Nawaz Sharif, Turkish First Lady and the Flood Victims.

A picture is said to be better than a thousand words. Here I have selected two pictures, especially for Pakistani readers. A comparison between the two will unmask the true relationship between the Pakistani nation and its political pharoahs.


In the first picture you see Emine Erdogan, First Lady of Turkey, during her visit to a flood relief camp in Pakistan. You can also see the Prime Minister and First Lady of Pakistan, but focus on the Turkish First Lady and the little girl.

The Turkish First lady is talking to the little girl at the child's level. She is crouching in order to make direct, face-to-face contact, and holding the girl in her arms, allowing physical closeness to transfer her message of love and sympathy. Focus on the facial expressions of the child and the First lady of Turkey. Both of them seem happy, although the little girl cannot speak Turkish, and Emine Erdogan cannot understand Urdu. It is the eternal and universal language of humanity which is at work. Emine Erdogan does not appear to be afraid of getting infected by a flood affected girl, and is unconcerned about her robe becoming soiled while holding a relief camp child.


Now take a look at the second picture, in which you can see Nawaz Sharif, who has led the country twice as Prime Minister. He is wearing a white cotton shalwar-qameez, and talking to a half dressed child. Focus especially on the body language and facial expressions of both Nawaz Sharif and the child.

 Nawaz Sharif is supposedly consoling the little boy, yet he has managed to distance himself from the topless child, to save his white dress from any possible stain. The boy is small and has to look up to make eye contact with Nawaz Sharif, who is looking down on the child. I wonder if this picture describes anything but a master-slave relationship?


This second picture, of Nawaz Sharif and the child, shows what is wrong in our country. In theory we are the citizens of an Islamic Republic, however, in reality we are hostage to a handful of selfish politicians who run the country for their own estate. The only difference between our British masters and our home-grown politicians is that the latter have brown skin. They do not seem to belong to the Pakistani nation; they are not "one of us." Also, their problems and priorities are different from others.


The life of an ordinary Pakistani will not improve unless the nation charges a true Pakistani with the responsibility of running the affairs of the land. As a nation we must realize that we need our representatives in parliament, not our masters. The sooner we realize the difference, the better!

Katrina Victims and Flood Affectees in Pakistan.

Five years ago Hurricane Katrina hit the Unite States. Katrina killed more than 1,800 people and it was considered as the deadliest and costliest extreme weather event in US history. Stormy waters wiped away levees and floodwaters entered onto the streets of New Orleans. In some places, the water was six meters deep, resulting a serious damage to the thousands of buildings. Hundreds of the flood victims were waiting for the rescue at the roofs of the buildings. The tragic event made hundreds of poor people homeless in the largest economy of the world.

Five years later in 2010, reconstruction has yet to be completed. Indeed, some of the plots have been redeveloped but many more are left unattended which are taken over by weeds and grasses. In Lower Ninth Ward of New Orleans, worst affected area, there is complete absence of drug stores, supermarkets and community centers. The district lack necessary infrastructure and has only one school for the children.

Five years later, the worst flooding hit the lengths of Pakistan, from North to South, and killed more than 1600 people while affecting the lives of 20 million people. It washed away many villages and towns along with roads and bridges. It submerged millions of acres of cropland and took the lives of thousands of animals.

Contrary to the United States, political leadership of Pakistan is neither committed enough nor possesses sufficient resources to rehabilitate flood affectees and to rebuild the infrastructure. Widespread corruption among politicians and officials alike does not allow to be optimist about fair and just distribution of very limited resources. One can see only glimpse of hope that all flood affectees will be rehabilitated after five years; in 2015.

Rescue Teams Must Treat Muslims and Non-Muslims Alike!

Natural calamities, earthquakes and disasters do not ask for identification or religious affiliation of the population before wrecking havoc. While doing their jobs, rescue and relief officials are also expected not to discriminate victims on the basis of their religion or caste . It is quite unfortunate that, however, relief workers failed to treat all victims alike in the worst flooding of Pakistan’s history. Members of some minorities has complained, which understandably did not get proper coverage in Pakistani media, about prejudiced treatment due to their religious affiliations.



According to Hindustan Times, members of Pakistan's Ahmadiya community - who were officially declared as non-Muslims in 1973 - were not rescued because rescuers preferred to save Muslims first . Members of the community complained to the Punjab government that upon disclosure of the religious beliefs, they were even ejected from the relief camps and denied any flood relief.

Members of Sikh community also complained the apathy and discrimination of provincial Khyber-Pukhtunkhawa government. They said that members of their community were abandoned and they had to arrange rescue on their own, unlike their Muslim counterparts.

Since every flood victim is complaining about the absence of the government help, the authorities can easily deny the discriminatory behavior by rescue workers. In the light of religious extremism in Pakistan, specially against Christians, it becomes very clear that complaints of minorities are not baseless.

Members of different religious minorities are also citizens of Pakistan and there must not be any discrimination regarding their beliefs and affiliations. In the later phases of rehabilitation and reconstruction, government must take special care about fair and just treatment to all subjects. In addition, it must take serious action if one fails to conform with the 'equality of humanity'.