Thinking about Pakistan

الخميس 16 أيلول 2010

By Dina Batshon

July was a harsh month on Pakistan. Two months later, the situation is still the same, one-fifth of the country is under water and aid is minimal. The lack of media coverage surprises me the most. We all remember Haiti this year, we all remember Hurricane Katrina back in 2005 as well as the 2004 Tsunami. And as surprising as it may seem it is true that the number of people affected by the floods in Pakistan are much more than the total of those affected by Katrina, the Tsunami and Haiti combined. Problem is, for weeks on end all you could hear about were these 3 events, they overtook the news headlines, were all over TV and newspapers, aid was coming from all over the world and everyone felt bad and knew about the story as if it had happened to their own country. This makes me wonder, why is Pakistan any different? Are we as human beings that selective when it comes to lending a helping hand? Does this image below not affect you in any kind or is it fine simply because it’s Pakistan?

Photo from REUTERS/Faisal Mahmood

The UN estimates over 20 million people are injured or homeless, the water is covering the place till this second and the pictures make the hairs on the back of your neck stand up. Imagine your entire house with all that’s in it being washed away as if it was never there. All your belongings, all your memories washed away with the water. All that your family has worked hard for gone in minutes. That would be hard enough, but also imagine not having a place to stay, no clothes on your back, no food to eat or clean water to drink. Water is surrounding you, and when you’re thirsty dirty water is all you have. A brother might be missing, a baby sister dead. Little to no aid is reaching you, all for the wrong reasons.

Pakistan is a troubled country with more enemies than friends. The flood is one issue to be added to a huge number of problems the country is yet to solve. Massive debt, an ever growing 174 million population with 34% of them living below the poverty line. Political conflicts both within the country and with neighboring ones. Add poor education, little to no foreign investment and you’ve got a country that you might think can not possibly have it any worse. But it did. As if nature decided that it can handle some more and it gave it to her.

I checked the Wikipedia page for the flood and, to my surprise, this is what I found underneath “Relief efforts”.

It seems that every country on earth has lent a helping hand, either through their governments or through non-governmental organizations and charities, it just so seems that they all did it on paper and not in real life.

Is all of this just because it’s Pakistan, and not some other country that you’ve never heard of until it was hit by a hurricane or anything of the sort? If not then explain to me why the entire world rushed to help Haiti, they all got saddened when Katrina hit but it seems the name this country holds –Pakistan- has made us become detached from all feelings one might get when viewing an image like this.

AP Photo/Mohammad Sajjad

This flood has not only displaced people but it has ruined crops, it has destroyed roads, bridges, you name it, gone. The flood happened on the 22nd of July, almost 2 months ago, but the people of Pakistan will be affected by this for a long time. Technically speaking you knowing all of this will mean nothing to them, it won’t help them and it certainly won’t put a smile on their face, but the least you could do is know about it. The least you could do is give it the same attention you gave other countries on this same earth. It’s only fair you get bombarded with images of this disaster till the day the people get back on their feet, just so maybe one of you figures out a way to help.

AP Photo/Khalid Tanveer

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