US embassy cable - 05ISLAMABAD16875

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 ISLAMABAD 016875 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
KABUL - PLEASE PASS TO CFC-A 
DEPT - PLEASE PASS TO USAID 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: EAID, ECON, ASEC, AEMR, MASS, MOPS, PGOV, PREL, PK, Earthquake 
SUBJECT: PAKISTAN EARTHQUAKE:  AREAS IN MANSEHRA DISTRICT 
WITHOUT ASSISTANCE 
 
 
1. (U)  Summary:  Embassy Forward Operating Base - Mansehra 
Officer-in-Charge (OIC) and Emboff accompanied NWFP 
Parliament minority leader on a November 7 tour of Mansehra 
tehsil.  During the visit, it became clear that relief was 
not reaching several areas damaged by the October 8 
earthquake.  Resentment at the provincial and national 
governments remains high in these areas and may cost the 
Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal (MMA) and Pakistan Muslim League 
(PML) significantly.  Ironically, the natural beneficiaries 
of such resentment, the Awami National Party (ANP) and the 
Pakistan People's Party (PPP) are noticeably absent.  End 
Summary. 
 
2.  (U)  At the invitation of the NWFP parliament minority 
leader, OIC and Emboff visited the towns of Bafa, Ghulibal, 
Guidepur, and Kularha, all located in Mansehra tehsil. 
During the visit, OIC observed that, despite reports to the 
contrary, damage in these villages was extensive.  Much of 
the damage was in the interior of housing compounds, where 
back and interior residential walls had collapsed, thereby 
evading the initial rapid assessments.  With most NGOs and 
IOs focused on the more visibly damaged areas of Balakot, 
Battgram, and Allai, villagers have received little or no 
assistance.  Shelter needs appear particularly acute in these 
areas.  Only tens of tents, most sent by friends and 
relatives in other parts of the country, have reached the 
area although up to 6000 may be needed. 
 
3.  (U)  Minority leader Khan has generated significant 
goodwill in this area, which he claimed had not supported him 
in the last election, through provision of 200 tents 
distributed throughout the area.  According to local leaders, 
no other political leader has provided any significant 
support.  Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam Fazlur Rehman (JUI-F), the 
previously leading party in the area, was described as 
hypocritical by local leaders.  It had sought support during 
elections, but abandoned the people in their time of need. 
Jamaat-e-Islami (JI), whose al-Khidmat Foundation had 
established nearby camps, clearly had little support in the 
villages.  Elders claimed a reluctance to accepts JI support, 
as "the party always wanted something in return." 
 
4. (U)  Locals expressed the strongest ire for the provincial 
government and the civilian side of the federal government, 
which they equated with the Pakistan Muslim League (PML). 
Villagers claimed that they accepted that the army and 
internationals needed to focus on more devastated and 
inaccessible areas like Battgram, Balakot, and Allai.  The 
provincial and federal government should, however, also be 
able to provide assistance to less affected areas.  They 
called on the provincial government to do more to provide 
emergency shelter and financing for rebuilding.  They also 
requested government assistance in re-designing houses to 
prevent collapse in the future.  No village elders directly 
requested USG assistance, instead seeking our help in 
pressing the provincial and federal government to do more. 
At a lunch attended by the Brigadier commanding the NCO 
school at Shinkiari, villagers expressed gratitude for 
Pakistan Army efforts to assist.  They requested help, 
however, in obtaining victim registration cards, which would 
allow them to obtain assistance at Army supply distribution 
centers.  Most claimed that their villages had been bypassed 
by Army damage surveyors who had issued the cards.  The 
Brigadier promised to raise the problem with superiors. 
 
5.  (U)  OIC asked villagers about the role of secular 
opposition parties in providing aid to their areas.  Elders 
claimed that neither the ANP nor the PPP had been seen.  Both 
appeared only at election time and had no real grassroots 
base in the area.  The somewhat surprising beneficiary of 
this political vacuum is a little-known local party - the 
Hazara Quami Movement (HQM).  Financed by an expatriate local 
who lives most of the time in the United States, HQM has 
established relief camps near the area, and its graffiti has 
begun to appear throughout Mansehra and Battgram.  HQM's 
calls for increased autonomy for the three Hazara districts 
of Abottabad, Mansehra, and Battgram appears to be gaining 
resonance.  Locals repeatedly cited neglect from Peshawar and 
Islamabad as the reasons for their growing sympathy towards 
the HQM. 
 
6. (SBU)  Comment:  The lack of assistance to villages in 
this part of Mansehra is not unique.  NGOs are consistently 
finding pockets missed by initial surveys as they push 
further into Mansehra and Battgram districts.  Anger at the 
provincial and civilian side of the federal governments is 
likely to persist absent a more proactive assistance program. 
 While we believe that the HQM fascination is likely to be 
short-lived, its underlying premises of neglect from Peshawar 
and the need for increased local control of resources may 
well endure.  End Comment. 
 
7. (U)  Embassy Islamabad is transmitting this cable on 
behalf of FOB Mansehra. 
CROCKER