YEARS ago, four of us drove up the Neelum Valley from Muzzafarabad in Azad Kashmir on a fishing trip. Although we didn’t manage to catch many fish, we saw some spectacular scenery: snow-covered mountain tops towered above us on one side while a foam-flecked Neelum River kept us company as we travelled up the valley.

From place to place on the road, we encountered mud slides which partly blocked the way. And on the flanks of the mountain range, we saw many villages nestling precariously, and wondered at the fortitude of the villagers. These images from the distant past flashed through my mind as I sat glued to my TV, watching the tragedy in the northern regions of Pakistan unfold over the last week.

Anybody who has travelled in Azad Kashmir and in the North West Frontier Province where the earthquake hit will understand instantly why help is taking so long to reach those who need it so desperately. Mile upon mountainous mile, a fragile network of narrow roads link small towns, villages and hamlets with the outside world. Much of the time, landslides triggered by rainfall block traffic, cutting off these communities.

Sitting miles away from the scene of the disaster, it is easy to criticise the relief effort. But anyone remotely familiar with the terrain and the distances involved will realize the difficulty of the task. Of course one can sympathize with the anger and frustration of the survivors of the killer ‘quake; but spare a thought for the weary drivers and pilots who are quietly and uncomplainingly going about their tasks.

Apart from terrain and distances, another factor in the seeming delay and mismanagement in ensuring prompt delivery of relief goods and medical assistance is the time lag in realizing the magnitude of the disaster. My son called me around 11 in the morning to tell me that an earthquake had hit Lahore. When I got home around midday, TV reporters were focussing on the collapsed apartment block in Islamabad.

Because of the breakdown of the telephone system in the worst-affected areas, word of the damage and the casualties was slow to reach the outside world. Thus, it was not until late afternoon that news started filtering in from Muzzafarabad and Balakot. It was around this time that we started getting our act together.

For a nation so often at odds with itself, this was perhaps Pakistan’s finest hour. Not since the 1965 war have we Pakistanis shown so much unity and sense of purpose. I was a student in those days, and recall vividly the wave of patriotic fervour that swept across the country. I suppose I was too young then to question the futility of this war, or realize that we had started it. But for the brief duration of that conflict, the nation was united as never before, or until this week, since.

The response of young people, in particular, has been a revelation. I am currently running an undergraduate institution, and my students took the lead in collecting funds and relief goods, as well as volunteering at the collection centre being run by the Pakistan Air Force. This has happened across the country with plane, truck and train-loads of supplies being collected, in addition to billions of rupees.

I have often been accused of being forever critical in my columns. Sadly, there is much to be critical about in Pakistan. But on this occasion, the nation’s response to the crisis has been heart-warming. Unfortunately, it has taken a major disaster to unite us.

Another positive element has been the response of the international community. Apart from money and relief goods, many countries have sent trained disaster response teams that have performed magnificently under very trying conditions. For years, many Pakistanis have laboured under the delusion that the rest of the world was against us. Hopefully, this paranoid worldview has been shaken by this outpouring of sympathy and help from countries that were supposed to be at heart of the so-called anti-Pakistan conspiracy.

A few years ago, when a massive earthquake devastated parts of Turkey, Greece was quick in sending help. This humanitarian step produced a breakthrough in relations between these traditional adversaries. Perhaps the generous Indian response will cause a similar thaw in the subcontinent. And by announcing their acceptance of help from Israel, Musharraf and Shaukat Aziz have sent a clear signal of their intention to continue the dialogue initiated recently in Istanbul.

One of the most heart-rending aspects of the tragedy has been the heavy casualties among children. Thousands of boys and girls were in class when the ‘quake struck, and were buried under tons of rubble. While a few of them have been rescued, many have perished. The survivors have probably been traumatized. One of the NGOs I know that is launching a major relief and rehabilitation effort in and around Mansehra is the Concern for Children. If readers want to find out more about it, they can log on to www.concernforchildren.org.pk

Another NGO that is already mobilized in the disaster area is The Citizens Foundation. Their engineers are assessing local needs, and the TCF plans to provide immediate relief to 20,000 people, and in the second phase, construct 5,000 earthquake-proof houses. The funds we have collected from staff, faculty and students are being given to the TCF fund. Readers can access their website at www.thecitizensfoundation.org For correspondence, their e-mail address is: quake-relief@thecitizensfoundation.org

Many reporters covering the disaster have commented on the fact that private-sector aid has reached remote areas faster than the government has been able to react. The reason, of course, is that individuals and NGOs have not had to go through red tape to collect and despatch relief goods. Many people have simply loaded their private cars with food and clothing and driven up to places like Mansehra and Muzzafarabad as soon as the road was cleared by army engineers.

In the wake of Hurricane Katrina, many Pakistanis were convinced that the disaster that flooded New Orleans was an act of God aimed at punishing America for attacking Muslim Afghanistan and Iraq. No doubt these same people see the Maker’s divine purpose in the recent earthquake. The people truly deserving of God’s wrath are those profiting from the disaster. For instance, I have been told that one five-star hotel in Islamabad has tripled its room rent to cash in on the flood of foreign journalists. A bolt from the blue might be no bad thing.