The main reason, or at least one of the main reasons, behind the emotional wave stirred across the nation due to the earthquake was the media. Its good to see them still going on with the coverage of the quake and the rehabilitation process. I was watching one such program today and the host was interviewing two Royal Air Force (UK) officers. One was of Pakistani origin who had volunteered to come and work in Pakistan – Lt. Sohail Khan. The other, Lt. Commander Bruce Foster, was a Brit who was co-ordinating the operations of the RAF. When the host asked Lt. Commander Foster to share something that had touched or inspired him, he told the following story:
“We were taking aids to the affected areas on our helicopters and unloading them at the relief camps when this happened. One of the sergeants was quickly handing over the relief goods to the victims when an old man approached him and handed him a medal. It was a medal he had received while serving the British Army in the second World War and those medals weren’t given to just anyone. It was a medal in recognition of his services and he gave that to the sergeant because he wanted to thank the Royal Air Force for their efforts. The sergeant tried to return the medal but the old man refused to take it back saying it was a token of thanks from him and his people.”
He added, ” we have decided to take it back to the UK and we are going to put it in our museum. I have never seen anything like that before. Not only is the country beautiful, the people of Pakistan are also very beautiful.”
I’m sure this story will make every Pakistani proud :)