Clutching at straws, he spoke of ‘mobilising the entire nation’ — but the entire nation does not seem minded to support the IDPs because it is struggling with problems of its own. Power cuts are crippling industry and raising tempers countrywide, as evidenced by disturbances in Lahore in the last 24 hours. The people of Sindh are very clear in their opinion and a strike was called by Sindhi nationalist parties that was observed across much of interior Sindh on July 22. There is concern that an influx of IDPs is going to destabilise the fragile demographic of Sindh and further that there are still IDPs in Sindh left over from the 2009 Swat operation who chose never to return home. This may contribute to the spread of militancy as extremists will hide in plain view within the IDP cohort. Indeed, even though this gesture is far from being altruistic, it is no doubt a realistic concern, not mere knee-jerk paranoia, and a concern that the government must be cognisant of.
The national response to the quake of 2005 was markedly different from the current IDP crisis. That was a natural disaster over which there was no control; whereas the IDP crisis is entirely man-made and the populace is unwilling to ‘own’ the fallout from political decisions that they may not have agreed with in the first place — despite the alleged ‘unanimity’ amongst politicians. Mobilising an unwilling and fractious population in support of the IDPs is, in short, a wish that will go unfulfilled.
The woes of the IDPs and particularly of the women among them (women and children are a numerical majority) are now being heightened by the innate cultural conservatism of the area they come from. A pamphlet has been distributed saying that women are not allowed to queue for rations, the decision of a jirga of the tribal elders of North Waziristan. The jirga ruled that there were inadequate arrangements for women and that their presence at the ration points was a violation of purdah that was unacceptable. Medievalism meets the 21st century. Men from families that allow their women to queue for rations will be punished. How they will be punished is not specified.
The government appears to have woken up to the fact that NGOs may have something to offer and a number are now operational, but with the IDP cohort is likely to double and there has now been an admission that this is ‘not going to be a short war’ the government is going to have to quickly get to grips with medium- and long-term planning for IDPs’ future. Education, housing, employment — all of this needs to be thought about.
In the short term, there is a massive problem of supply and logistics, and the next three months are probably covered in terms of basic needs. But basic needs being fulfilled does nothing to allay the sense of resentment and humiliation felt by many and feeds directly into the pool of disaffection that will inevitably grow. If one was to imagine how best to create a climate in which extremism may thrive, the creation of the IDP crisis would be a textbook example.
Published in The Express Tribune, July 24th, 2014.
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COMMENTS (5)
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Its interesting how history works...
In 1915 or so, the Kurds of Turkey helped the Turks drive away Armenians from Eastern Turkey and for the past 100 years the Kurdish people & culture has been trampled upon by Turkey. In 1947, the Sindhi Muslims were mute spectators when their Sindhi Hindu brethren were driven out and now the Sindhi Muslims are overwhelmed ...Their language, Sufism etc. will all be under strain.
@Parag Agrawal: ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ When even over 60 years after the partition of the Indian Sub-Continent, the Urdu Speakers from the erstwhile Central Province of India have to live with the title Muhajir meaning Immigrant, I guess IDP is considered good enough to do.
As an Indian, I don't understand what is IDPs? why are they called IDPs? are they not Pakistani nationals? are they not subjected to the same laws as others? why so much division with in the largely monolithic society? better if you call can call them your own countrymen and start taking care of them as if you take care of your own family....
One reason for lack of support of these IDRs is that the Pakistani Taliban hails from those area and they have played havoc with the nation in the last so many years but it is unfair to lump IDR with Taliban's misdeeds. These IDRs are in Bannu and other places because they did not support the extremism and rather leave the area for security forces to clean it up. Strange as it may sound , the Punjab elite really could care less for these people of Tribal Areas, some how it reminds me of East Pakistan, how Bengali were treated for decades. "Medievalism meets the 21st century." Shame on you to even suggest that kind of thinking, it is their culture and we should respect it and by the way who propagated this kind of thinking for the last 67 years in the Tribal Areas anyway, how did we treat that area and it's people for so many decades. I am from Mardan but Mardan was not treated like the FATA was and is today. The government is negligent and calloused, the prime minister is away taking care of his business in KSA instead of being with his country men in Bannu and other areas. It reminds me of that great President of Pakistan who was vacationing in France and England while his countrymen were drowning by the thousands. I suppose you people deserve what you got for the leadership. I do appreciate your bringing the plight of these unfortunate people to the forefront and looking into the future which could be disastrous for the integrity of the State of Pakistan unless some adequate steps are taken immediately to bring some comfort and order to their lives. Let us not forget that the Army did not stress enough on the government to prepare for this kind of displacement, it seems they have failed too or perhaps they wanted the govrnment to fail.
What will happen soon is an epidemic of cholera or some such water borne disease. Turns out they don't have proper sanitation facilities in these camps.