Straight Talk
The Forgotten Citizens of Pakistan.

58 years ago, there had been a "founder", who had created a nation and on 14th August, 1947, the Muslims of India had raised their hands to Allah in gratitude for blessing them with a nation of their own, a nation called Pakistan.

Thousands of innocent men, women and children had died as riots broke out, but for those who lost their loved ones, the sacrifice was worth it, as they were now free citizens and masters of their own destiny.
Since then, we have been trying to find a "builder" who could build this nation and a system of governance that is of the people, for the people and by the people and a government that would improve the quality of life of the millions, most of who still live below the poverty lines and are illiterate.

But over the years, we failed to do so and our politics of errors gave the army repeated excuses to dismiss and remove governments and take control of the nation. We had one PM hanged, one general-president blown up in the skies, one President and CJ forced to resign, one “leader” and PM in self exile and one in forced exile and 4 governments removed for corruption and the misuse and abuse of authority. We were nominated as the second most corrupt nation in the world and almost declared a failed and rouge state.

Presidents, PMs, Field Marshals, 5 Star Generals and numerous governments have come and gone and have tried various types and systems of governments, from basic to tailored democracy, to dictatorships and the present, which is a cocktail of all. And in the process we have seen the judicial and civic structures made ineffective and the constitution mutilated and mauled.

The one common factor of these Molotov cocktails has been, that all of them have been “in the best interest of the country” and have promised us a better tomorrow and a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. And along the long journey, heroes and villains have merged and played musical chairs.

At one of Helpline Trust’s seminar, a former Chief Economist of Pakistan had stated: “there are only two stakeholders in Pakistan, the privileged few, about 5%, which includes the feudals, the armed forces and the rich and the famous. The other stakeholders are the balance 95%, the subjects, who have no say in the destiny of this nation nor enjoy any privileges and are the forgotten citizens of Pakistan.

No doubt the economic melt down that the country was facing has been averted and now our coffers are overflowing with dollars. But unfortunately for the forgotten subjects, things have remained the same for the last 58 years and their plight is as dismal as before.

We may be a nuclear power with a growing economy, planning jet fountains, tall buildings, under and over passé, etc. Yet, most of Pakistan has been shamefully neglected and still without electricity, safe water and basic amenities and the government seems to be unable to enforce the simplest of laws.

The recent earthquake has left a trail of death and destruction that has shocked the entire nation and the world. Entire villages have been wiped out or buried under landslides, killing over 70,000 innocent men, women and children.

The tragic events in the north have brutally and cruelly exposed how the district administration and those who have been given the responsibility to look after the welfare of the citizens of this country failed and how unprepared we are to meet any calamity or a natural disaster.

Relief goods were either looted, dumped in the open or dropped by helicopters haphazardly, as a result of which almost 60% affected victims of Mansehra, Abbottabad, Battagram and Kohistan districts were without basic foods, tents, blanket and medicines for the first 4 crucial days. If it had not been for the volunteers, the death toll would have been horrendous.

An eyewitness account of my friend, Col. Jaffery and others sums it up adequately: “During the first few days one could notice that the operation, meant to save lives, was ill coordinated with no civilian authority in control. The search and rescue operation was conducted almost entirely by volunteers, local and foreign, who knew their job but could only half do it because of questionable quality of supervision”.

Earthquakes are a natural calamity and cannot be prevented and no doubt, the magnitude of the calamity was beyond expectations. But what can be prevented are tragic deaths due to lack of preparedness and coordination, poor management and slow response. What can save lives in such a calamity is timely and efficient rescue operation and quick response teams, with immediate medical aid.

Concerned government departments have been well aware of the fact that our northern areas are in the maximum seismic level for earthquakes, the same as L.A. And yet they have never prepared a National Disaster Plan nor had they established crisis management centers, which should have been in place in all major cities. This is criminal negligence.

If such a plan had been in place, the loss of innocent lives would have been much less. But even if such a plan had existed, judging from past experience, it would have been ineffective, as most of these regularity bodies have a deplorable track record and have never been able to regulate or enforce the simplest of laws and are just a waste of the tax payers money.

This is obvious from the loss of innocent lives due to the collapse of one block of the Margalla Towers in Islamabad. According to the residents, cracks had appeared in the building in the late 90s, due to a structure fault. The matter was reported to the Capital Development Authority, but no action was taken.

And now, as the dust settles down after the devastating earthquake which has killed over 90,000 innocent citizens, one is once again forced to look at the kaleidoscope of our systems of governance in Pakistan and wonder as to what went wrong, who is to be blamed, what is to follow in the coming years and what is really in the best interest of Pakistan and its citizens?

Our cities have been allowed to mushroom without any proper planning or supervision and none have a disaster or a natural calamity management plan. As such, thousands will still lie and rot under the rubble of fallen rocks, while many will face an agonizing and slow death, as the harsh winter approaches, due to the lack of adequate shelter, food and medical supplies.

Our national and provincial assemblies and our graduate legislators and those in government are joke and an insult to the nation. They lack the commitment or the vision to govern and are there to serve their own self-interest and their “self above all” syndrome.

According to recent reports, 208 women were raped in 15 out of 20 districts in Sindh in the last 3 months. The figures for Punjab and other parts of Pakistan are much higher. But this has not shocked or outraged our enlightened leaders, legislators, the judiciary or our pillars of society, who are very generous in providing funds and assistance for the earthquake victims, but refuse to voice their concern over such issues.

Our civil society has failed as miserably as the government, as it has refused to demand accountability and take a stand on important issues such as bad governance, the outdated Jirga System, the unchecked rise in rape, honor killings and violence against women and the discriminatory Hudood Ordinance.

Rape and crimes against women are common all over the world, but in other countries, civil society shows its disgust by organizing protests and demanding lawmakers to change discriminatory laws. But in Pakistan, the educated and the privileged have never played their expected role and have allowed governments to misuse and abuse its authority.

It took a brave, uneducated woman from a village, who was brutally raped, to shame the nation. She demanded justice and begged the government to take notice of the plight of the women in Pakistan. But the nation and its leaders turned their backs on her and she was forced to seek justice from strangers. She took her case to citizens of the world and it was the International community that appreciated and recognized her courage and honored her by calling her the bravest woman in the world.

Let us hope that now, after this terrible tragedy and the loss of so many innocent lives, the government will review its priorities and stop 5 star development programs and come down to earth and improve the lives of the forgotten citizens of Pakistan and not just the privileged few.

It should consider cutting down the Defence budget and money spent on fleets of Mercedes, foreign visits and the delegates that accompany them and spend the money on providing basic facilities and health services of the country, which presently is 1% of our nation's budget.

And if not, well we have already lost 5 decades and the forgotten citizens have suffered in silence for 58 years and have always accepted what governments have provided them in their best interest. So what difference will it make, if they continue to suffer for another few more years, in their best interest of course. May God protect Pakistan from its Protectors and the hollow promises of hollow leaders.

H. Maker. (email: trust@super.net.pk}