As the scale of the devastation caused by the quake becomes more horrifyingly clear with every passing day, it also becomes evident that this country is totally ill-prepared for a natural disaster of these proportions, and after crises has struck, completely inadept at efficiently deploying the limited resources at its disposal. But then, when the mighty USA could not manage its hurricane crises effectively, how can the government of a poor, third-world country be really blamed for disaster mismanagement. It has been more than 72 hours since the quake struck and there are many areas where relief efforts have not yet begun. In most of Kashmir, people are working on a self-help basis to find people trapped in the rubble. Watching TV these days is too depressing. Where big machinery is needed, you see people clawing their way through the debris with pick-axes and shovels but mostly with their bare hands in the hope to rescue someone alive. You see little children being dug out of holes with the shadow of death upon their faces. You see people crying out in despair for help that is not forthcoming. And it is not because there is no feeling within the general public. There are massive issues of coordination. In cities like Karachi and Lahore, tonnes of aid has been gathered but no one can figure out how to send it across. And even if it does get sent across, who is to be responsible for its receipt and disbursement. Selfish interests are out to make a profit from this calamity. Truckers have increased their fares from Karachi to the northern parts of the country almost twofold. The price of cloth for 'kafan' has also doubled. So much for Shauket Aziz's free market economy and the joys it has brought to the nation. In the disaster-hit areas, people are beginning to get frustrated at how selectively help is being provided. Rural people looted an aid-carrying convoy on the Mansehra-Balakot road today. It has been obvious from the start that all relief efforts are aimed at urban areas. The rural populations of those regions have been left to fend for themselves against hunger, disease and the rapidly-approaching winters. In Azad Kashmir, people are bitterly voicing their protest against the government. For it is true that in most districts of AJK, help began filtering in 48 hours after the quake had struck and that too mostly in the form of foreign rescue teams. At the most filmed location of the quake, Margalla Towers, the rescue efforts somehow seem to be happening in the spirit of excavation rather than with the zeal that comes with rescuing live human beings.
In my opinion, our President spoke too prematurely when he said that Pakistan needs mostly financial assitance for it has enough manpower of its own. This was a stupid thing to say. We need all the help we can get, especially in the form of specialised disaster management teams who can coordinate on the spot activities to save as many lives as possible. In fact, if we do an honest self-analysis, we do not need as much financial assistance as is being touted. It is high time for our corporate fat-cats to live up to their slogans of corporate social responsibility. This country has enough money, though concentrated in a few hands, for launching and sustaining a large-scale relief effort. But how to get the money out of those hands is the real issue. In fact, the real question is whether the civil-military establishment really wants to take money out of those hands. There comes a time in every nation's existence that calls for honest introspection and a sincere appraisal of the wrongs in society. This is the time when all the if's and but's and should have's become important. And I think now is that time for Pakistan.
The role that media plays in such situations is of immense significance. PTV, the government's propaganda machine, has been a disappointment like always. All its focus is on how high-level government functionaries are doing great things to help people in the disaster zone. There is minimal news of what is actually happening on the ground, what has transpired so far and what still needs to be done. And while, from all accounts, the death toll has reached 40,000, PTV sticks by its two-day old casualty figure of 20,000, qualifying it with the statement that the government expects the number to double. In its efforts to please the higher-ups, PTV is extensively covering the movement of every federal minister in NWFP and AJK. Sometimes one wonders that even if some big government guy hiccups in the field, PTV would report that too. Geo, surprisingly, has been no better. It has also adopted the policy of sucking up to the government. The ruins of Margalla Towers and some aerial shots of Muzaffarabad and Balakot are shown on repeat all day long with useless debate and discussions. The smaller networks like Indus Plus and ARY, however, have been truer to the cause, presenting in-depth analysis of the situation with vital criticisms and ground realities. Although I believe that in such times there should not be criticism just for the heck of it, the government and the authorities need to know that the world is watching their every move.
The year 2005 has wrought terrible natural calamities upon humanity. There have been tsumanis and floods and earthquakes and hurricanes. We hear people around us say that the end is near, that we have invited God's wrath upon ourselves with our misguided lives and disregard for the path of righteousness. It may be so. But is God as insensitive as man that he makes one group of people into examples for others? For we, despite all our tall claims to humanitarianism and sympathy for the affected, are an insensitive kind. We watch TV and get all worked up about the misery and the suffering. And the next moment we get up and go feed ourselves at franchise food outlets. The fact that the Muzaffarabad jail also collapsed and some of the inmates escaped is a cause of amusement to us. We watch movies and sleep long hours thinking nothing of the many thousands who have to spend their nights out in the cold with hailstorms and torrential rain. And it is true that we can never really imagine the suffering for we are far removed from it. But is God far removed from it too? If an example was needed, why did He not strike the cities which are the centers of vice. Why destroy one of the most religiously conservative regions in the country? Or is God trying to make a point that none of us is getting. But who can question His writ. And as the hailstorm continues, and the onslaught of a premature winter threatens to finish off what the earthquake could not, the dead wait to be buried, and the living wait to be rescued.
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