Five bodies have never been recovered from under them.

Parma Singh Tamang ran a grocery store and tailoring business in this abandoned community once home to 400 people.  The remnants from his shops peek out from under tons of granite.  Two daughters-in-law and two grandchildren perished here.  Others in the large extended family that lived here barely escaped.

PARMA SINGH TAMANG, Displaced Resident (through interpreter):  When they heard the loud rumbling, they were very confused and ran down by the river.

FRED DE SAM LAZARO:  Down the street is the spot where Selnam Tamang lived.  She wasn't home on that fateful day.  She was visiting her mother, leaving her four children with her in-laws and eldest child, Asmita.

SELNAM TAMANG, Displace Resident (through interpreter):  Her grandfather was cooking fish, and all the family was gathered in the main floor area, but Asmita didn't like fish, so she climbed to the second floor of the house.

Then, suddenly, the earthquake came, and the whole house fell, and she was thrown some distance away.  But the whole family, they were crushed.

FRED DE SAM LAZARO:  Including two younger daughters and infant son.  She did manage to rescue their pictures.

I'm really sorry.

Their current situation stokes the despair.  Most people in the camp say they have no money and have received little assistance to rebuild.  Selnam Tamang scrapes by on about $3 a day as a daily laborer, working about 10 days each month.  And conditions in the metal-roofed shacks are not healthy, says 12-year-old Asmita, who is learning English.

SOUTH ASIA - India/Pakistan Meeting

It's a start.....

"Leaders of Pakistan and India address Mumbai attack in historic meeting" PBS NewsHour 5/27/2014

JUDY WOODRUFF (NewsHour):  India’s new prime minister made headlines this week by inviting the leader of its contentious neighbor, Pakistan, to attend his inauguration yesterday.  The pair followed up with a meeting today, prompting some to wonder if a mending of fences between the countries is possible in the near future.

Jeffrey Brown reports.

JEFFREY BROWN (NewsHour):  It was a highly anticipated face-to-face between nuclear-armed rivals.  On his first full day on the job, India’s prime minister Narendra Modi, met with his Pakistani counterpart, Nawaz Sharif, for almost an hour.  Sharif, who took office just last year, described the conversation as cordial.

NAWAZ SHARIF, Prime Minister, Pakistan:  I pointed out that we were at the beginning of our respective tenures with a clear mandate.  This provides us the opportunity of meeting the hopes and aspirations of our peoples that we will succeed in turning a new page in our relations.

JEFFREY BROWN:  India’s foreign secretary said Modi pressed the issue of terrorism.

SUJATHA SINGH, Foreign Secretary, India:  It was conveyed that Pakistan must abide by its commitment to prevent its territory and territory under its control from being used for terrorism against India.  We also expect that necessary steps will be taken in the Mumbai terror attack trial under way in Pakistan.

JEFFREY BROWN:  The Mumbai attack, in 2008, left 163 people dead at the hands of Pakistani militants.  India has complained that Pakistan has slow-walked the investigation, and that the perpetrators must be put on trial.

Well before Mumbai, the two rivals had a contentious, violent history.  They have fought four wars since 1947.  And they have consistently battled over the northern region of Kashmir.  Indeed, Modi’s invitation to Sharif to attend his inauguration was also something of a surprise, since Modi’s Hindu nationalist party has long advocated a tough stance on Pakistan.

Many in Pakistan remain wary of Modi, who was accused of failing to protect Muslims during religious riots in Gujarat state in 2002, when he was chief minister there.  For now, though, the door to rapprochement is open.  The two nations plan to continue talks at the foreign minister level.