The powers to be think that foreign inflows and local philanthropy will take care of flood victims.
LONDON: Dr Pervez Tahir’s article “The case for and against a flood tax” (October 8) discusses some important issues. The powers to be have taken it for granted that foreign inflows and local philanthropy will take care of flood victims. With drone attacks, Nato excursions and Supreme Court proceedings dominating the headlines, they can count on our notoriously short-term memories to forget about the victims of the recent floods. As for the rich, when you know the right people you get exactly what you want. Someone on a Rs20,000 salary will foot the bill as a member of the salaried class so that our generals, MNAs, MPAs industrialists, feudals and so on can run around displaying their ‘izzat’ and queuing up to get the best seat around the bridge table, smoking cigars in whichever mess hall or club they fancy.
Nadir El-Edroos
Published in The Express Tribune, October 10th, 2010.
