What Happened in these Five Years?

Published in The Frontier Post on 24-08-2010

Five years ago, Pakistan suffered an earthquake of gigantic magnitude which jolted whole of the country. The earthquake brought a great loss to the affectees who not only lost their loved ones but also lost all their lifelong savings and accumulations. Their rehabilitation was not less than a daunting task and still there are some families who haven’t recovered from the tragic loss.

Biggest problem after a natural disaster is the displacement of the people and their rehabilitation. During the earthquake, it was the zealousness of the people of Pakistan which made it possible to resettle all these people and help their brethren in any manner they can. This time around, the instance is different, although people have started to respond lately but it isn’t the same as it was witnessed before. The enthusiasm of the people during the earthquake is not available to the people this time.

The monsoon rain has wreaked havoc all over Pakistan. Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Sindh and Southern Punjab are the main targets of the ever coming flood and is still doing the damage all across the country. The loss has been terrible and is touted as the biggest ever tragedy in almost a century. Question marks have been raised over the response from the general public over the donations and efforts in the rehabilitation of the affectees.

Analysts have found it as a tough nut to crack as to why the people don’t have the same zeal as they had before, even though the disaster is much worse than the earthquake in 2005. It takes a careful understanding to figure out that what has happened in all these years that people are reluctant to open their hearts to their brothers.

If we analyze the economic and social situation of the country during the earthquakes, we observe a major transmutation. People at that time were not hit hard by the wave of suicide bombs and felt secured in the markets, whereas today the situation is 180 degree to that. Economic conditions at that time were not as worse as they are now today. The country never went in darkness due to load-shedding at that time.

All these problems combine and tell us about the overall psychological situation of the people. General public has had enough and are literally fed up of this situation. Pakistan is one of the country where there are more donors than any one else in the world but the inflation has tied the hands of the people.

Another significant factor was that the youth was mobilized during the earthquakes and this time we don’t see anyone focusing on the youth. Politicians are worried about their own crops and are ready to sacrifice the life of their voters to save their own fields.

Pakistan has never witnessed such a catastrophe in its 63 year old history. People have lost their homes, sitting in the open sky and are vulnerable to all kinds of diseases. Their loss cannot be measured by an aerial view, which our executives usually do to monitor the conditions.

People are living in the system which is totally against their ideology and is resulting in sheer slump of the nation. We are standing at the crossroads. It is upto us, which way we decide. There is always a good thing about crossroad that there is always an alternative way and an option to choose the right path. It is a responsibility on our shoulders to drive this country to the heights which is expected from it. It is about time we work to have a system based on our Islamic ideology rather than becoming a copycat of west and our neighbours.