Forgetting the flood victims

The floods washed away hopes, dreams and lives with
them. (Photo: Dawn.com)

And we left them in the sun to dry. Then we forgot about them and started talking about other more important things. Our lives, already quite unaffected by the devastating floods which took away whole swathes of land with them, became even more obscurant after the media decided it had wasted to much precious time in giving coverage to the poor and the devastated victims.

The sudden upsurge in the number of people who’re clamoring to stay “connected to the world” is sensational. But this beggars the question: Whom are they staying connected with? The world? Maybe, but with reality? That’s definitely a no. In the aftermath of the floods, the youth of this country rose magnificently and showed us all that you don’t need to be a known philanthropist to make a change. Normal people like myself went door to door, asking for donations and help. It was nothing short of a silent revolution; a panacea for social change.

But as with everything else, people need support and encouragement, and a genuine interest in their effort. That wasn’t so forthcoming was it? Bored with the intense devastation that we saw daily on our TV screens, most of us decided to switch them off till we had better stuff to watch. The people stopped giving alms by stating that they had already paid or donated, without pausing to think that a onetime donation could not possibly have sustained the damage that had been caused. Consequently today, at the start of November and barely two and a half months after the floods ravaged an entire country, the UN has made its dire straits public. The World Food Program only has rations left for one month.

They say they appealed for $600 million but only got $200 million in return. So how did this situation come about? Because we don’t care? That sounds plausible but I’m afraid that’s not quite painting the whole picture. You see on the national level, the floods were turned into a political road show, where a lot of noises were made, a lot of pictures were taken, a lot of fancy dinners in honor of honorable gentlemen from the ruling gentry were hosted, and the calamity stricken poor people were duly forgotten. When the caretakers of the masses don’t take care of their people, or don’t want to take care, how does one expect the masses to rise to the occasion?

What all of us forgot was that the 20 million people who were affected by these killer floods lost everything. They have no home to go to, no food to eat and no medicine with which to treat their kids. The state, which was supposed to be ubiquitous, seemed miserably incapable of handling the post floods rehabilitation efforts. The people who had initially stepped in to lead the charge eventually gave up because the state was nowhere to be seen, and besides, how long can a person go on without getting help anyway? People donated once and thought they had played their part and that was the end of it.

The fact though is that it wasn’t enough. There are still people who are in dire need of assistance and it is time for the people of Pakistan to step up a second time. Call it the Flood victims’ help 2.0 if you please but please, take cognizance of the situation. It is high time we remembered that we are helping our own brothers and sisters; that we are helping Pakistanis.

The sudden escalation in the spread of the dengue virus means that the flood affected areas, and the camps for the flood victims need immediate medical attention. Donate medicines if you don’t want to donate cash. Send in blankets and warm clothes because winter approaches rapidly. And kindly, rise to the occasion once again and donate as much rations as you can. This is an appeal for Pakistanis.

The curious case of Meera Jee

If you were to read the 18^th October copy of Newsweek Pakistan, you would come across an interview that they conducted with Miss Meera Jee. The first thing that you will undoubtedly notice is that Newsweek calls her a 34 year old; well, amen to that.

But this post is not to antagonize the already hewn respect that Meera draws from the Pakistani crowd. Granted that her demeanor and her antics over, well, her entire life, have been a major cause of fun and laughter for the majority of us but reading between the lines tells me that she is a much more intelligent and mature woman that we make her out to be.

And besides, ever since that seedy Hanif Abbasi of PML – N came on TV and threw up fistfuls of dirty grime on the artiste community of Pakistan, Meera’s stature climbed automatically. Her political affiliation with Musharraf arises from the fact that he went out of “his way to help her, after her Indian film controversy in 2005.”

But the story doesn’t end there. You see I have to very much agree with Meera on the fact that the only difference between Hollywood, Bollywood and our own so called Lollywood, is the difference of opportunities. Whereas state regulations and laws ensure the maximum benefit for artists of all sorts internationally, Hanif Abbasi’s comments suffice to tell the story about the sordid affairs our artistic community has to face. What is particularly demeaning and bewildering is the fact that it was the artist community of Pakistan that joined hands and stepped up its efforts to do everything that it possibly could, ranging from composing special songs to raise the morale of the survivors and get the greedy amongst us to cough up some money, to arranging special concerts to raise money for the affected. On the other hand what did Hanif Abbasi’s precious PML – N do except have its legislators unanimously reject Shahbaz Sharif’s plea of donating a one month salary to the CM Fund?

Why our artistic community clamors after Musharraf is because he was sympathetic to their cause, and he understood their importance in trying to present a new image of Pakistan to the world. What our democratic parties fail to recognize, particularly the PML – N, is that being seen hanging out with members of the banned terrorist organizations such as LeT or Jamat-ud-Dawa is only going to cause hysteria amongst the people, and project that negative image on to the world map which we’re always cursing, and speaking out against because that’s not “really us”. Not to gloat or anything, but we are what the world sees, not what we tell it.

The PML – N has already caused enough sentimental damage to this country and its people with its unwavering support of the Taliban, and the vernacular pleas of Shahbaz Sharif to them to spare his province. In order to harbinger these extremist sentiments for personal interests, the Sharifs have trampled all over the cultural aesthetics of Punjab and Lahore. Why then does it surprise them to see artists pining after Musharraf?

But let’s get back to Meera who was in flow against the current regime. She very aptly stated that there was nothing substantial that had been seen on the government’s part after the devastating floods, and as far as she could see, the despair and depravity amongst the masses will continue to exist even 30 years from now. Do I disagree with her? I don’t. The amount of money donated to the victims is substantial, but as is the case, we don’t know what became of it or where it was spent. The government did not make sure of any transparency measures and the situation on the ground remains appalling. In the sad world of Pakistani politics, it is generally considered ok to assume that the government in charge is actually guilty of doing whatever thing it is you suspect it of doing.

While Meera may not have won the talent accolades for her not so pristine acting, she has won accolades in having her heart in the right place. For someone who faces the music every time she opens her mouth, that is a remarkable thing.

The curious case of Pakistan Army

General Kayani owes an explanation to the people.
(Photo: Dawn.com)

As if my rant the other day wasn't enough, the Pakistan Army has decided there is yet more misery that it can heap onto a hapless nation. With a purported increase of 25% in their allotted defence budget, the total estimated expenditure for the army now stands at Rs. 550 billion.

Just sit back for a second and consider the ramifications of this act; this Rs. 110 billion increase in the defence budget is tantamount to bankrupting the economy. Why? Well let's see. The 110 billion with which the army has attempted to fulfill its insatiable appetite for public money is roughly equal to the money that the government hopes to make with the reformed GST. So in totality, the net effect of implementing the new GST is a big fat zero. Consider also, that the common people are once again being forced to pay for the scheming theatrics of the army, without even knowing why the army is demanding so much more money!

But this is Pakistan. A country ranked the 139^th most corrupt nation on earth. One of the biggest reasons for this status is the utter lack of accountability. Only last week the Public Accounts Committee demanded to know what became of the 5.5 billion PKR that was given to the ISI. 5 and a half billion is a substantial quantity of money and in a real democracy, people who paid that money would have been told what became of it. But here, as usual, the PAC was told to mind its own business.

While demanding money from the US and other Western states, it would've been prudent if the government had tried to set its own house in order first. The addiction of gaining capital at the expense of the future of an entire country should be declared high treason. The 110 billion spared for the army should have been used for the rehabilitation of the flood affectees. Why wasn't it allocated for them? What is so important that the army decided to take not 10, not 20, but 110 billion rupees from the national kitty?

No wonder the Pakistan Army's name is sullied in the world media and no wonder it has indeed become an entire independent state. Considering the consortium of corporate entities that is maintained by the army, it could've raised the required expense amount from its own coffers in a jiffy. But in the defensive state of Pakistan, where ideological borders need protection, no one dares question the army's dubious charades; not even the people mandated to solely check out the irregularities in the public institutions. 

A Crying Shame

At least someone's got their priorities right. Angelina Jolie
visiting flood stricken families. (Photo: Dawn.com)

And so it seems, it’s all crumbling up. The economic affairs of the state are out there for all to see. According to the Finance Minister himself, if the current spate of ostentatious spending is not curtailed, within a few months, the state will be unable to pay salaries and wages to its employees. Of course this admonishment has fallen on deaf ears because no concrete steps have emerged to trim the government’s fat, or widen the tax net.

But let’s leave that aside. What does it all mean for you and me and the common man? Just today for instance, the Sasti Roti scheme was curtailed and the price of a 20kg pack of flour shot up by an unbelievable Rs. 175. You can imagine what it spells out for the poor who were already finding it difficult to haggle together two square meals a day. They have been left out in the open to wring dry.

Nor does it spell good news for other, a bit more well-to-do people. The constant borrowing from the State Bank of Pakistan means that the government has effectively turbocharged the inflation to ungodly levels. In the last two weeks, food inflation alone has shot up by more than 7 times. Consider also, that the government is under serious pressure to increase the electricity tariff by more than 26% on the diktat of the IMF. Obviously no thought has gone into defining the outcome of this horrendous decision. As always, the stooges in charge will scamper when times get even tougher, and the nation will silently bear the brunt of the misgivings of its government once more.

The Public Sector Development Program lies in tatters. But it is unrealistic to expect the government to give a rat’s ass about the good of the people. Even right now, the assemblies have torpedoed the bills introduced which called for taxing the farmers of this country. What we tend to forget in our emotional diatribe is that the majority of farmland in Pakistan is under the direct control of billionaire landlords which range from Zardari to the Sharifs, to scamps such as Rehman Malik. How then does the nation expect the assemblies to cough up the moral courage to literally tax itself?

The statements being churned out of Altaf Hussain’s London residence get ever more vociferous. I don’t know what his calling is, but his demands of ousting the feudal and cleansing the system of corrupt landlords has its merits. However, I still wholeheartedly and vehemently disagree with his disposition that the army ought to meddle in something that is clearly beyond its call of professional duty. The army is comprised of soldiers, and as soldiers they are duty bound to follow the state; not go up in arms against it. Instigating the army will do no one any good (perhaps Altaf Hussain thinks different) and will only return Pakistan to the brink of total and utter chaos.

Of late, I’ve seen numerous people calling for a change in our collective mindset. But in view of the above mentioned prevailing crises, it is imprudent to expect the people to roil out a revolt. Revolts occur when the whole nation feels the brunt, and feels the pain. When the mouth feeders (elite class) have got the majority by the scruff of their necks, and keep feeding them enough to keep them at bay, it is futile to expect a revolution to occur.

The aid flows have dried up considerably. The majority of aid givers have had to deal with a bit of belt tightening because of the prevailing economic situation. So the question is, where will more aid come from if not from us? We may have stepped up to give in rations for a month to the hapless flood stricken people but they are going to need many more months’ worth of supplies to stay alive. Already new problems are breaking the surface in the form of measles, cholera, malaria, diarrhea, and gastroenteritis outbreaks. It is estimated that almost 3.5 million kids are prone to such diseases. And it’s been what, only a month since the waters receded from the banks of the Indus?

These are tough times for us; all of us. It is time we showed ourselves, and the world what Pakistanis are and what Pakistaniyat means to us. Let us all come together to overcome the challenges that keep coming in our way. Someday, we will overcome them. All of them.

Reality Check, Anyone?

Al-Quds day rally carnage in Quetta. (Photo: Dawn.com)

Incidents keep transpiring in our country that push one to the brink of dementia. Bomb blasts, suicide blasts, suicide rates, rapes, public lynching, gross miscarriages of justice, cheating, fraud, prejudices, biases, corruption, immorality and not in the normal visually indecent way, but the bigger dilemma that has slowly made itself the hallmark of our society, dishonesty, depravity all of them, we see every day and every day we turn our backs on them.

A friend asked me on the day of the Lahore bomb blasts if I actually felt sad about the ordeal that the Lahoris will once again have to undergo, and I was quite surprised by the answer I gave her. I said no, I don’t feel sad. I don’t feel anything. The thing is, I have been numbed and desensitized so much so that I cannot connect on an emotional level with my fellow countrymen. I am unmoved by their plight. I have become resistive to the forces that are trying to penetrate this cocoon that I have invariably created around myself to hide in when the world outside is so cruel.

It isn’t only me though. Nearly all of us have undergone this transformation. Every day I come across people who in earnest, I would probably call pseudo Pakistanis (defined by their gesticulation and their unrealistic lifestyles), but then I stop to think if I am any different than them? There are people for instance, who would willingly spend Rs. 50,000 to buy a new iPhone or a Blackberry, but they don’t even know how many people died in the floods. Or how many were displaced. They wouldn’t be able to tell you how many people died in the Yom-ul-Quds day rally in Quetta, nor would they know about the number of dead in the Lahore triple blasts from the day before. There are people who don’t even know if blasts occurred in the last 48 hours in this country, and there are those who don’t even know where Quetta is.

This is not a measure of judging your patriotism, or your love for your country; this is just a rhetorical post asking you to find out whether you’re in touch with reality. Day in and day out I keep blitzing on with my life not caring about what goes on in the life of the 180 million people of this country. I just care about my neck, my life, my peace. But then, what defines my peace does not even see the light of the day in millions of people’s lives. They probably never even dream about it.

I wake up every day with the thought that I face an uncertain future, but if all else fails, I might salvage some pride by ending up somewhere. But then I realize there are people who wake up every day with one goal in their minds: surviving today. There is a massive disconnect that has burned itself into our social fabric. We, the privileged class with our Facebooks, and Twitters, and MSNs have never really delved beyond the surface. You will probably read this and scrap it. You will feel sorry for the country and you might feel helpless. If you really feel like doing something, the most you will do is send out a tweet deploring your countrymen, yourself, the society and what not, and you will probably set a sad, disheartened Facebook status deploring our plight. But that is the end of it. You will move on with your life because you do not understand the horrors of being one of the common people. It is our dilemma. The privileged class’s dilemma.

It has been one month since the floods ravaged our country. In the last three days, we have lost a total of at least 85 Pakistanis to mind boggling terrorist attacks. How many of us are interested in either of the stories? The Sialkot lynching provided a much needed moment of introspection for us but we squandered it by blaming ourselves, our society, the environment that we have grown up in, our social fabric, our judicial system. And then, we moved on. That incident was a wakeup call. It told us to shelve our cocoons and step into the real world and take cognizance of our plight. But we did not like that notion, so we continued with the status quo. We wrote a few articles, said a few words, lambasted the police and all was well.

Our traditional values espousing despondency need to be challenged. Because I’m sick of being sad, and I believe those who care are also tired and bogged down by our ineptitude. We need a reality check; we need to shelve our safety bubbles and step out into the real world. Because that’s the only way we’ll ever reconnect with the reality called life in Pakistan.

The Bewildering Psyche of Pakistanis

The empathy of the Pakistani nation to brazen acts of publicity is bewildering. Over the last week or so, I have seen a huge fan following develop over the news that Malik Riaz has decided to spend 75% of his wealth to help the flood victims. Noble gesture indeed but scratching below the surface of his surreal announcement reveals a different story.

Malik Riaz shot to fame after his fabled Bahria Town became a hit across the entire Pakistani stratosphere for being a gated getaway for the elitist to enjoy the exuberant Pakistani lifestyle that has never existed for almost the entire majority of the Pakistani nation. How he was able to get his hands on the land that now forms Bahria Town remains controversial. Numerous reports of land grabbing attributed to him and Bahria Town have surfaced time and again in the media, but all were rapidly and briskly expunged.

But that is beside the point. Malik Riaz has never disclosed his income tax returns (I doubt if he even files them in the first place) so we can’t say for sure how much he makes, and how much he gives away. So let’s leave it at that. The more important question is, what credibility is attached to Malik Riaz, and why should people trust him to give up 75% of his wealth?

In earnest, the talk of him spending his wealth on the flood victims appears to be brilliant rhetoric. Probably Malik Riaz, who by his own admission copies ideas from Western gated elitist communities and replicates them in Bahria Town, saw Warren Buffet and Bill Gates giving away their money to charity and thought that’s a brilliant way of raising his public profile. And it has sort of worked.

The thing is though, people like Malik Riaz do not even eat if it does not bring them some sort of profit. The Government of Pakistan is in the process of receiving billions of dollars of aid from across the world and if the UN is to be believed, this aid will continue to flow for some considerable time. Some of this aid will invariably be used for infrastructure rebuilding including housing, a specialty of Bahria Town. So it’s quite simple; Malik Riaz will spend 75% of his wealth to build houses, and he has already stated his intention to do so, and he will sell them back to the Government of Pakistan at a profit. Quite a brilliant way of making unimaginable profit, and winning hearts and minds at the same time.

There is no denying the fact that Malik Riaz is a genius. He does not come from a known background but in spite of all that, he has still managed to achieve the impossible. However, his noble gesture does not fall in well with me because as it so happens, his credibility was always an issue.

I read a comment somewhere regarding Mr Riaz Hussain’s donation, where the commentator has written that so long as Malik Riaz gives back to the people, no one really cares where he got the money in the first place. This sort of incoherent mentality bespoke all of us Pakistanis, and says a lot about the nation that dares raise its fingers against people like Asif Zardari and Nawaz Sharif with nothing short of august swagger. So according to the majority of us, as long Nawaz Sharif keeps visiting the flood hit regions, as long as Asif Zardari keeps giving trivial sums to the PM relief fund, and as long as Malik Riaz keeps clamoring about helping the poor, we should let them continue robbing us.

I don’t know about you, but that is simply unacceptable to me.

The Tales From Pakistan

There is so much going on in Pakistan and there is so much to write about that one is quite overwhelmed by the whole hoopla. Yours truly is a victim of this quandary, and consequently I find it hard to isolate one incident from another to comment upon.

For example, in this land of the self professed and fabled good-Samaritans, there exist bigoted idiots such as Ijaz Butt, who is inherently incapable of spelling his own name. News has it that once again the Senate committee on sports has demanded his resignation, and this time they will send a request to the President and ask him "to do something about Ijaz Butt". As the going goes, they have also demanded that being a democratic head of a democratic country, he should remove Ijaz Butt forthwith and appoint a new Chairman of the PCB in his place.

Paindoo Saala. (Source: Dawn.com)

Well gentlemen, if democracy isn't a farce and you all are not merely role-playing, pray tell why in God's name should Asif Zardari have the power to nominate/appoint PCB Chairmen? I thought the PCB had its own constitution and was entitled to follow it. Of course it is not just Ijaz Butt who is to blame, but the utterly stupid and spineless henchmen that he has surrounding him that probably feed him with chicken wings which makes him think he is indestructible.

A while back I watched Ijaz Butt's interview on Dawn News with Wajahat S. Khan and the only thing that registered with me was: I've never seen a more greedy, self-centered, self seeking, egotistical bastard in my whole life.

You just have to listen to his "I am the Chairman, I can do whatever I please" bullshit to know that the guy was probably born in a Nazi gas chamber while they were gassing donkeys. I have never seen a more stupid man in my life.

Looks like she just got off smoking pot.
(Source: Dawn.com)

Which brings me to the most stupidest woman that I have ever seen. In fact, if there ever was a competition to identify the most belligerent idiotic person in Pakistan, I would be hard pressed to make a decision amongst these two. Yes indeed, I am talking about Fauzia Wahab. Miss Wahab has struck back with venomous vengeance on a news report appearing in Dawn which proclaimed the humanitarian wings of both PPP and PML-N were missing from the flood relief activities.

According to Miss Oxymoron, the PML-N govt. in collusion with the PPP cadres have been delivering relief goods across the length and breadth of Punjab. She also mentioned that the PPP leadership in Sindh hardly sits still on their asses long enough to let the common man kick them to hell.

The thing is though, the PPP is the government. It is supposed to help the people. It is not an option for them, it is a duty and right now even with Miss Wahab's vehement glorification of her political party, we are witnessing great dereliction of duty on the part of PPP.

The other important thing of course was that the news report talked about the humanitarian wings of the PPP and PML-N and NOT the government and its stooges.

Honestly, it appears Fauzia Wahab graduated from Tulumba High School to be so dumb and screwed in the head. I know I'm biased against her and to a great extent, but well, what're you gonna do?

Sehri is over and sleep beckons. But I'll let you know before I go that an international comedy/sci-fi/action/thriller/spy thriller/suspense/horror (basically all genres rolled into one) blockbuster can be created here in Pakistan without any cost at all. You already have the sets in the Parliament; the main actors in Asif Zardari, Fauzia Wahab and Ijaz Butt; the constipated gay man in Nawaz Sharif, and the extras in the Chaudhrys. What more can one hope for? Stellar cast, stellar movie.

Let's see how long they take to make it.

From We to Me

Map of districts affected by the floods

This is a first hand report. I went door to door, asking people to make a donation; anything at all that they would like to give and not just money. The results were astonishing. Out of 40 households, only one came forward with a charitable donation of Rs.100. This attitude forced me to ask myself: Why? Why are people so reluctant to give? Why are people not hospitable and charitable anymore?

There are several reasons to that. Several reasons that I can think of, and several of them I know are true. Having studied a little bit of sociology, I can think of sociological reasons to identify the reasons for this lack of helping attitude. I can associate political reasons to this lack of civic sense and yes, there are psychological reasons too.

Over the last few years, our national character has degenerated at an alarmingly fast rate. There are no studies to back up my claims, but if you are a Pakistani who dares to venture out of your house gate, you will understand what I am saying. It seems as if a general wave of rage, irritation, displeasure, irritability etc has engulfed Pakistan. People have stopped caring, and from US and WE, it has become ME and I.

This disintegration of the social fabric has had profound consequences on all the facets of an average Pakistani's life. He has been deprived of electricity, good food, jobs, justice, the whole nine yards, and he just doesn't give a rat's ass about anything anymore now. All he cares, or rather, all WE care about now is ourselves, our lives, our girlfriends, our wives, our families and that's it. Gone are the days when communities used to come together and have a fun filled evening. To quote a personal example, I don't even know the name of my next door neighbors.

The political aspects are also equally responsible for this utter mess that we find ourselves in. It appears that the general happiness of Pakistanis only peaks when dictators are abound in the Presidential Palace in Islamabad. And once again I am forced to ask the question why that is so? The general rule of thumb is that when generals are at the helm of affairs, some semblance of orderliness exists. There is some order in the way things are done and handled. The same cannot be said of the democratic forces of present in this country. Every time the PPP has ruled for instance, we have only suffered at the hands of massive corruption, IMF loans, and a general debilitating effect on the general morale of the country. The same is true for the PML-N, who's leader was about to declare himself a demigod before he was sent packing back home. In all this muddle, it is easy to see why the national calibre and the social level of responsiveness goes down dramatically.

But that's not the end of the story. In the aftermath of the 2005 earthquake in Pakistan, the government demonstrated a sense of urgency. That sense of emergency was reflected in everything; the news, the evacuation, the handling of the affair etc. This disaster on the other hand, despite being one of the greatest deluges in all of known history, witnessed sheer indifference on the part of the government till it was too late. And then, the government was more focused on PR building, and damage control exercises rather that doing what it should've done; help the people. Mr Zardari thundered across Europe, enjoyed lavish dinners and what not, and the Prime Minister busied himself with boat rides and visits to fake relief camps. The sentiment that rebounded almost unanimously through the masses was 'Why?' followed by sheer uncontrollable anger.

I don't claim to be right, but these are the reasons as I see and understand them of why people are not willing to come forward with help. And it's not just us Pakistanis, even the international community has failed to come up to expectations. They were too busy lambasting Zardari to pay any attention to the plight of the 20 million displaced people in this country.

But once again, why should they care when WE, US, OURSELVES, do not?

America to the Rescue?

As I was surfing through one news site to another, and in the process getting highly unmotivated and sad at the sorry state of affairs in my country, something caught my eye. If you were to visit bbc.co.uk, you will see a figure that I am reproducing below that explains from where all the aid to Pakistan is coming from.

(Source: Bbc.co.uk)

As is clearly visible, the United States is the front runner in supplying Pakistan with humanitarian aid followed by the United Kingdom. Saudi Arabia on the other still has to convert its pledges into concrete substance. This is not to point out how our Muslim brethren have failed to step up their efforts to help out the jewel of the Muslim World: Pakistan.

Long-term Commitment

As of today though, Senator John Kerry has announced that the United States will provide Pakistan with $150 million for the whole nine yards. Very noble of the United States indeed. Maybe this time they will some success in winning the hearts and minds of some people in Pakistan.

On the other hand, alarmed by the increasing relief activity of banned outfits in the flood hit regions, the Interior Minister Rehman Malik has asked all and sundry to ask the district officials about the organizations involved in relief activities before donating anything to anyone.

Turf War

The usual politics at the cost of innocent lives also continues unabated as Nawaz Sharif has gone the extra mile in making sure that he drills every nail into Yusuf Raza Gillani's coffin as he can. Reportedly, he called him up and asked what's taking so long in setting up the relief commission that Nawaz Sharif had proposed. No doubt the flambuoyant advisers of the Prime Minister must have advised him to diss the Sharifs because it would make him appear meek. The one glaring fact that they all forgot is that the party workers of both the PML-N, and PPP are missing from the scene of relief activities.

The Art of Decadence

Waiting for some, any, sort of help.
(Source: Shajareilm.blogspot.com)

It appears as if the heavens are now slowly starting to move in Western capitals, particularly London and Washington (London where the UK's National Security Council met to define it's course of action vis-a-vis the Pakistan flood disaster, and Washington, which has already sent 1000 Marines and many helicopters to help us in our time of crisis). On the other hand, the response of the Pakistani government appears drab at best. So far, there has been only one emergency cabinet meeting convened (Aug 4) and since then, it has been every man, woman and child in the government for himself. This is particularly evident because many rich politicians and MNAs have had to bring in their own supplies to save the people of their constituencies. Therefore I feel the generalized MNA/MPA, politician bashing needs to be given a break, because as it turns out, we do have a small number of politicians with souls in their bodies.

The problem however remains that the Government of Pakistan has shown remarkable ineptness at dealing with this crisis. Not only that, but it has failed to draw up a consensual policy with all the stakeholders on board with regards to the response to this predicament. The Prime Minister was more interested, in the initial days, to be photographed in the flood hit areas so that people could see that he was also doing something (boat riding) and the Sharifs weren't the only ones who were catering to the people's problems. Then there is the fact that no directions and directives have been issued by the PM secretariat to the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) as to how to ensure the coordination between the different wings of the government. In many instances, the government has failed to even reach the stranded people even now, nearly two weeks after the floods raged downwards.

To top it all up, the Chairman NDMA refused to acknowledge that his job was to manage the disasters, rather in his own words, the government cannot reach everywhere and his organization's job is coordination only. Even if we were to accept this inane argument, the logical question that follows is: Do you even have a heart Mr. Nadeem Ahmed?

Various Non-Profit organizations, and particularly youth organizations have come to the fore in aiding the helpless and needy and their effort needs to be commended. However, unless a unified approach to the disaster is made at the government level, inclusive of all those willing to help, the response will not measure up to the full magnitude of the disaster.

What is perhaps most surprising, and illuminating at the same time, is the fact that the Prime Minister felt compelled to accept the formula that Nawaz Sharif presented to him to deal with the calamities. What was even more surprising is the fact the government did not have any ministrations regarding the formula presented by Mr Sharif. But if you think it through, the government really did not have any other option. For one, it turned out to be absolutely overwhelmed by the sheer scale of the disaster and two, the government appears incapable of handling the fiasco. Therefore it had to accept Nawaz Sharif's suggestions to show that it was doing something at least.

In the absence of the government in major relief activities, radical organizations have stepped to the fore and are busy in distributing aid on a wide scale amongst the flood affectees. This gesture of kindness on the part of organizations with known militant links and ties has the propensity to once again rekindle the dying flame of public support for these organizations. The Al-Khidmat Foundation which is the humanitarian wing of Jamaat-e-Islami, which is known to have a soft spot for the Taliban, and the Jamaat-ud-Dawa which has known links to the banned Lashkar-e-Taiba are amongst the forerunners in the relief operations in Khyber Pakhtoonkhwa,  and if the reports are anything to go by, the re-routing of relief goods destined for Khyber Pakhtoonkhwa to Multan by the NDMA, we are just letting the forces that we spent ages trying to get rid of, take over the very land that we were trying to cleanse of them.

The cries of help will soon become muffled and people will get on with their normal routines if not already. However, the people who lost not only property but also loved ones will never be able to get back their old life back. Something that we just don't care about not having been affected by the floods.

The Plight of Pakistanis

It appears as if the government of Pakistan is just not interested in the affairs that have befallen the country that they rule. For instance, King Zardari has planned a one week trip to Russia next week while the country is trying to overcome insurmountable obstacles. The ministers are nowhere to be found, and the Prime Minister is busy visiting areas to win back the “public support” that has been captured by the Sharifs. Even in this time of crisis, politics is not holding the individuals in the ruling cadre back.

An extremely rough estimate of about Rs. 250 billion losses has come to the fore. This is equal to 2.9 billion USD. However these losses will no doubt increase manifold once the government can spare time for an audit. While our President is making profound transcontinental visits, it appears that Hillary Clinton has donned on the shoes of Zardari by saying that Pakistan will pull through this disaster. This is not the first time she has impressed me; last time she was here, she ensured that all those who cared to listen should know that she knew more about Pakistan, its policies, its grievances, its problems and its solutions better than our self professed professional analysts, and media men. The fact remains that the US has already stepped in to provide $71 million in aid money while our government hasn’t even yet begun to grapple with the full scale of the problem.

Which leads me to question: why this callous attitude on the part of this government? One of the reasons maybe the disconnect that is in place between the ruling and the ruled. The disparity between the two in about every sphere of life puts a profound strain on the ability of the rulers to comprehend and understand the problems that the common people face. Of course it would be sheer stupidity on the part of the masses to expect the government to act as the promised Messiah and guide us out of our troubles but here’s the catch: who to depend on if not even on our own government?

The government is thinking about jacking up the GST to 20% and the income tax is also expected to be raised for this financial year. This has the potential to lead to hyper inflation in the coming months because already food shortage in the affected areas has touched epic proportions and rations are in extremely short supply already leading to super inflation in the flood hit areas; and there are areas where the government has not even yet made an appearance, to apprise the rulers of the tangibility of taking such harsh economic measures. Already the axe had fallen on the development budget this year but the floods have rendered the little bit of development funding quite useless.

 The economic structure has completely collapsed in the flood hit areas and large swathes of agricultural land have been rendered absolutely useless depriving a large number of people in rural areas from their only source of income. The government will no doubt turn to the IMF for immediate relief and the WB for long term support but as history tells its tales, the help from IMF has always come with a heavy price. The decade of 90s doesn’t seem to have passed too long ago. The public sector funding will probably be slashed by more than 90% and only then so that the government can gloat about how it “saved” some money for development and the IMF’s quick fix will also include jacking up tax rates and cutting down on expenditure. This in addition to the fact that, 5 years down the line all the money borrowed will have to be paid back with ridiculous amounts of interest. But that is not the PPP’s concern because 5 years from today its key power holders will be found enjoying crisp mornings and exotic sounds and smells in foreign lands while the people they claimed to have worked for will once again be left to grind the axe.

Once again my appeal is the same: We have got to help us ourselves. All the aid that we can get from abroad is well and good, but to solely rely on it is living in a fool’s paradise. And it would be prudent to have our economists study the impact that the aid and the government’s decision to increase tax rates will have on our economy in the short term and in the long run.

Joining the army doesn’t sound much like a bad career option anymore considering the economy has been blasted back about 25 years. 

Why Help Will Not Come to Pakistan

While we moan the loss of innumerable lives lost, and millions more ravaged due to the fury of mother nature, it is futile to expect the same level of aid to come to Pakistan's rescue as was seen in other natural disasters such as the 2005 earthquake, the Tsunami and more recently the Haiti earthquake. True we do not have as many casualties as the aforementioned disasters did, but the scope and intensity of devastation is mind boggling. Consider the fact that all four provinces have been damaged from this excess of Mother Nature's ferociousness.

So why do I say that help will not come to Pakistan? There are mainly two reasons, aptly summarized by Mr David Hughes, the famous British political commentator in his blog post for the Daily Telegraph. Mr Hughes has pointed out that the reason why the British public is taking its time in coming to the rescue of the Pakistani population is because:

1. The Pakistani President was gliding over the sights of Europe instead of overlooking relief efforts back home and,
2. The British public has associated Pakistan with extremism (religious or social) and it simply does not care for the country or its people anymore.

They'll wait. And then they'll stop waiting.
(Source: Dawn.com)

This might be a bitter pill for most PPP/Zardari supporters to swallow, and in all probability they won't even bother swallowing it, but the true extent of Zardari's exuberant foreign shenanigans has been put to the fore not by any Pakistani, but by a foreign veteran journalist. Irreparable harm has been done to the image of Pakistan by Zardari's untimely foreign trips and he has made the country a laughing stock in the international comity of nations. Under such circumstances it would be sheer imprudence to expect any sort of help from any quarters; thus any aid that the GoP is getting, it should treat it as a gift from the heavens. Maybe this will make the hardliners amongst us shut up with their on going vehement discourses against the US which has stepped forward with the most amount of aid for our ailing country.

The second reason is easy to understand. The Pakistani population has been fine tuned to churn out hard line stances (completely ridiculous at times) which are never easy for the other citizens of the world to understand (indeed this is a perfect time for some self introspection on our part). It is no secret that Muslims have demanded that Sharia be enforced in the UK and that has only isolated the Muslims from their British counterparts. More importantly, Pakistanis living the UK have denounced its culture, values, heritage and way of life, called it un-Islamic and therefore unacceptable and yet they have taken advantage of its fairness and just values at every turn (double standards?). The average Pakistani in the UK thinks that he knows what is best for his country back at home, and he knows exactly how he/she can correct the terrible ills plaguing Pakistan, yet day after day these very "patriotic" Pakistanis are found enjoying their British way of life. This has led to a sort of image problem where the general British population has started associating Pakistanis to everything that is wrong with the world. And the fact that almost all terror plots somehow end up having some sort of linkage to Pakistan has completely ruined the credibility of Pakistan and Pakistanis. Consequently the image perception of the native British population vis-a-vis the Pakistanis has deteriorated to a great extent, and now Pakistanis and Muslims in general are equal to extremists, fundamentalists and terrorists; and quite clearly, this notion will be very hard to dispel. In such circumstances, you really cannot blame the Brits for not helping us. 

Double standards? (Source: Dailymail.co.uk)

But there is a third reason, that you only get to understand when you start reading the comments beneath that blog post by Mr Hughes. Once you start reading them, you find out just how much venom is being spewed against the Pakistanis and just how much respect we afford in the modern world. Our leaders, from Nawaz Sharif to Musharraf to Zardari have literally ruined the whole image of Pakistan in front of the international community. How then can we expect them to be aware of our plight? When slurs are made against ISI, and when comments such as "the country should sell its army, lol" are posted beneath a post about the need for humanitarian assistance, you can well imagine what the people think of us, and our country in particular. It doesn't help matters when you realize that your government is spineless and really not interested in good PR at all anyway.

If only our people were educated to realize that the only way out of this vicious circle of enslavement by the same people is by NOT voting them to power, we might change for the better. I've said it before and I'll keep saying it but the fact is that only through education will this nation be able to make a difference. For now, we need to realize that the only help that is going to come is going to come from us. We need to take cognizance of the plight of the poor and the miserable and the displaced because let's face it, all that they've got left is us.

Zardari's Back

Rumor has it that the President has finally deemed it worth his time to go and visit some of the flood hit areas. Apparently, he visited Sukkur to take stock of the situation and the efforts being made to stop the city, situated on the bank of the mighty Indus, from flooding. What difference will his trip make remains to be seen. However, if he thought his photo-op session in Sukkur, similar to Nawaz Sharif's efforts in Nowshera and Mithankot, will reverse the new trend of Zardari-bashing, he's in for a surprise. Our animated media rarely ever leaves a punching bag alone, and in Zardari's case, personal vendetta has been added to the list of prejudices.

The Foreign Office on the other hand is churning out some cheeky statements in this hour of crisis. For example, Abdul Basit, the spokesperson for the Foreign Ministry has stated that the international community needs to "do more" in this trying and turbulent period for Pakistan. Very wisely stated on the part of our Foreign Ministry, I must acknowledge. Perhaps a little more show of guts will change the whole world's perception of Pakistan being little more than a punch bag. As usual, the crisis is deepening by the day in Pakistan. The floods that were thought to be over are apparently not quite over yet. Indus is once again in super flood and it is surging on downstream threatening to inundate more districts of Punjab and Sindh. And as usual, there appears to be no concerted or coordinated effort on the part of the government to contain the damage. Of course that can be attributed to the fact that the government has already been overwhelmed by the scale of the disaster and it has been stretched thin. 

According to a Parliamentarian from the ruling PPP, "...the government cannot be in all places at all times..."

Well sir if it can't be in all places at all times, why is it called a government then? Of course the specter of Musharraf's LG system will be haunting the current ruling coalition. It is no hidden fact that greater autonomy in the lower cadres would have helped mitigate some damage. But then, how could the "democratic" forces of this country tolerate the "bad" system of local governments imposed by a dubious dictator? Sometimes I am forced to question whether our politicians even think at all.

The youth of this country has truly impressed. Whereas the old legions of help brigades continue with their slumber, the youth have gone into overdrive. And not just the self glorifying idiots who post TV links on their Facebook walls to tell the world they helped, but the bigger group of generous, Pakistan loving patriots who are refusing to sit still while their countrymen need them. There is Pehla Qadam from Karachi, Shajar-e-Ilm and DVP from Islamabad. But then there are the individuals who are not aligned to any youth organization but are still spending sleepless nights trying to ensure that those who cannot sleep at night, get their share's worth of rest. My class fellows Noor Shahid, and Ahsan Kureshi for example. These are the remarkable men of valor and merit who show us why we're all proud Pakistanis.

Meanwhile if you feel at any point that you or anyone you know could help in anyway, please let us know. We know excellent people who will ensure that your aid gets to the right people. Please do your bit in helping your countrymen in this hour of need. Anything at all that you can contribute is welcome. Use the contact tab to send us your email and phone number and we will get in touch with you. We are primarily collaborating with Shajar-e-Ilm, a youth based Non-Profit Initiative that is personally volunteering in the flood hit regions. You can contact them at www.shajareilm.org and shajareilm.blogspot.com. Please remember that even the tiniest donation on your part will help make a difference.

We Need Your Help

I was recently contacted by a friend from the States who is a part of a youth led organization called Shajar-e-Ilm which organized an awesome retreat for the girls of Swat Valley last year, who's lives have been ravaged and torn by the brutal Taliban. The majority of this organization is constituted upon a group of 14-15 girls, who have once again taken it upon themselves to ensure that aid and relief goods can reach the right people on ground in Swat. Swat has been in the limelight of late because of the uncanny devastation caused by the floods. Even now almost a million people are stranded in Swat alone waiting desperately for aid and relief to reach them. Shajar-e-Ilm and its group members, and volunteers have personally made trips to the flood hit regions to distribute aid by hand already. However, they have run out of resources to help their noble cause and they need your help now.

The Shajar-e-Ilm group will be leaving for Swat on Friday taking along with them supplies and aid to distribute it amongst the people themselves. If you want, you can also help them by directing your donations to Shajar-e-Ilm. I can personally vouch for this organization as I have worked with them previously in the capacity of a volunteer. If you want to help make a donation or be a part of this drive, please post your details in the comments section and we will get in touch with you ASAP.

If you want more details, please click here.

The people of Pakistan await your help.

The Flood Alert

There are many ways to gauge the interest of people in a particular topic or story. One such way is to post a comment beneath the story on some newspaper's website and link it back to your own website. The number of hits that you get on your website from the comment is indicative of how much interest people are showing in that story.

I also indulge in back linking and I usually use the Express Tribune as the link back platform; and the story, I've concluded, that has failed to arouse the nation from its stupor is the devastation caused by the floods. From the 4 comments/links that I've posted on the Express Tribune's site, the only hits that I've gotten are 0. But that's not all. I was the second person to comment on the news anyway, so you can imagine people aren't even bothering to read the floods-cause-devastation news.

Let me give you a comparative analysis here. When the AirBlue flight crashed, I got 700+ hits on my blog post. Similarly, when news of the desecration of Prem Chand's coffin spread, I got 200+ hits on my blog post about Prem Chand. When Sarah Palin opposed the building of a mosque in Manhattan near Ground Zero, and I wrote a response to her benign accusations and Islamophobic apprehensions, I got 150+ hits on it. All these comparisons are based on the same constants and variables: Just 1 comment with link back on Express Tribune. But in the case of the flood disasters, I posted 4 link backs.

So you see we really don't care much for what is happening to our country. Just yesterday I gave away blankets and clothes to a friend who was sending a relief goods truck to the flood-hit areas. The sad thing was that in a colony of around 1500-1600 households, only a handful came forward with donations.

In today's The News newspaper, there is a report about how people aren't contributing to the relief effort by sending in donations to the National Bank of Pakistan's PM relief fund. This situation is indeed alarming, but it begs the question why? Why aren't people donating or contributing as much as they ought to? Without getting into finger pointing, I do feel that there is a credibility issue at work here. The government has spent millions on Zardari's foreign tour, while our worthy PM is asking international donors to come forward. In the words of Sohail Warraich of Aik Din Geo Kay Saath, "Kya yeh khula tazad nahi?"

Irrespective of who is to blame, or who isn't to blame for this appalling turn of events, it does not absolve us of any responsibility. It is heartwarming to see that youth organizations have come forward in troves to help those who have lost all. It is imperative that we show the Pakistani spirit and do our bit too.

What Did We Do to Deserve This?

D for Donate, but to whom? That is a big problem here. There are roadside camps on, for example Wahdat Road in Lahore, which I know as a fact are only their to swell the pockets of the organizers. As usual, the people unaware of who to trust and who not to are donating with whatever they can. On the other hand it is business as usual in other parts of the country (the not affected). Star Plus blazes on non stop, people vacation in foreign lands (excluding Zardari who is on a "official" trip), Dawn News is more interested in showing Javed Sahib, the Indian composer, Karachi remains closed where "less" people died today than yesterday and I can go on and on and on.

But what do I write? That a woman committed suicide after giving poison to her 3 kids because they couldn't stay hungry any longer? Or that a train went over 4 women and 2 kids killing them on the spot? Or maybe that the lawyers were once again busy agitating over God knows what agenda at the expense of those people who wilt under the open skies everyday trying to seek justice? Or that there are 15 million heart wrenching stories to be heard in Pakistan today?

As usual, Mr Junior Zardari is all smiles and flashy teeth for the cameras in the UK where he opened a donation point. What exactly is a donation point anyway? And why does one need to inaugurate it? And as usual, the idiotic personnel of the PPP present lameass excuses for the simply outrageous activities of their leaders. But coming back to Junior Zardari, this is what he had to say:

If he (Asif Zardari) thought he could be more useful in Pakistan, I'm sure he would be there. 

By that logic Mr Zardari ought to stay away from Pakistan at all times, because let's face it; he's never going to be useful for Pakistan. I took my Uncle who's come from the UK to a relative's house, and I must admit that I was literally ashamed at what he had to see. The traffic mess on the roads, the rudeness, the poverty, the slumps and the naked people just sitting on the roads with gaunt faces waiting to be heard, and waiting to tell their stories. What must my Uncle have thought at the state of my country? There are so many crises at hand it actually seems surreal to imagine that the government can cope with them. The impressions that they are making certainly seem to reinforce my point of view.

While Mr Zardari poses for the cameras with his "bateesi" showing for all to see, one person is being displaced, dying, starving, crying, hurting every minute back in Pakistan (I was about to write home, but then I figured: What does home mean to Zardari? Not Pakistan). People are so disillusioned that they aren't even waiting for the government or the army to come to their aid. They're just doing everything that they possibly can themselves. In Kot Addu, people repaired a bridge by using stones and sticks only to see it being swept away. But then they just started rebuilding it again. These are real Pakistanis, demonstrating the Pakistani spirit.

Since our politicians will never be mature enough to understand the subtleties of calamities and miseries, the political enigmas have been exposed from head to toe. Salman Taseer couldn't shut his I-told-you-so face when he said Kalabagh dam is the need of the hour. No sir, it is not the need of the hour. The need of the hour is for you to shut up and mind your own goddam business which is worth millions of dollars. And this reminds me, if these people (Zardari, Sharif, Qureshi, Gilani, Taseer etc) were to donate just 0.05% of their wealth to the relief activities, this country would be in a much better state. But alas, no one really cares about the non-people. Nawaz Sharif continues to go on photo-op sessions with nice backgrounds being found in the flood devastated areas and the ghosts of human flesh acting as A-Class props. Yusuf Raza Gilani is way to busy in electioneering to pay any real attention to the catastrophe at hand. Zardari is busy trying to show his teeth to the world media and gloating about how the PPP trumped the PML-N in the recent by-polls. The Punjabi MPAs turn out to be the most selfish among all by refusing to donate a one-month salary to the CM's relief camp.

You deserve this Mr President. (Source: Dawn.com)

So there you have it. One Pakistani's tirade and rant at the outrageous situation in his beloved country. What did we do to deserve this? What did those poor people do to deserve this? What did we do to have Zardari gloat at us from the UK? What did we do? Rumors are abound that some person threw two shoes at Zardari. If that is true then I, as a Pakistani salute whoever you brave sir are, and I want to let you know that you have given a tiny sense of adulation to the 15 million lives tormented and ravaged by the floods.

There is so much more to say and so much more to share. But how do I go on? I just don't have any words. I have no words. 

NOTE: You can donate Rs 10 by sending an SMS to 2471. Express Tribune's effort. 

An Appeal

So much is going wrong in our country right now. Terror and bloodshed in Karachi, ordeals and hardships elsewhere, politics on the dead bodies of people from Khyber-Pakhtookhwa to Sindh, and the opulent trips by the entourage of Asif Zardari. It seems fair to point out that the tribulations in this country never fail to NOT occur.

...We are complicit in their ordeal... (Source: Dawn.com)

But this, today is not a go at anyone. This is an appeal; an appeal of a sad Pakistani to those other Pakistanis who are so much more interested in the mundane activities of their daily lives which appear so shallow now. 1600 people, Pakistanis, are dead. Gone in a stroke, without anyone really caring for them. 40,00,000 have lost all that they ever possessed. These people have seen their houses just falling apart, breaking and ultimately being consumed by the raging torrents of flood water. Just imagine for a moment, that one day you come home from whatever party you've been to, only to find your house just crack open, and being swallowed by the earth. Sounds surreal doesn't it? And yet it has happened not very far from us; to 40,00,000 people. This an appeal to the Pakistanis' conscience which has been numbed from the denigration of our societal fabric caused by the war, and the bombs, and the suicides, and the mass hysteria, and the inflation, and the uncertainty, and the political instability and God knows what else. This is an appeal to you, to please take cognizance of the plight of those people who do not have enough water left in their bodies to shed tears; who are mere ghosts of human flesh.

This is an appeal to all those who have never really cared because they have never been put through this devastating trauma, who have never seen this devastation personally. Thank God for that but remember 40,01,600 people have seen it, and have also seen their lives torn into tiny pieces of nothingness. Today the whole country bleeds, not just Khyber-Pakhtoonkhwa or Punjab. Balochistan has also been devastated, and Sindh is in the eye of the crisis.

This is an appeal to those, who will read this, yawn, and switch to an entertainment website. Remember, we are all complicit in the suffering of all those 40,00,000 people out there who try to sleep but can't, because they depended on help that never came. Forget that our politicians are ass*****; forget that they are duty-bound to help those in need; forget that they do politics at the cost of 4 million lives; forget that they only visit the flood affectees because it gives them photo op sessions; forget that the rulers think that the masses are plain stupid who will be fooled into believing anything they are shown on PTV (and yes, this is directly for you Mr Gilani; the fake medical camp was a stroke of genius); and forget that God will help you, because God will only help when you want to help yourself. 

You can make a difference. It's never too late. Donate something, even if it is a pack of biscuits. Who knows you might help some poor child fend off his starvation for a couple of hours; and a couple of hours, is making all the difference in the lives of 40,00,000 people marooned in agony in Pakistan.

Our Hollering Media

Because we're not bothered. Because we're shameless.
 (Source: Dawn.com)

When the government diverts attention to the Karachi killings, the media is up in arms as to why the government isn't doing anything for the flood victims; and when the government plans for the flood victims, they are again stamping feet and brandishing their swords (mikes) like angry Vikings. And while all this flurry of utterly nonsensical shenanigans continues unabated, the people on both sides of the flood (south and north), and in the flood, are left at the mercy of Mother Nature. Because let's face it; the media is calling some shots in this country if not all. It has the government flustered and cornered and it is squeezing every remaining drop of blood out of it bit by bit.

My tirade comes in the wake of Sana Bucha's utterly mind boggling claims on her TV show Crisis Cell, in which she asked the present PPP legislator to explain why the government is sleeping on the Karachi issue when "the flood has not yet hit Sindh". The media, it seems, is in a frenzy to cash in on cheap popularity by making a mockery out of the poor hapless citizens of this state. While they love to shove their mikes into the faces of grieving families, for example in the aftermath of ED 202 flight crash, they are not very keen on giving credit where it is due. The prime example of this atrocity is that they have already declared the pilot of ED 202 a murderer and at fault after "consulting professional airmen". Of course this blame game is nothing new in the arena of Pakistani media ever since its birth, but courtesy their shamelessness they have left the masses out of the loop instead of "becoming their voice". Now the government is in a severe quandary as multiple crisis have hit them hard and high in the span of less than 7 days. First it was the flight crash, then the devastating floods, then the murder of Raza Haider, which by the way has resulted in the death of 76 people, and now Sifwat Ghayoor's murder. What does the media expect the government to do?

We all know that this government, like all other past governments, is inherently incapable of sorting out its own mess let alone the masses'. The media ought to have highlighted the contributions of the citizens rather than harp about aimlessly on the lack of ethos of the politicians. We know what they're like, we don't want you to tell us what we already know. Instead, what should have been the case was to have showcased the plight of the victims, and to have created a spirit of generosity and unity in the nation. We know that is possible because we've witnessed it before in 2005, when the whole country came together to help the people in need after the killer earthquake.

Of course it isn't just our media that is way out of line. The Daily Telegraph for instance, disparages Asif Zardari severely for being a two timing lunatic of a man. Fair enough. The man is getting what he deserves, and when he is getting what is due, why is our media so obsessed with him? Are there not much more severe issues at hand pertaining to 4 million displaced people in this country? I wish our media would grow up and stop indulging in petty politics itself. It ought to follow the Dawn group, which most of us find boring but that is precisely because it is the most neutral news agency in Pakistan which has so far refrained from taking sides. Hats off to them for reporting issues, and not sensationalism leading to panic and mass hysteria. 

The Shameless PPP

Due to different reasons, I haven't been able to listen to in-depth news much. But as always, there is always a dumb PPP leader or "Jiyala" who makes sure that his/her lunacy stands out. Prime examples include Asif Zardari, Babar Awan, and proudly completing the list is Fauzia Wahab. She was vile enough (yes ladies and gents, she was vile) to have a go at Imran Khan in the worst possible manner; ergo, she took an Islamic swipe at him. Last time it was the MQM on his tail, now apparently it is Fauzia Wahab.

The most ill-advised woman in Pakistan.
(Source:Dawn.com)

Fauzia Wahab, in simple terms, asked Imran Khan to keep his nose out of Zardari's business. And while he's doing that, why doesn't he explain why he stays at his former wife's house when he visits the UK which is "un-Islamic" and forbidden according to our religion. Some people would've listened to this and thought 'Ingenious!'. Let me ask you to refresh your memory a bit, and think of the last time Fauzia Wahab was in the middle of a media storm? Yes that's right. This is the same woman who had declared Zardari, the PPP and the Pakistani constitution as being superior to Hazrat Muhammad (SAW), Hazrat Umer (RA), and the Holy Quran. Now normally I don't really take religion out for a roller coaster ride, but Fauzia Wahab pisses me off. Really badly. So next time she issues one of her rhetorical "religious" dibs, tell her to shut the hell up. 

All of PPP's personnel are double crossing two timings idiots. While the country burns, and drowns (burns metaphorically, drowns literally), Miss Wahab has found it in her to take a jibe at the Sharifs while her Lord, the Black Lord of gypsies, gallops across the plains of Europe at thunderous speeds. I don't support the Sharifs, but at least they're here, right now, facing the crisis. And before telling anyone to cough up their taxes, Fauzia Wahab would be well advised to say the same thing to Zardari, Gilani, Awan, and Kureshi. But no doubt since they're from the PPP, Miss Wahab will end up saying: "Un kay pass to kuch hai he nahi!"

The latest tolls suggest that more than 1400 have died in this wave of Mother Nature's fury. The rulers and leaders of a country mourn the loss while standing in line with their countrymen. But since all our rulers are such pussy cats, the least they could've done was show solidarity with the masses by not spending billions on private trips to Europe. And by postponing the lavish campaign parties for their party's worker (reference Zardari and Gilani respectively). Shame is the new thing lacking in Pakistan. Maybe we should ask our aid donors to keep the cash to themselves, and lend us some of their shame.