No hope for Pakistan

[Galaxy]

No hope for Pakistan​

NAJAM SETHI SEPTEMBER 16, 2011

At least 250 people have lost their lives during the recent floods in Sindh.

The recent floods in Sindh have ravaged the lands and lives of five million people. At least 250 people have lost their lives.

Standing crops over four million acres have been lost. Yet the government and media have only now begun to pay some attention to the devastation.

They were both obsessed with the utterings of Zulfikar Mirza and Altaf Hussain which have not made an iota of a difference to the wretched lives of the hapless and innocent citizens of Karachi who live in the ghettos and are routinely killed in the turf wars between proliferating gangs of terrorists, criminals and mafias.

In Punjab, dengue fever has hospitalised over 4000, a majority of them from the city of Lahore, despite Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif's "much flaunted development" efforts and largesse. What do these two "developments" have in common? Two facts stand out. The floods in Sindh could have been better managed if a little bit of care had been taken over the year to strengthen dykes and embankments and rehearse evacuation and relief measures. After all, this calamity is a recurring tragedy that reflects on the criminal negligence of successive governments to manage the water resources of the country on which the national economy is based. Much the same can be said about the recurrence of Dengue fever on an increasing scale every year in the Punjab.

There is money for Yellow Cabs but not for epidemic or disease eradication, public sanitation and health programs. It seems as if governments are no longer capable of initiating preventive measures to alleviate poverty and health and only half-interested in curative steps for the sake of appeasing the media.

By way of contrast, when the recent hurricane Irene threatened to sweep the east coast of the United States, the state governments not only gave a minute by minute update on the path and speed of the storm to the people in its path but also helped evacuate hundreds of thousands of citizens to safer ground in a matter of days.

It has also become commonplace for Pakistani governments in their usual distress to "reach out" to the international community for help. But increasingly the world is tiring of this Pakistani routine.

One reason is that it sees Pakistani governments as venal, corrupt, callous and blundering and cannot bring itself to show much sympathy.

The other is the increasing indifference of rich Pakistanis to the abject misery of their poorer fellow citizens. If charity begins at home, there is less and less sign of it for the right causes in Pakistan.

It is an international scandal that we have money enough for atomic bombs and F- 16s to fight imagined and manufactured enemies but none for dams, reservoirs, hospitals and schools for the rising pool of the poor and unemployed, sick and hungry, displaced and homeless.

The irony in the situation should also not be missed.

PAKISTAN'S great all-weather friends China and Saudi Arabia are the stingiest by way of donations to tide us over our recurring misfortunes while the allies we love to hate like the United States are always more willing to come to our help in times of need. The national tragedy is compounded by the realisation that things are fated to deteriorate.

Each national institution or party is pulling in different directions. The Zardari regime has sacrificed good governance at the altar of political wheelingdealing for survival. The opposition has not articulated a coherent strategy for national socio-political cohesion or economic revival - indeed it is opposing the introduction of a more rational revenue collection system and abolition of subsidies to inefficient state corporations.

The judiciary is obsessed with constitutional matters as if these are a panacea for the lack of justice that has crippled the judicial system and provokes a desperate yearning for the swift Islamic methodology of the Taliban.

The business community has stopped investing in Pakistan and is pulling its money out and acquiring nationalities and residences in foreign countries. And the military is waging its bets on defying the international community in quest of its preferred solution of renewed civil war and disintegration in Afghanistan.

In desperation, some Pakistanis hanker for a military intervention to put things right. This is a cyclical thing. Every ten years we tire of our corrupt civilians and urge the generals to intervene and sort out the mess. But a decade of military rule opens up old societal wounds and creates new political fissures, triggering the impulse to send the military back to the barracks. The situation is particularly gridlocked today. The free media and independent judiciary will not brook any direct military takeover.

Neither of the two mainstream political parties is also likely to lend a helping hand as in the past. And the great benefactor of every military regime, the United States, seems particularly piqued and alienated from it these days.

It seems as if Pakistan is hurtling into a inexorable vortex. Its historical resilience is being severely tested. It needs a wise and courageous reformer to redeem its promise. But none is in sight. Those selfproclaimed messiahs like Imran Khan are full of sound and fury "signifying nothing" while the others are "ghissa pitta cartouches" lacking credibility or inspiration.

- The writer is the editor of The Friday Times

No hope for Pakistan : Najam Sethi: India Today

 

[johnee]

Only 250?!! I am sure these figures are not correct, we will soon get 'official update' that atleast 200000000 casaulities have occurred and there is an urgent need of donations.

 

[chex3009]

There wasn't ever any hope from this Mullahcracy type of country from its inception. AoA.

 

[Arunpillai]

Pakistan is a failed state that is slowly disintegrating.. We should actively help to hasten that process..

 

[Blackwater]

what is use of nuclear tech, If they can't make electricity from it. Where you cannot control floods year after year, Eradicate or lift people from poverty, can't control terrorism. na-pak is the only country in the world who has developed but on negative side.only country who has failed to give education to its people. In 1947 the literacy rate of na-pakistan was 67% which has reduced to 45% in 2010.. jai ho:thumb::thumb:

A country which is full of aristocrat beggars, dangar, jahil and uneducated people,this na-pak land has no right to exist.

Na-pakistan is dangerous nuclear country, where 90% of its minister and parliamentarians are foreign nationals,they got no stake in this filthy land.. UN should take nuclear weapons from them and send UN forces to this na-pak land..


FREE BALUCHISTAN

 

[Blackwater]

Only 250?!! I am sure these figures are not correct, we will soon get 'official update' that atleast 200000000 casaulities have occurred and there is an urgent need of donations.

All western media is talking about na-pak's floods and dengue.How their leader start begging in from of world and world is not responding, coz they knew what ever they send will be looted by there beggar leader

 

[The Messiah]

Country based and run on the basis of religion will always run itself to the ground.

History has proved it time and again.

 

[Bangalorean]

Time to polish the begging bowl, eh?

Interesting what Najam Sethi says about China and the Arab "brothers" of Pakistan. He is right - the donations by these nations are always the stingiest and minimum possible, whereas the Infidel West is always the most generous.

 

[agentperry]

the most important thing is that no country except china and iran( one who is in desperate need of a partner and regional ally in form of anti-west pakistan and is willing to pay for it for anything including pak's share of pipeline for gas) is willing to donate or help it. the amount of hate against pakistan is very high among world citizens. pakis rationalize this with a conspiracy theory. but whateva they got aid in end
- only 104.7 millions are pledged with 100 million coming from iran.

 

[sky]

what is use of nuclear tech, If they can't make electricity from it. Where you cannot control floods year after year, Eradicate or lift people from poverty, can't control terrorism. na-pak is the only country in the world who has developed but on negative side.only country who has failed to give education to its people. In 1947 the literacy rate of na-pakistan was 67% which has reduced to 45% in 2010.. jai ho:thumb::thumb:

A country which is full of aristocrat beggars, dangar, jahil and uneducated people,this na-pak land has no right to exist.

Na-pakistan is dangerous nuclear country, where 90% of its minister and parliamentarians are foreign nationals,they got no stake in this filthy land.. UN should take nuclear weapons from them and send UN forces to this na-pak land..


FREE BALUCHISTAN

Very good point regarding the high numbers of pak politicians who have foreign passports,its claimed zardari has american citizenship .These people claim to be pakistani but are wise enough not to bet there mortgage on it..

 

[Iamanidiot]

Farted and delete the post

 

[Blackwater]

Time to polish the begging bowl, eh?

Interesting what Najam Sethi says about China and the Arab "brothers" of Pakistan. He is right - the donations by these nations are always the stingiest and minimum possible, whereas the Infidel West is always the most generous.

Even west and there Arab brothers also knows if they give today, next year it will be same situation and people on ground won't get anything

 

[Galaxy]

Thousands trapped in flood-hit Sindh

Thousands trapped in flood-hit Sindh

A boy, displaced by floods, is silhouetted by the water's edge after escaping to higher ground from his flooded village in the district on Badin in Sindh September 17, 2011

TANDO ALLAHYAR: In Pakistan's fertile south, a grim-faced soldier found himself in a standoff with 100 flood-stricken protesters demanding help for their communities marooned by the surging water.

"We won't leave until you come with us to save our families," a defiant Ali Mohammad, 27, told the soldier. "Hundreds of our villagers are trapped in the flood waters but we can't find anyone to help us rescue them." A year after Pakistan's worst ever floods, the lush southern lands of Sindh are inundated once more, and angry villagers were desperate for help for their families who had escaped several feet of floodwater by sitting on their roofs.

A heated argument ended with a promise that the army would return to help the thousands of marooned residents in Tando Allahyar district, one of the areas worst affected by the deluge.

"We are going to save people in another town – this delay will risk their lives," the soldier said.

Official figures show the floods have killed nearly 300 people and affected 5.8 million since monsoon rains began last month — leaving hundreds of thousands living under open skies on hills and along highways.

The number affected is far lower than the 21 million hit by the record floods in 2010, when nearly one billion dollars was given in foreign aid and civilian authorities were accused of a woeful response to the disaster.

Now with Sindh province – worst-hit last year – again swamped and the response not keeping pace Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani has cancelled a visit to the UN General Assembly in New York to see the aid effort in progress.

Islamabad also asked the UN to issue a fresh international appeal for flood donations.

Fewer relief camps have been set up this year and many victims have erected makeshift huts using bamboo, shawls and sheets.

A man walks on a tree trunk while wading through flood waters in his village. - Reuters Photo


Visits to Tando Allahyar, Badin, Mirpurkhas and Sanghar districts in Sindh showed scores of towns and villages submerged under rainwater that overflowed from drains and canals and swept down from neighbouring mountains.

"Our town is completely submerged. So are dozens of surrounding villages,"said Qasim Mallah, 61, a fisherman from Pangrio town in Badin district, 100 kilometres south of Tando Allahyar.

"Most people have left the town, but some have stayed to safeguard their properties from looters," he said.

One rescue worker, Suleman Abro, said the scale of the disaster was once again too much for authorities to handle.

"There are places where military, navy and international organisations are rescuing them, but the effort is too limited as the scale of disaster is much larger," he said.

In the desert district of Thar, residents cut off from transport links by the flooding told AFP by phone that their homes had been inundated, forcing them to climb nearby sand dunes to stay on dry ground.

Supplies were become scarce, said Thar local Harish Kumar.

"We are desperately waiting for food supplies, as there are too many hungry and thirsty people," he told AFP.

The UN's food agency said it aimed to provide emergency aid to about half a million people by the end of September, then scale up to reach 2.2 million next month, as it appealed for foreign donations to help assist all those in need.

The World Food Programme said it had begun handing out rations in the worst-hit districts, starting with southern Badin.

But many are also facing dire shortages of clean drinking water, leading to outbreaks of acute diarrhoea, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).

"People are drinking filthy water and getting ill. The disaster is worsening every day, every moment," said Aslam Khwaja, a relief worker from People's Development Foundation.

The UN's children agency said it would distribute 200,000 litres of water to 40,000 people daily and deploy 40 more water tankers in coming days, aiming to ensure access to clean drinking water and avert disease.

Deedar Ali, 35, was rescued by a navy boat from a village in Sanghar after, he said, having to sit on the roof of his house with his family for several days.

"Our rations had finished, my goats and buffaloes had died. We saw a few people struggling in the water and thought we would meet the same fate," he said, crumbling into tears.

A boatman in Sanghar's Khipro town that said the navy had only four rescue boats available in the area, and all were being used around the clock.

"We have rescued 5,000 people in four days. There are still many people inside," he said.

Thousands trapped in flood-hit Sindh | | DAWN.COM

 

[Galaxy]

Pakistan flood victims sell possessions and beg

Pakistan flood victims sell possessions and beg

By Rebecca Conway
PANGRIO, Pakistan |

(Reuters) - The family of 12 were relieved when a Pakistani army boat rescued them from flood waters a week ago. But the hardships have only piled up at a makeshift camp.

The few family possessions saved from the roaring waters have been sold to buy food. The children have picked up potentially fatal diseases but can't afford to rest. And Pakistan's government is nowhere to be found.

"The children have been begging in the market to get food, and from the passing cars," said Ahmed Junejo, one of almost 2 million people displaced by floods which have ravaged Sindh province in the south.

Like many flood victims, the Junejo family are resigned to the fact they will have to fend for themselves.

"I just need two things -- food and a tent to protect my children from the sun and the rain. That's what we need here," said Ahmed, 50.

"Nobody has come to even look at us so we don't know where the relief camps are, and nobody had told us about any aid being delivered anywhere. We are still waiting for someone to come."

It could be a while.

Pakistan's cash-strapped government has been slow to respond to the floods, which have killed over 300 people and damaged or destroyed about 1.2 million houses since monsoon rains triggered the crisis in late August.

It's a repeat performance of last year, when authorities failed to ease the suffering of millions hit by epic floods in July and August, prompting the military to take charge.

Some 800,000 families hit by that calamity remain homeless.

The army is active again, traveling across kilometers of flooded farmland in boats to rescue people who have just the clothes on their backs.

But that hasn't eased the anxiety of families like the Junejos, who are stuck on barren land beside a petrol station.

They lost about 20 goats, which were used for milk or food and were their only assets.

PRIME MINISTER APPEALS FOR HELP

The father had to sell his mobile phone for the equivalent of $3. That merely bought some flour and biscuits which may only last a few days.

Like many flood victims, Ahmed believes help can only come with connections to the political elite in Pakistan, where the poor have few rights.

"I want to look after my family and feed them but I cannot. I feel sick from watching my kids like this. Nothing can be done about it. We don't know anyone high up so we just have to wait," he said.

President Asif Ali Zardari was widely criticized for trips to Britain and France last year when Pakistan was battling floods that killed about 2,000 people and made 11 million homeless.

Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani, who has been visiting flood victims, said the government could not ease the latest crisis on its own.

"The floods from the rains are beyond anyone's expectations. People's livelihoods, their livestock, crops, and businesses are destroyed," he told Reuters in the town of Nawabshah after touring flood-hit areas on Sunday.

"I appeal to all people, chambers of commerce, the business community and the international community to come forward."

Sindh, Pakistan's second biggest province, was already suffering long before the floods of 2010 or this year hit.

It had levels of malnutrition almost as critical as Chad and Niger, with hundreds of thousands of children at risk, according to the U.N. Children's Fund.

"This catastrophe, at the moment, considering the already poor health and nutrition status, is really extremely seriously for the people. I want to emphasize urgency of getting assistance to them," Timo Pakkala, United Nations Resident Humanitarian Coordinator, told a news conference in Islamabad.

He launched an appeal for $356 million for a rapid response plan for three months. Aid groups have warned of a growing risk of fatal diseases.

Ahmed's youngest child, two-year-old Mansoor Ali, has had diarrhea and fever for over a week. Medicine from a nearby state hospital didn't help. The private clinic was too expensive.

"We don't have anything else to sell," said Ahmed.

(Additional reporting by Asim Tanveer in Nawabshah and Zeeshan Haider in Islamabad; Writing by Michael Georgy; Editing by Daniel Magnowski)

Pakistan flood victims sell possessions and beg | Reuters

 

[maomao]

And India stole their water..........where are the paki TV shows and dumb rambling in newspapers regarding the Baniya next door stealing their water? Ohhh wait a sec now India must have opening the flood gates or used alien laser technology to burst clouds over pakistan.............LOL they deserve to be a failed whore state banged by every tom **** and harry!