By Sheraz Khan London
Seeing the scenes of large-scale destruction caused by floods and exposing the poor infrastructure of our country breaks our hearts. Everyone is crying because of the large-scale destruction caused by the floods in PAKISTAN resulting in the loss of lives and livelihood of the poor people. It is even sadder that a country equipped with nuclear arsenals is in such a dilapidated state that we do not have the infrastructure or plans to deal with such disasters.
The support and aid from overseas communities committed to Pakistan are commendable. It is time to think and see that this aid given on a humanitarian basis reaches the deserving communities the flood victims or the vultures and political elites will eat it as usual. After the floods of 2010 and the catastrophic earthquake of October 8, 2005, most of the foreign aid received was eaten by pickpockets, including ruling bureaucrats, social Organizations, and some so-called charities running in the name of the welfare of human beings. Most of the money went into the bank accounts of rich and powerful political elites and into the pockets of their sons and daughters.
Here the question also arises if we have someone to audit and calculate today, he should ask how much aid has come from abroad in the past and where it has been spent and how much aid is coming now! And who will give full account for this aid? I say with full confidence that no one has any answer.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, on the occasion of the recent visit of the United Nations Secretary-General to Pakistan, has given an assurance that the flood aid coming from outside will be spent on people. His rhetoric that It will be spent on the victims is not an assurance, the country is corrupted to its roots, and the past of PM Shahbaz Sharif himself is not very clean and untainted! Also because of political instability who knows for how long he will be the prime minister, there are many question marks on his credibility when it comes to money and foreign aid!
The country is still in its infancy when it comes to dealing with such natural disasters. Because the political elites have always looted the country’s wealth the patriotic community members are appealing to the authorities and armed forces to ensure the process of delivering this aid to the deserving and victims is done without any political corruption and mismanagement. Whenever there is a disaster in the country, it cannot be consolidated by giving childish consolations that it is a test from Allah, but for the destruction and loss of lives, it should be understood that it is the result of our incompetence, selfishness, and selfishness of our governments and rulers.
We had 20 years to plan for such disasters. It was the responsibility of the government to build dams and safe islands in these high rainfall areas. This huge waste of water would have not occurred and also damage to lives and properties would have been minimum. It is a matter of great regret that climate change has occurred worldwide.
Where the universal and heavenly calamities continue to descend, as in Pakistan, earthquakes, floods, and storms occur every second and third year, but government and the ruling elites pay no attention to this because their own children and families live in safe havens. In other parts of the world the governments and rulers try to make life easy for their citizens but in Pakistan, ruling elites have done nothing for their country and citizens. They should have built thousands of dams, built strong paved roads, and provided electricity, water, and health facilities to their people, when there is a storm, earthquake, or flood it would have been manageable with minimum damage but who can guide these people!! Pakistan needs long-term planning and needs to learn from other countries to prepare and handle such calamities. One good example is China where because of their long-term planning they had severe floods and rainfalls but there was no loss of life or property and China has not even appealed to the world for help.
There be the government of the People’s Party in Sindh province for the last forty years, where votes are taken from the Sindhis in the name of Bhutto’s legacy, and in every election, Bhutto, who was buried in the graveyard of Garhi Khudabakhsh, comes back to life, but the Sindhi people are drowned in the flood today. My question is where is Bhutto and why he has not come back to help? The tragedy is that majority of the poor people lost their lives and property are living as slaves under the umbrella of feudal lords. Thanks to the soldiers of the Pakistan Army who are helping these flood victims day and night but no signs of Bhutto yet!
The question is also on Zardari who is the richest man in Pakistan alongside the Sharif family! How they have become so rich and where they have earned this wealth is unknown to many of us! It’s the foreign aid money and loans taken from the IMF and others that have made these families filthy rich. Unfortunately of their corrupt family fortunes, they have not given a dollar for the flood victims’ support. Among the flood victims from Lasbela, Muhammad Bakhsh Ranjhu from Nasirabad district, Dr. Mansab Ali Baloch, Nasreen Ansari from Larkana, and some media colleagues from Badin approached the flood victims and sent videos of their respective areas. I have personally approached GCO Hyderabad Major General Dilawar Khan and then appealed to the officers of Pakistan forces in Balochistan, they gave aid to the victims, but the destruction is too much. People living in the UK, Europe, or America can deliver from the countries because the people of these areas are settled in these countries, but the people of Sindh or Baluchistan are not present in foreign countries. On a permanent basis, future major disasters can be avoided. Where the Pakistan Army serves the people in earthquakes, floods, storms, and crises, it can also bring corrupt rulers, bureaucrats, thieves, robbers, and fraudsters to their logical end.
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