In recent news coming out of Pakistan we have politically charged violence that has been the cause of 18 deaths. There were also reports of a school bus that rolled over into a river, leaving at least 15 Pakistani students dead. And finally, Pakistani Ambassador, Husain Haqqani visited Salt Lake on Tuesday, September 14th in order to thank the LSD church for the money it donated for flood recovery.
The politically charged violence happened Sunday and Monday in the city of Karachi and was the result of the death of Imran Farooq of the Muttahida Quami Movement (MQM) on Thursday in London. According to one CNN report the MQM is, “one of the largest parties in Pakistan [and] is part of President Asif Ali Zardari’s ruling coalition” (CNN). The death of MQM’s spokesperson created unrest in the country and caused riots to break out at the funeral and into the next few days. The riots were targeted towards the MQM’s apposing political group; the Awami National Party (ANP). These two groups have had a long history of negative encounters, in fact, “both parties have been engaged in bloody battles” (CNN) for many years based on political schisms.
In other news out of Pakistan BBC reports on the crash of a school bus in the Pakistan-controlled area of Kashmir. “The incident took place in Garhi Dupatta area, some 16km (9.9 miles) south-east of the regional capital Muzaffarabad” (BBC) and it is believed the bus driver lost control and rolled into the river. So far 15 bodies have been recovered out of the 30-35 students and teachers that were said to be onboard. Unfortunately vehicle events like these are common due to the terrible conditions of the roads because of the 2005 earthquakes that happened in the area. The search for bodies will continue, but little more can be done at this time.
Finally, looking at local events we see that we had a personal visit from the Pakistani Ambassador, Husain Haqqani to Salt Lake City this past week. Haqqani was here on Tuesday, September 14th in order to extend a personal thanks to the LDS community for its generous donation towards flood relief. The church donated over 3 million dollars in the form of food and supplies which is being distributed to displaced Pakistani citizens in the effected areas. Haqqani stated that there is a lot of work still to be done but that progress is being made.
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