Adil Najam
Karachi burns. Pakistan drowns. Pakistanis are desperate to clutch at some twig, some branch of hope. There seem to be none. Even the cricket team collapsed, much like the mud houses outside Swat and Nowshehra.
The brutal murder of MQM MPA Raza Haider has triggered a cycle of violence and arson in Karachi that has already consumed 32 more lives in its wake. And all of this as the rain waters rise as quickly as the death toll due to them: already over 1650 Pakistanis dead in their wake.
Here is the story thus far, as told by the numbers (all of these numbers are likely to keep rising, much like the flood waters):
Cost to Agriculture:
US$1,000,000,000
(US$ 1 Billion in Punjab and Khyber Pakhtoonkhwa only)
Pakistanis Affected:
2,500,000
(including incidents of disease and displacement and with rising threats of epidemics)
Households needing help:
100,000
(Mostly in Khyber Pakhtoonkhwa)
People still waiting to be evacuated:
27,000
(Including 1500 tourists)
International Relief Pledged so far:
US$30,000,000+
(Including US$10 million from the United States, another US$10 million from the United Nations and US$8 million from United Kingdom)
Death Toll:
1650+
(Estimate of 1500+ in Khyber Pakhtoonkhwa only)
We continue to watch these rising numbers with fear of the worse that is bound to come. We have already written about the mounting deaths (hear and here), about how this is a human-induced calamity and not a ‘natural disaster’, about the need for all of us to help in any which way we can and that ATP has sent all of its revenue to relief agencies working with the poor hit by these flood (via Edhi Foundation). We continue to urge our readers to do the same.
More details on this calamity here, here and here; and a pictorial post of the misery it has brought, here.
Please add to this cost, the cost of lost prestige due to a senseless UK trip of our President in the wake of insulting statement of David Cameron shamelessly reiterated yesterday. Please also add to it cost on the coronation of Pakistan’s new king, Bilawal son of Bhutto son of Zardari. In view of this Cameron was right to insult us for his own commercial gains. Read more at: http://fmeducation.blogspot.com/2010/08/could-mr-c amerons-pakistan-bashing-save.html
Thanks to Dr. Adil and Pakistaniat for highlighting the issues faced by Pakistan.
We need to get out of this drug that Government will fix everything. Time is NOW.
We need to work with a bottom up approach.
We all are blessed with $, skills, education and planning skills. Please use that.
On our side, we are consistently mobilizing the Alumni of College of Telecom (legacy College of Signalians) – NUST- Pakistan.
We did mobilize resources for IDP and now doing same for Pakistanis which are impacted by recent floods.
This shows our resilience and resolve. This is essentially what Islam and Pakistan is about.
So quit waiting, whining and blaming world and take charge.
If you want to help, please drop an email to me at shirazbashir@gmail.com.
On behalf of Alumni
-Shiraz Bashir
Advisor to Alumni
College of Telecom
NUST
……eerily yet predictably missing…….any aid from our muslim brethren !
What is happening in Karachi is the relentless killing of Pathans by MQM. The media is too scared to state that MQM death squads are responsible for this. Yesterday after the killing of the MQM MPA, their death squads unleashed a killing spree. So far they have killed 50 people nearly all Pathans, with over a hundred lying in hospital with bullet wounds. While Altaf Hussain, the terror kingpin of MQM resides in London and orders the killings and destruction of Pathans and their properties, David Cameron has the nerve to accuse Pakistan of “looking both ways” when it comes to terror.
Further more the local media keeps on stating that law enforcement agencies did nothing to stop the gangs of arsonists and murderers who were acting with impunity. Well the fact is the police for one are too scared to take action against the MQM. They fought valiantly in the operation against MQM in the nineties, only to see the MQM allowed to reemerge with state sponsorship under Musharraf. Under Musharraf in a calculated and steady pace the MQM gunned down 190 police officials who spearheaded the operation against the MQM. Alas they fought for the state, yet when they were gunned down, the state had other matters which were more pertaining, such as Musharraf’s gameplan to extend his stay in power.
The only solution is the declaration of the MQM as a terrorist organization and their complete eradication. No more can Pakistan afford its financial capital to be held hostage by a few thousand thugs, who draw support only from the barrel of the gun.
The irony is you will be writing about the deaths due to scarcity of water few months down the line.
This is all mismanagement and non-development of our resources for which we have no one but ourselves to blame.