The current flood disaster of Pakistan has been so great that all superlatives of language have already been used. Therefore I am choosing the photo medium here as it may be better than writing thousand more words. As with other natural disasters, flood affected children in Pakistan are especially vulnerable and need our attention.
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Nowshera, Pakistan.
Adil Najam
The only number more important than the number ‘One’ in Pakistan today is the number 175,000,000.
One represents the power of ‘You.’ 175,000,000 represents the power of ‘Us.’
The number for today (see previous numbers here, here, here, here, here) represents the total population of Pakistan. Because either we will all swim out of this crisis holding hands together. Or no one will.
If you doubt that, please read again the post from yesterday and the (lost) lessons of the 1970 Bhola Cyclone which not not devastated Pakistan but quite literally helped break up the country (Op-Ed version published in Express Tribune).
However, we do not need to overly dramatize the situation. It is dramatic enough already. Just take a look at all the other numbers; even though they do not even begin to explain the full magnitude of this disaster. (See earlier compilations here and here):
Pakistanis Directly Affected:
20,000,000+
(According to the UN this eclipses even in the 2004 Tsunami, 2005 Kashmir Earthquake and the 2010 Haiti Earthquake combined)
Proportion of Pakistan now Submerged:
20% (One-Fifth) of the Country
(Greater than the size of all England, all Bangladesh, and some 140 different countries )
Proportion of Pakistanis now Affected:
11% – 1 Out of Every 9 Pakistanis
(Greater than the entire population of Sri Lanka, Netherlands, Switzerland, and over 150 different countries)
Pakistanis in Urgent Need of Food Relief:
6,000,000+
(Others need assistance too, these are life-threatening)
Children at Risk of Disease:
3,500,000+
(Cholera outbreaks have already been reported)
Pakistanis now Homeless:
2,000,000+
(In need of immediate shelter assistance)
Pakistanis Reached by Relief Efforts:
500,000
(Compare to numbers above)
Dear Readers,
While All Things Pakistan has remained alive and online, it has been dormant since June 11, 2011 - when, on the blog's 5th anniversary, we decided that it was time to move on. We have been heartened by your messages and the fact that a steady traffic has continued to enjoy the archived content on ATP. While the blog itself will remain dormant, we are now beginning to add occasional (but infrequent) new material by the original authors of the blog, mostly to archive what they may now publish elsewhere. We will also be updating older posts to make sure that new readers who stumble onto this site still find it useful.
We hope you will continue to find ATP a useful venue to reflect upon and express your Pakistaniat. - Editors
