This is apropos of the Swiss report 'The state of food security in Pakistan' (June 3)
According to the report, 48.6 per cent of the people in Pakistan face food insecurity. However, the foregoing statement fails to suggest this fact in its ugly entirety. What it actually implies is that almost half of the people in Pakistan don't earn as much as enough to meet their basic needs like food.
Imagine! Half the population doesn't eat adequately, not because it is on an en masse diet. They do not eat because they cannot afford to.
But who are these people? How do they look like? Where do they live?
In Pakistan?! You must be joking!
Pakistan is a nuclear power, with a large standing army, never unnerved by a hostile neighbour.
Moreover, it is a leading state in war against terror and a major player in deciding the fate of Afghanistan.
Besides, Pakistan has an independent judiciary and a free and vibrant media, so vibrant that it could take us directly, from outside the Supreme Court, inside the room where the newly-wed Shoaib and Sania were to stay.
That's Pakistan. That's Pakistan we know. A 'mainstream' Pakistan that flows through cities like Karachi, Islamabad, and
Lahore. A Pakistan that is visible and audible, courtesy 'free' and 'vibrant' media. But then, which Pakistan is the Swiss report talking about whose half the population cannot have enough to eat.
Friends, that's the Pakistan we don't know.
A Pakistan that branches off into obscure towns like Karak, Panjgur, Dadu, Mach, Kotli, etc.
A Pakistan that is not part of a national discourse, a Pakistan that atrophies into oblivion and a Pakistan where people can't even get enough to eat.
This is the paradox of Pakistan and it stems from our skewed national priorities and our misplaced notions of national security.
Notwithstanding nuclear arsenal, it is important to remember that security of any country is directly related to the well-being and prosperity of its people — all the people.
WAQAR HUSSAIN
Karachi
