Spirit level

The apathy of those unaffected by catastrophic flooding towards their unfortunate counterparts is shocking. Instead of mobilising to help in any way possible they are merrily involved in ‘business as usual’, be this extravagant weddings, celebratory parties and other frivolous events during which they vociferously condemn presidential and governmental shortcomings in a caustically high-handed manner.

Things were totally different in the aftermath of the devastating October 2005 earthquake when the nation was stunned into an incredible collective action; people from all walks of life rushing to succour those in need in an unprecedented outpouring of solidarity. This time, however, with at least three times more people directly and indirectly affected, spirits have flagged, the majority of hearts have turned to stone and eyes only open to watch the tragedy unfold on television screens as if they are engrossed in the latest Hollywood disaster movie.

The spirit of the nation, it appears, has been burnt out by events of the last few years: Lal Masjid, suicide bombers, military operations against militants in the north, rampant inflation, load shedding, target killing, kidnapping — the unpalatable list is endless and the floods are viewed as the last straw in increasingly difficult times.

Be this as it may though, the fact of the matter is that ignoring this current, rapidly escalating tragedy, will not make it go away but will, on the contrary, exacerbate the dangers to come. The ‘I’m alright Jack’ attitude so arrogantly displayed, particularly by a certain socio-economic sector of this visibly fragmented nation, only serves to escalate already rising tensions. An example is last week’s attack on Federal Minister of State for Economic Affairs Hina Rabbani Khar when she belatedly deigned to visit her flood-ravaged Muzaffargarh constituency only to be attacked by rioters venting their grief and anger at the highly visible lack of assistance.

Hungry people are angry people and people who have just lost all they possess in the world are easily motivated to bite the proverbial hand which is, supposedly, outstretched to feed them. The blatant lack of coordination, aside from that provided by the military and, in some areas the very militant forces they fight against, is fuelling the simmering rage of flood victims faced, on top of everything else, with starvation. The spectre of chronic outbreaks of diseases such as cholera also hovers on the not too distant horizon and still the haves are sullenly not prepared to help the have-nots.

Complacently expecting a disaster of this magnitude to evaporate as flood waters recede is ludicrous in the extreme as everything will not return to ‘normal’ anytime soon. International aid, in huge volumes, has been promised but not all of this materialises and that which does is rarely utilised in a sensible manner in the long term.

As the victims continue to suffer so will their dismay ferment towards action, action which could, quite conceivably, result in them rising up to take, by any force at their disposal, what they feel is their right which could well include the property.

Relegating this catastrophe to mere drawing room gossip is an extremely short-sighted phenomenon and could have frightening results. Donor fatigue may serve as a fashionable excuse, as could annual Ramazan handouts, but allowing political inaction to influence any personal sense of nationalism that remains is a short cut to anarchy.

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