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crisis The
mosquito message Yeh Woh freedom The
art of perseverance
crisis Think of all the possible ‘D’ words in the immediate memory and those apply to the land and people of the heavily inundated Sindh on the left of the Indus. There was dearth, despondency, death, destruction, destitution, dirt, doom, desolation and desertion. And it could on, couldn’t it? Sindh that I visited a week or so ago reeked of rotten animal corpses. Crops were soaked. Fields were flooded. Drains were choked. Mosquitoes aplenty! People and livestock were starving. Roadsides had become kettle pens. Any dry patch was a blessing. Everything alive or dead, living or non living had dampness about it. The disaster managers procrastinated for well over 4 weeks thinking to respond or not to respond; to let or not the others enter the arena; and to devolve or not the disaster management functions to the province(s). And people continued to suffer the horrible incessant rains and its aftermath in the whole of Sindh particularly on the left of Indus. On my recent visit to the 4 worst affected districts, I had to hear quite interesting views from the people on what caused them this displacement. Sakeena, 45, a cotton picker in the rain ravaged Badin
district of Sindh like many of the displaced women, makes her living by
picking cotton on daily wages and this year she won’t be earning anything
which means much less food and no clothes for her children. She attributes
her displacement to ‘Nature’s wrath’ due to ‘bad deeds’ of people
and not heeding what God has ordained them to do, she said replying to a
question of mine when I visited her ragged roadside tent that was sheltering
the meager belongings of some four families. Sakeena obviously had no business knowing the doings of the juggernaut of disaster management in the country which, second time in a row, has been caught unaware while it was busy changing hands carefully weighing the pros and cons of devolution of disaster management subject to the provinces. Neither Sheetal, a Bheel Hindu in Gul Muhammad Setho village in Sanghar, who was rocking her six months old child in a hammock on roadside nor Kasambi another woman belonging to the same tribe heavily pregnant knew what calamity has struck them, why and most importantly where their next meal is going to come from? Sakeena, a mother of 5, had given hope to her children that their father has gone to the town to fetch something for them. She was also hoping for some government officials to arrive who had promised to deliver a 10-kg flour bag. The last they delivered was 10 days ago. Rekha, five months first time pregnant woman who I met on a road, was wishing for privacy and comfort of a home — which I doubt she would have the luck for. Gul Muhammad Sehto village in Shahdadpur Sanghar has 50 houses that are under five feet of water from a severe cloud burst in the second week of September rains and spilling over of nearby drains. I am also witness to the last year floods that literally swept people off their feet in the districts of Shahdadkot, Sukkur, Thatta and Shikarpur and made them wander from place to place in search of shelter and livelihood. For the second consecutive year, the province of Sindh has been hit hard by the elements of nature which washed off the left of the Sindh to bring them at par with the people on the right bank of Indus who suffered massive displacement during the last year’s epic floods. This time around Mirpurkhas, Sanghar, Nawabshah, Tando Muhammad Khan, Badin, Tharparkar and Umerkot were on the whip-stand. It had rained almost everyday for thirty days in these districts, particularly Badin, and its surroundings that have made millions literally millions homeless. The latest from the NDMA is 1.5 million houses are damaged which at an average of 5 per family takes the number of homeless people to 7.5 million — nearly half the population of the Netherlands. Well over 3 million women including elderly, pregnant and lactating mothers, share the same fate as Sakeena’s, not knowing who is behind their continuing ill fate: nature’s wrath, the ever reluctant disaster management machine or the international financial institutions who willfully ignore the Sakeenas of the land they bring their projects to. LBOD, a project by the World Bank, is particular case in point. It felt like déjà vu when I journeyed through the four
districts of Nawabshah, Sanghar, Tando Muhammad Khan and Badin: People were
literally on the road in the open. Livestock, poultry, food grain, cots and
pots were all people had to salvage from the wreckage. Higher ground was a
blessing which in most of the cases is a roadside. Pregnant women, lactating
mothers were seen unsuccessfully hiding behind their perforated skimpy
coloured shawls while feeding their babies or covering their bulge. There were pots but no flour to cook. There were dead wood sticks nailed in the ground but no cloth or sheet to cover them. There was water but not drinkable. There were dead animals lying where they dropped dead. Reasons, according to the locals, were non availability of fodder, lack of shelter, snake bite and the appearance of some mysterious mosquito. Skin diseases, eye sour, diahorrea and malaria were rampant. Potable water, fodder for animals, vaccination and shelter were the immediate needs! It may take months for water to evaporate. Small land holders, who are in majority, don’t have the luxury of having or hiring dewatering pumps, and are helplessly watching their crops withering with every passing day. An estimated over 6 million acres of crops have gone under water in the whole province of Sindh. As if the NDMA’s inaction was not enough, grapevine is that it, through a written communication, had stopped the international NGOs from responding thinking the extent of damage done will remain under control. But on initial assessment the estimates of mere few thousands in just few districts turned out to be over 7 million over a greater geographical spread. Many believe the damage to property and lives and livelihoods could have been far less, had there been a timely response, but sadly it was not to be. Even today the international response to the UN appeal is just over 3 per cent funded which is mere 9 million US dollars whereas the need is massive and immediate. Local humanitarian organisations in the Sindh province are furious over the sluggish response of government and INGOs. They have met in Hyderabad in mid September to form a peoples’ commission on floods to review the current response and also hold the World Bank responsible for the LBOD that has breached at dozens of places inundating large swathes of land with cash crops on it. On my way back to Hyderabad, in Nando area of Badin, a 10-year-old boy, Maula Bakhsh, was auctioning his only asset, a hen, to buy medicine for his ailing mother sitting hunched next to him. Upon asking, he said, “My mother needs medicine and I don’t have a single rupee in my pocket. A hen is all I have and I am hoping someone is going to buy it.” He was offering it for mere Rs100 that won’t be enough to buy the needed medicine. Bakhsh at least was making an effort despite knowing his inadequateness. But our government seems to have neither realized its inadequacy nor made a serious (or may we say responsible) effort to reach the rain ravaged Sindh.
The
mosquito message As unlikely as it may sound, the Aedes Egypti mosquito has done several things for Pakistanis and Lahoris in particular, for which we may one day be actually grateful. It has exposed the rotten political system which has responded to the crisis with nothing more substantial than inane accusatory statements blaming the opposing political party. It has completely debunked the myth of good governance in the province. Frenetic activity by high officials after the infection has reached epidemic proportions does not convince anyone, neither is it a substitute for proper planning and management. It has laid bare the sorry state of our health apparatus. A few thousand cases have completely paralysed the health system, because all of them went directly to tertiary care hospitals. First and second level care facilities where the major burden of the epidemic should have been managed were absent or ineffective. Preventive measures which should have been undertaken with the help of the public health department were never undertaken. (As an aside, while the epidemic was raging and the health system collapsing all around us, a team was making an effort to devise a health strategy for Punjab, but at a mere hint of a shake-up of the status quo, the bureaucracy balked and scuttled the effort before it could get off the ground. It is unlikely that the hyper CM who moonlights as health minister as well, was even aware of how his lieutenants smoothly aborted an opportunity for reform). It has brought home the urgency for a functioning local government where elected individuals accountable and accessible to the citizens are carrying out essential civic functions such as solid waste disposal, water drainage, cleanliness, management etc. It has demonstrated that a populace which is illiterate cannot be expected to understand basic civic duties of keeping their homes and environments clean. Most important of all, the dengue mosquito has had the
audacity to cross the invisible walls that have been erected all over our
country and communities. In all past afflictions, these walls have served to
isolate and protect a certain section of society. When the government
education and health systems collapsed, private institutions mushroomed to
cater to the privileged ones, when law and order broke down, private guards
and gated communities sprang up, when the water quality deteriorated, bottled
water supplies made an entry, when load shedding made the life of ordinary
people hell, generators whirred into action and life continued un-interrupted
in those hallowed havens. For every possible problem, there was an ‘exclusive’ solution. Then came dengue and it had the audacity to not recognize the gates, the guards, the road blocks or the walls. It insolently gate crashed into pool parties, casually sauntered on to manicured lawns, snuck into the refrigerator trays and split ACs, boldly struck in posh homes, in GORs and private schools without making any distinction between the sweating masses and the cool elite. It was an intrepid adventurer and it became the Great Equalizer. For those who are willing to understand, the dengue mosquito is giving two key messages: That even a humble mosquito can create havoc if there are no systems of governance and administration. And that the ruling elite ignore the majority of the population, its health, education and civic needs at their own peril. At some point, like now, the problem comes full circle and then there is no escaping. With an accountable local government, a functional health system, based on a rational health policy, and a literate and proactive citizenry, the dengue attack would have been nothing but a minor irritant. Clearly dengue is not simply a health issue. Much more so it is a social and a political issue. It is an issue of governance, accountability, development and equity. ‘There are no mistakes in life, only lessons. If we learn from our mistakes, we progress, if we don’t, we are destined to keep on repeating them’. If we are able to learn our lessons from the dengue mosquito, it would have done us a huge favour. The writer is a Health, Gender and Development Adviser and her work
involves looking at health from a social perspective
Yeh Woh Everyone in Pakistan has by now learnt to respond to humanitarian crises, except for TV journalists and editors. In the last six years alone, we have faced three major natural disasters that affected millions of people each; and several smaller scale calamities that hit communities: A passenger airliner crash, dozens of terrorist attacks on crowded public places, mass murder of pilgrims and at religious gatherings, a town burned down for having the wrong faith, a metropolis terrorised by armed criminals, widespread epidemics, a bus full of school children falling off a mountain road … more than enough experience of dealing with emergencies, and their fallout. Majority of us have learnt from our mistakes. The affected people are managing to bury their dead and rebuilding their lives without waiting for government’s help. The government officials have learnt to respond quickly with a help-line number, never mind no one ever attends, or even makes those calls, except for cynics who dial just to confirm there’s no one at the other end. The elected leaders who used to hover above devastated land in their helicopters now wade through flood waters or stumble over debris for the benefit of TV cameras. Fellow citizens gather aid supplies and deliver in truckloads. And NGOs reach the remotest parts, though only to feed and shelter a tiny fraction of the needy, and hold workshops for local journalists emphasising that what’s most needed in an emergency situation, even more than food and shelter, is information. Information saves lives and provides relief. But those charged with providing information on a mass scale choose to remain uninformed. To be fair, the print medium is doing a good job of keeping the rest of the country informed of what’s going on in the calamity-hit areas. Only, newspapers have hardly a readership to speak of. Reading is not one of our national traits, be it a publication, instruction manual, or a traffic sign. FM radio is not very effective either because of its limited range and budgets. Hence the popularity of television, and the enhanced responsibility that comes with it. But in an ironic but true
reflection of their audiences, the TV journalists hate reading and learning
as much. For them, a disaster is a routine story like sighting of Ramzan moon
or arrest of Indian fishermen for crossing into Pakistani waters. No need to
gather information; take an old script, change the date and names and you
have a brand new story. If it’s flooding, the standard line is: ‘The
place is inundated and the residents are facing severe hardships’. Really?
They are not enjoying the free swimming pool facility right at their
doorstep? If it’s three dozen Faisalabad families mourning the death of
their sons who left for sightseeing and returned in coffins, the script is:
‘These families are devastated, the women are wailing …’ And what would
you rather have them do? Sing a sad song? It’s not just unprofessional, it’s pathetic and painful to watch. The morning after — a good 12-14 hours after the Kallar Kahar accident — there was little or no information about the survivors; nothing on where to look for the injured; no eye-witness account; no interviews with school, police, or local government officials. When bits of information did arrive, they did more harm by, for instance, giving only first names of the confirmed dead. Even a person of below average intelligence would expect more than one ‘Amjad’ or ‘Saleem’ or some such common name in a group of more than a 100. But not our TV editor watching over the ticker. Every channel had a somber-faced reporter standing in front of a dead body or a tamashbeen crowd, saying utter nonsense about his surroundings that were visible to everyone on their screen anyway. Every cameraman was trying to take a close-up of the dead body or the wailing mother or sister … for God’s sake, can’t people even die with dignity and grieve in private? This is criminal behaviour that can only exist in a society in which any joker with a microphone or camera in hand is allowed into a household in mourning. The jokers in the fields of Sindh, shoving microphones into miserable people’s faces with the question: ‘what are your problems?’, getting and accepting the only possible answer ‘we got nothing in aid’, and standing in ankle-deep water for their piece-to-camera, were bad enough. Do we have to take the freak show inside private homes? masudalam@yahoo.com
freedom The Palestinian struggle for statehood and international recognition is arguably the most fascinating and inspiring struggle of the past sixty years. It is unique since the colonisation of Palestine began precisely at the moment when the process of decolonisation started for colonised countries. Not only Israel, a state that systematically wiped out Palestinian communities to build Jewish settlements, but all former colonial powers, now united under the US empire, resisted any attempts by Palestinians to achieve statehood. Yet, despite such enormous hardships, the Palestinian people were able to keep the hope of a nation alive through a continuous demonstration of resistance that is unparalleled in recent history. From facing severe economic hardships to daily humiliation at Israeli checkpoints to outright military offensives, the Palestinian people have endured the worst offered by the ‘Free World’ and have still managed to maintain the dream of a Palestinian state alive. What made the situation even worse for the Palestinian freedom movement was that due to the expulsion of Palestinians from their homelands, a large portion of Palestinian population is dispersed around the world. Despite these constraints, the Palestinian diaspora has kept its affinity with the Palestinian homeland, defying the tyranny of time and space to keep the idea of Palestine alive. It is the emotive power of
this idea that led dozens of delegates at the UN general assembly meeting to
give a standing ovation to Mahmoud Abbas as he walked towards the podium to
deliver his historic speech. The Palestinian struggle for statehood is a
mirror through which citizens of the Third World view their own past
struggles against colonialism which explains why Abbas was given a hero’s
welcome by delegates from peripheral regions around the world. As he
announced the Palestinian Authority’s bid for complete statehood, for that
brief moment he was able to reflect the sentiments of millions of people
around the world who have for long embraced Palestine into the comity of
nations. However, attempts are being made to frustrate this world consensus
by those who have monopolised power and privilege at the UN. There had been little progress on the Palestinian question since the Oslo accords in 1993, with the Israeli state continuing its policies of expansion of Jewish settlements and targeting legitimate Palestinian political forces. The Palestinian intifada in 2000 had shifted the world’s attention to the plight of Palestinians who were shown resisting Israeli tanks with sticks and stones. The intifada came to an abrupt end with the attacks on 9/11 which closed all emancipatory possibilities in the Middle East. Thus began probably the worst period in the Palestinian liberation movement. During this period, Yasser Arafat was forced to accept Abbas, a candidate favoured by both Israel and the West, as his prime minister in the Palestinian Authority. Allegations of corruption against the Palestinian Authority badly damaged the reputation of the liberation struggle while the emergence of Hamas as a viable political alternative meant that the movement remained fractured. On top of it, the Bush administration emerged as arguably the most pro-Israel administration in recent history, and gave complete impunity to the Jewish state to build Jewish settlements in Occupied Palestine. Due to the global war on terror, any acts of resistance by Palestinian groups were conveniently declared terrorism, which resulted in limiting the space for the Palestinian population to maneuver. The lowest point in this period came with the brutal war on Gaza unleashed by Israel in December 2008. Gaza has been under sanctions since electing Hamas to a position of power in 2006. While Israel started pounding Gaza, even the Palestinian Authority led by Abbas, which now controls the West Bank, refused to condemn the Israeli onslaught that led to over 1000 Palestinian deaths. With the US and other Western countries backing Israeli aggression, a spineless response by neighbouring Arab dictatorships and deepening divisions amongst Palestinian groups, the hopes of Palestinian statehood seemed more distant than ever. 2011 has been a year that shook up the entire Middle East. With the removal of ossified and corrupt dictatorships in the Arab World, and the resurgence of Turkey as a force to reckon with in the region (especially since the flotilla incident in 2010), there were new hopes for a Palestinian reawakening. More radical sections, however, expected an uprising against Abbas, since he had been part of the equation that had for so long remained a hindrance for Palestinian aspirations. What turned such a docile
leader into an unlikely militant champion of Palestinian statehood? Apart
from the general climate created as a result of the Arab Spring, the refusal
of Israeli Prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu to engage with Palestinians or
to put a halt on Jewish settlements (which are turning Palestinians into a
minority in their own land) left little room for negotiations. This meant
that the Palestinian leadership had two options; either to accept the
humiliating conditions imposed by Israel and lose any credibility that they
may have been left with or to, as a sign of protest against Israel for
ignoring the various ‘Road Maps to Peace,’ unilaterally request statehood
from the UN. Choosing the latter road was probably the finest moment of Abbas’ presidency. For once, people in Palestine and all around the world could see in him the glimpses of defiance that they have always associated with the Palestinian story. The bid for Palestinian statehood has been sent to the UN Security Council where it requires 9 votes to be accepted. It is becoming increasingly clear that Palestine will be able to garner that much support, but there remains only one hurdle: The United States of America. President Obama has assured full support to the Israeli position, to the extent that the New York magazine has already declared Obama the first Jewish president. Obama landed himself in trouble with powerful Jewish supporters who were irritated by his criticisms of Netanyahu’s unilateral decision to increase settlements in Palestine. There were hints that he might not be able to gain the support of powerful Jewish lobbies for his Presidential campaign. His intention to veto a vote on Palestinian bid is his attempt to demonstrate his unwavering commitment to the state of Israel. It will not be a scandal if in the coming days the US vetoes a Palestinian bid for statehood. Indeed, it is common knowledge that the US has been the greatest impediment for the Palestinian cause, equipping Israel with all the weapons and financial aid that ensure that it remains a regional bully. What will become ever more clear is how hollow the rhetoric of freedom and equality is and how norms are constructed on the world stage to further the interests of those who hold power and privilege. It is more important now to remove any illusions in the US role as a neutral arbitrator of peace in the region, and look for alternative powerful blocks to support the Palestinians. The emergence of radical movements in the Arab world, the growing crisis in the western world and the emergence of radical movements in Europe and the US, and the anti-imperialist posturing by a vast number of Latin countries indicate that the times are finally changing. It is clear that this particular Palestinian bid will not be allowed to materialise by the powers that be. Yet, growing solidarity movements around the world will continue to exert pressure on those who are standing against the tide of history. The trajectory of popular movements around the globe, and the ability of the Palestinian movement to maintain tactical unity, will decide what course the Palestinian liberation struggle will take after this bold step at the UN.
The
art of perseverance Humans naturally fear adversity and would do anything to avoid it, to stay far away from it. The real test of human perseverance, however, begins when a person, confronted with severe adversity, manages to find a way to overcome it. Very few can do that. Even fewer can accept a life altering misfortune, view it as an opportunity in disguise, enhance their latent artistic abilities and thank God for this blessing! Muhammad Barkaat Mazhar, a highly gifted and accomplished 27-year-old artist, managed to do exactly that, and proved to the world, yet again, that individuals have the ability to accomplish even the most seemingly unachievable goals, with only their courage, determination and faith to help them. It was in August 2006 when Barkaat was severely injured in a road accident in Lahore and miraculously survived after five brain surgeries. The accident, although it spared his life, changed his life and existence completely. The left side of his brain was damaged completely, resulting in a paralysis of the right side of his body and loss of speech. He suffered from what is known as Aphasia, or a complete loss of the ability to comprehend language and produce speech. Over four long years of admirable effort and struggle, his physical condition improved considerably; he was able to walk and carry out basic everyday tasks on his own. His speech and comprehension of language have also exhibited a marked improvement. However, his right arm remains weak even today. This did not in any way
deter Barkaat from giving up the aspirations and energy that had defined him
as a person before the accident. The accident only changed his goals and
redirected his passion; it never made him hopeless or purposeless. His
earlier ambitions of doing CA, composing songs and writing poetry had to take
a backseat. But Barkaat, with the unwavering support of his family and his
own unimaginable perseverance, managed to fill this void with a new passion,
a new skill that today has become his life: drawing and painting! It was far from an easy endeavour and to others it would seem like an almost formidable task. Despite being right-handed before the accident, Barkaat started to practice drawing from his left hand, quite a painful process to say the very least. With time and laudable effort, he improved remarkably as an artist. Barkaat’s entire family had been blessed with a certain artistic streak (his father is a journalist by profession and passionately pursues calligraphy as a hobby), and so even Barkaat possessed this gift which had never really gotten the chance to surface before. Dr Ijaz Anwar, a renowned artist and former head of the Department of Architecture at the National College of Arts, saw the immense artistic potential in Barkaat and decided to patronise and guide him along the new path he had chosen for himself. Barkaat later successfully managed to gain admission in the Bachelors in Fine Arts (BFA Honors) programme at Punjab University where he is currently pursuing his degree as a professional painter. Barkaat’s sister, a doctor by profession, started arranging exhibitions for Barkaat’s spellbindingly innovative and rejuvenating works at her house. Barkaat’s face shone with joy and a profound sense of achievement when he recollected how he first received $50 from an American buyer for his charcoal sketch of a lion’s face. His later sketches and oil paintings were sold for even higher amounts, an indication of Barkaat’s burgeoning expertise, but he humbly feels that nothing could match his exuberance at seeing his first work purchased and appreciated. Barkaat still fondly sticks to some of his old hobbies with the encouragement of his adoring friends. He is brilliant at chess, and often plays football and cricket. He considers himself lucky to have been blessed with such friends who have stood by him in the most trying situations. Barkaat’s friends even sang the song that he had written a few days before his accident as a tribute to his immeasurable talent and his lively nature. His friends are a source of immense strength for him. But the greatest, most important source of strength, support and happiness for Barkaat is definitely his family: his parents and siblings who have all made sacrifices for his sake, who have loved him when he needed affection the most, and who have held his hand firmly whenever he felt his determination falter slightly. An educationist by
profession and a woman of an exceedingly strong will, Barkaat’s mother,
holding back tears of gratitude and eagerly speaking her heart out,
couldn’t thank God enough for the way He had saved her son’s life, given
it a new direction and ignited in Barkaat the artistic flair that has shaped
his new life. Her only valid criticism was of the lack of an institutional
framework and social acceptance for people with such injuries in Pakistan.
She recounted how difficult it had been for them to get Barkaat admitted in a
university, how the absence of rehabilitation centres in Pakistan was
hampering his complete recovery, and how no support from the government ever
exists in such cases. To her, amending our institutions is exceedingly
important for all those who may not be as fortunate as her family was because
of all the “angel-like” people who went out of the way to help Barkaat in
whatever way they could. Barkaat’s life is a reflection of how the human potential to fulfill dreams and fight adversity is boundless; individuals have the potential to attain heights that seem unreachable to those who yield easily to the complexities of life, complexities that only people like Barkaat can battle. Also there is a stark reminder for all of us, as Pakistanis, of the urgent need to transform our institutions and our mentalities to make them both more welcoming for so many people who suffer because of such accidents, people who might lack the unbreakable will and family support that Barkaat possessed. Pakistan needs rehabilitation centres and universities to provide academic as well as professional opportunities for the physically challenged to succeed in life with dignity, which is their inalienable right. The government needs to be more aware of its responsibilities in this regard. We need to be more aware of the importance of our civic sense, especially in the adherence to traffic rules because the lives of others are at stake whenever we break a traffic signal or change lanes without giving prior indication to those behind us. Most importantly, we all need to realize that those amongst us who are at a physical disadvantage should be facilitated in all matters that concern them. It is not merely a matter of choice; it is a matter of national responsibility. The writer is a student at the LUMS |
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