CAIRO, October 11, 2005 (IslamOnline.net) – British Pakistanis are furious over the meager £500,000 aid initially pledged by Britain to their homeland which has been battered by a massive killer quake, reported the Gurdian on Tuesday, October 11.

"If the British government can afford to spend billions of pounds on Iraq for the sake of protecting oil supplies for the West then to offer this amount of money is a sick joke," said Farooq Qureshi, a local councilor.

He said he felt numb after hearing the news of the earthquake and was irritated by the £500,000 the government had first pledged for a disaster of this scale.

Britain’s international development secretary, Hilary Benn, said the government had already given some £1m to the relief effort.

A massive earthquake struck Saturday, October 8, the Indian subcontinent, devastating entire villages in Pakistan, India and Afghanistan.

Some 23,000 people were confirmed dead in Pakistan  alone and about 51,000 others were injured, with the death toll expected to rise.

The epicenter of the quake was near Muzaffarabad, the main city of Pakistan-administered Kashmir.

"It's very cold right now in Kashmir, and they don't have any blankets or anything. They're standing outside of the house, open space, and they don't have any piece of bread and food or nothing — no electricity over there, no road over there," said a Pakistani living in the UK.

Kashmir International Relief Fund (Kirf), a charity located in ease London’s Leytonstone, has barely closed since the disaster, The Independent reported Tuesday.

KIRF had been working round the clock to counsel relatives, take donations and provide information for Britain's Pakistani community.

Fozia Aslam, 23, a Briton of Pakistani origin, said she was shocked by the televised reports on the disaster.

"We have spoken to relatives and friends of relatives. So many are sitting in open fields with no water, unable to sleep, while we are sitting here with everything available to us. I couldn't stay at home at a time like this," she said.

At the nearby mosque, the Waltham Forest Islamic Association, a 15-minute collection after the Noon prayer gathered over £1,000 from the congregation, the majority of whom originate from Azad, Kashmir.

The money was added to the mosque's £15,000 collected over just three days. The mosque committee will continue daily collections during the Muslim holy fasting month of Ramadan.

Ishfaq Ahmed, Kirf's chief executive, said people were angry over trickling aid to the quake victims.

"Yesterday people were worried, upset and shocked. Today they are angry. They are angry at the news they are getting that no aid has arrived for many of their relatives."

Britain’s Disasters Emergency Committee is following assessment of reports from the worst-hit areas and discussions with charities providing relief to the some 4 million people left homeless.

An appeal, to be formally launched later this week by a coalition of 13 major aid groups, is the third this year in response to a major natural disaster.

Around £400m was raised for survivors of the Asian tsunami and £24m has so far been collected to help those suffering food shortages in Niger and sub-Saharan Africa.

Oxfam unveiled a £4m package, focusing on blankets, tents, medicine and clean water.

"We're sending public health and water engineers," said an Oxfam spokeswoman.

"Some will be going to Kashmir, but others will be staying in Islamabad to coordinate the international effort for water and sanitation. We need people to dig into their pockets and show us the generosity they demonstrated during the tsunami."

A further £3m has been committed by other UK groups, including London-based relief agency Muslim Aid, Islamic Relief, Unicef's UK office, Christian Aid, and the British Red Cross.

The British charity Shelter Box, based in Helston, Cornwall, will send 400 boxes of essential supplies this week.