There are those who do and then there are those who talk. Fortunately for Pakistan there are more than enough people who can walk the walk while those with spastic thumbs, fingers, and jaws do what they do best – nothing but whinge, whine, and bemoan the state of affairs. The floods have caused massive devastation and each day brings in new numbers, deaths, and reports of damage and misery. The international community may have been slow to open its wallets to Pakistan, but ordinary Pakistanis are stepping up to the plate each and every day. Selflessly and quietly Pakistani citizens have organized relief supplies, volunteers, and medical aid. There are no photo opportunities, no newspaper advertisements, and no television coverage – they are doing it because they realize they have to. If they don’t who will? I know a businessman who has organized three trucks of food supplies. A group of students who have collected in excess of 5 million rupees and are delivering aid themselves. The shopkeeper who is selling goods to relief organization at wholesale cost without a rupee in profit. I am especially proud of my three and a half year old son who has cleaned out his much guarded “piggy” of every rupee he owned to help “those who don’t have homes because of the pani”. He gave his cash to 19 year olds who were standing in the streets on a Sunday raising money for a non-profit. This is the real Pakistan.
Then there are the constant whiners who are using each and every opportunity to run down the State and its ability to provide and take care of its citizens. As I wrote in my last column, sure we have problems but is this really the time to focus on those? Mosharraf Zaidi has written a series of columns on the need to put politics, grudges, and pettiness aside and focus on helping the 20 million affected by these floods. Unfortunately had the people in power been listening to Mosharraf Zaidi and his tribe of Vulcan Ninjas all these years Pakistan would be a different country. The Bhutto girls – Bakhtawar and Fatima, have been trading snipes on Twitter as covered in “Bhutto Vs Bhutto on Twitter over Floods” in India Today. Fatima Bhutto has been offering her “insights” on the floods while she’s on a book tour. Her rants would have more credibility had she been raising money using her star power and actually been helping the destitute in their hour of need. Unfortunately she is doing neither though book sales have been good. The two political heavyweights, the PPP and the PML-N, have wasted no time in getting into dogfights which are completely unnecessary. Meanwhile in the commercial hub of the country, Karachi, coalition partners in the Federal Government the ANP and the MQM have been at each others’ throats quite literally. Over a hundred people have been killed in their turf war. Relief activities had to be suspended for a day after a senior ANP leader was gunned down last week. Are our political leaders retarded? Really you people can’t put your stuff aside just for a couple of months?
Pakistan has spawned an industry for people who want to dissect and trumpet every shortcoming of the country. The flood has meant new business for this breed. Half of them are Pakistanis who don’t live in Pakistan – a few do. The other half aren’t Pakistanis. If it wasn’t for Pakistan most of these folks would be out of jobs. The Pakistanis I speak of have zero stake in the country. Their children study and live abroad. They own homes abroad, and most of them are citizens of other States. Yet somehow they have spawned the Pakistan “analysis” industry. A lot of them are consultants who “advise” anyone who wants advice on Pakistan. Most of them have very little idea about Pakistan as their exposure is limited to Islamabad, Lahore, and Karachi if that. My message to all these folks is, take a vacation. If you can’t help, just keep it to yourself for a year or so.
While the whiners and the posers whine about the corruption and the rapacious State, they’re missing the point. We’re talking about 20 million people, figure out how to help them. Think Asif Zardari is corrupt? There are dozens of non-government organizations you can give money to. Think the Sharif Brothers will buy a flat in London with your cash? Give your money to the Citizens’ Foundation. The next time you blow 12,500 rupees on your bootlegger, remember that the same amount of cash can buy a waterproof tent for a family of seven. I’m not even suggesting people alter their spending habits or heavens forbid stop lubricating the system; I’m merely saying that we put aside a significant amount of money for people who don’t even have clean water to drink. Average Pakistanis and Pakistani corporations like Engro are doing things to help the flood affected which make me proud to be a Pakistani. The Pakistani elite and our politicians would be smart if they learnt from the very people whom they are supposed to lead and serve.
The writer lives in Karachi and can be reached at [email protected]
