Grieving diaspora jams phone lines to India

Arun Vadhan, owner of Bombay Music House & Phone card Center told the paper that phone-card sales jumped 30 per cent at the store on Friday because “everybody wants to call India to find out how their friends orfamily are”.

Graphic television coverage of the monster quake was followed by newspaper stories on page one of many dailies detailing the trial of devastation. Thetragedy galvanised the week-old Bush Administration into offering help amid a clamour for assistance from bodies ranging from the India Caucus to theAssociation of American Physicians of Indian Origin. Both organisations wrote to Bush pressing for generous aid.

In a statement, Bush extended condolences to the families of the many victims and said the US stood ready to assist as needed and desired by the government in India. “Earthquakes know no political boundaries,” he said while sending condolences to the people affected in neighbouring Pakistan as well. But there was no immediate announcement of any material aid.

The Indian Caucus is however pressing for direct aid. “By sending humanitarian assistance now, we not only aid a nation in its time of need; we will also be forging a deeper relationship between our two democracies,” Caucus chairmen Jim McDermott and Ed Royce said in a statement.

The Indian community itself rallied together to put together some cohesive plan to funnel financial and material help. E-mails flashed into inboxes listing various organisations and routes through which help could be sent.

The International Federation of Red Cross (IFRC) and Red Crescent launched an appeal for two million Swiss francs ($1.2 million) to support an emergencyrelief operation by the Federation and Indian Red Cross in aid of the victims. The IFRC has begun accepting donations for the quake online atredcross.org/donate/donation-form.asp under the head India disaster relief fund.

Several Jewish, Christian, and Catholic organisations began accepting contributions for assistance in India as members of InterAction, a coalition of relief, development and refugee assistance agencies. The Coalition also include Doctors Without Borders, Care, and United Way (interaction.org).

The Indian Embassy in Washington (indianembassy.org) has also invited contributions at India Development and Relief Fund (idrf.org). But theIndian External Affairs Ministry website (meadev.gov.in) and other Indian government websites were slow in reacting to the crisis andmade no announcement on their main menu.

The Fairfax County Urban Search and Rescue Team, considered one of the world’s most sophisticated and experienced disaster aid organisations, called the Indian Embassy to volunteer among other help snifferdogs that have worked in the aftermath of tremors in Taiwan and Turkey.