Cry wolf

The international response and media coverage of the floods – with a few notable exceptions – has been pathetic.

“The response from the international community as a whole, I have to say, has been lamentable. It’s been absolutely pitiful.” This was Nick Clegg, the British deputy prime minister, on August 16, talking about the response to Pakistan’s floods. Clegg was absolutely correct. The international response and media coverage – with a few notable exceptions – has been pathetic especially from Pakistan’s so-called friends — Saudi Arabia, China and the US. The scale of devastation is truly unprecedented. Two hundred and sixty-three bridges in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa have been destroyed. Bridges and roads built by the British washed away by the torrent of water. The backbone of Pakistan – the River Indus – has snapped and is now 18 miles wide in some places. Then there are the people. Twenty million displaced. We will see mass migration to cities as waderas use the flood as an opportunity to rid themselves of unwanted tenants. The resulting influx to urban areas will bring with it enormous pressures on already depleted resources, as well as the social problems that large mass refugees cause. We will start to hear a new term bandied around by the media — ‘permanently internally displaced people’. The spectre of hyperinflation will raise its head as the market adjusts to the scarcity of basic food commodities in the market. The country’s crops – both growing and harvested – have been washed away along with the livestock. Mass death from cholera, typhoid and other water-borne diseases is only a matter of time.

The US has given just $229 million for the floods. Compare this with the $3.3 billion given to the Haiti earthquake which affected three million and the $6.2 billion to the five million tsunami survivors, and you realise that this is small change.

So why the pitiful response? One reason has to do with the nature of the natural disaster itself. Earthquakes and tsunamis are sexy. They make for good TV. They expose the extent of their devastation for all to see. Death and destruction are instantaneous. And as the pictures are beamed around the world they engender an emotional response. Floods disguise and submerge their devastation. Shots of water do not generate a similar heart tug for the viewer. Floods are silent, and often long-term, killers.

The second reason is that the international community is not flush with money these days. Governments in the UK, Europe and the US are introducing austerity measures as they attempt to control their public spending. No one wants to become another Greece.

However, this does not explain the suitable robust response Haiti enjoyed this year. This leaves us with the conclusion that it’s Pakistan, stupid. The international community has had enough. And who can blame them? Over the years successive governments – both military and civilian – have developed the fine art of using the begging bowl as an extortion racket. Zia played the Soviets off against the US after the invasion of Afghanistan. The US wrote the bigger cheque. Musharraf adroitly squeezed money out of Bush for his war on terror, capturing a few al Qaeda operatives, whilst at the same time letting the Taliban off the hook (proving that the Pakistani Army is the largest mercenary force in the world). Nor have civilian administrations been any better. We have become particularly good of late of warning the international community of dire consequences of militants getting hold of our nukes if they don’t pay up. Kerry-Lugar Zindabad!

But the international community is not stupid. They have eventually twigged. They see our president visit his French chateau and rightly conclude that they can throw all the money they like – be it military or development aid – at Pakistan, but they see little return on their investment. For years, the international community’s money has been siphoned off by our venal military and civilian leaders for their personal gain, inadvertently propping up and supporting the corrupt elite.

This time, when aid is actually desperately needed, our cries of help are falling on deaf ears. We have cried wolf too often. Nawaz Sharif recently told Britain’s Daily Telegraph that his country does not need western aid and should “stand on its own two feet”. It looks like the international community is about to make his wish come true.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 18^th, 2010.