Politics of the relief effort

SO the thrust of the Punjab government’s relief work is on projecting the chief minister as the saviour of suffering humanity. At least that’s the impression you got from listening to Mr Pervaiz Elahi, who returned home from abroad the other day. Much of what he told reporters at 7-Club Road on Friday was sheer self-projection, and in bad taste at this tragic time.

Everything sent to the quake victims from Punjab was dispatched on his orders, he stressed. The CM’s ‘I, me and myself’ soliloquy also included detailed references to ‘my personal helicopter’. He then complained that the electronic media had not given enough coverage to his relief work which he dutifully conducted from abroad. When asked why he did not rush home when the calamity struck, he blamed other politicians for having been abroad much longer than he had been.

This is simply outrageous at a time when individual donors and relief workers have done more to mitigate the quake victims’ suffering than all the politicians put together. The way the Punjab government has put its foot in its mouth is all the more insulting to the people of this province who have been doing whatever they can to help with the relief work.

Taking his cue from the CM, the Lahore nazim has also started putting up banners, eulogizing his services and popularizing the relief fund that he has set up. This is simply nauseating, and reveals the true colours of our politicians. The federal government should clamp a ban on the projection of relief work being carried out by the provincial as well as the city district governments, in Lahore, Karachi and elsewhere. This is the only way to spare the nation the additional agony of suffering official claims of charity donations in these trying times.

The biggest natural disaster in the country’s history should not be allowed to be hijacked by publicity mongers. But what hope of Islamabad’s intervention in the matter when the PM himself is doing the same at the federal level. The man reluctantly set foot on the ravaged land two weeks after the quake had struck, and that too because his Turkish counterpart insisted on meeting the survivors on the spot. If Mr Aziz had had his way, he would have only taken an aerial tour of Muzaffarabad in his helicopter, like he had done earlier, flaunting his designer suit and tie.

THERE are reportedly more than 20 tent manufacturing units in and around the city, with one of them claiming the capacity to produce 400 tents a day. But what do we see instead? Tent manufacturers have hiked the prices of their existing inventory, and none of the local units is operating at full capacity. There was also news of government levying heavy custom duties on tents and other relief material donated by individuals abroad and reaching our airports and dry ports. It was reported in the media that to avoid imposition of custom duties, all items must first be donated to the PM’s relief fund and a certificate to the effect sought from a Pakistani mission in the country of origin. Why this red tapism at this time of national crisis? Is there no one to talk sense to the government? And then we complain that the international community has not done enough for the Pakistani disaster.

If Imran Khan is to be believed, the national flag carrier, too, is refusing to load relief goods on to its planes overseas unless the donors first donate the goods to the official relief effort. This, the cricketer-turned politician revealed in an interview to a local radio station, venting his frustration on the allegedly refused lot of tents he had arranged to be brought home from China. But Mr Khan, too, is a politician, and he took a jibe at the government, saying if it had any sense, Abdus Sattar Edhi, and not a general, would have been made the relief commissioner.

A damn good idea, you would say. But that done, why is politics the only true passion with the most sensitive of our leaders, you wonder.

The truth of the matter is that there is a credibility gap that exists between the public at large and international donors and the government. Had it not been so, individual donors, local and foreign, would all have contributed to the official relief fund and not taken the task in their own hands.

TWO of the city’s art galleries, the Alhamra on The Mall and a private, commercial one in Gulberg put up impressive exhibitions to support the earthquake victims. The first one, a joint show by Pakistani and British artists, was a prearranged event which the organizers converted into a charitable cause following the natural disaster.

In the second and larger show in Gulberg, a good number of artists from across the country participated. The entire proceeds from the two shows will go to the relief fund, with neither the participating galleries nor the artists keeping any portion of it. The two shows were relatively well-attended, and the sales were reportedly good.

Those who could not afford to buy a painting picked up the catalogue at the Gulberg show, aptly priced at Rs200 (generally a freebie), keeping in mind the cause.

VEGETABLE prices have gone sky-rocketing. This is despite the fact there is no shortage of any produce in the market. Just goes to show how some unscrupulous people are busy making hey at their favourite time of the year: the holy month. Shoppers can resist buying luxury goods or making Eid festivity-related purchases, but vegetables are bare basics.

So this time round, be it the fancy ice-berg lettuce or the good old potato, your neighbourhood greengrocer is sitting on a gold mine. A few fresh leaves of basil, used for enhancing flavour or as garnish, are selling for Rs50. Your gardener will tell you a full-grown potted plant of the seasonal bush costs no more than Rs20 in a local nursery.

—OBSERVER

Eid shopping: a sadness in the air

ONE focuses on Eidul Fitr somewhat obviously, yet with a heavy heart, a reluctance that comes from the awareness that over 50,000 people have so far lost their lives, over 75,000 injured (think of amputations) and lakhs of people rendered homeless. One wonders about the kind of Eid days that will be experienced by people in the affected areas. It is a fearful thought, and shattering if one imagines the details. Winter has unfolded its arms, and those thousands, homeless have either tents, or not even that. It is that kind of deprivation that the earthquake has brought. Yet this alone does not tell the tale.

It is a story of pain and pathos that every man, woman and child has to tell, and perhaps in the days ahead there will emerge profiles of families, single unit or joint, that will spread out in the length and breadth of the country.

This being the sort of ambience that we have, how are the Karachiites preparing for Eidul Fitr? Whatever be the reasons there appear to be contradictory responses, signals of what’s happening. The traditional bazaars are opening, the shopping centres are keeping themselves operational after Iftar, and places like Tariq Road, Saddar, Zebunnisa Street, the shopping malls, Zamaza are without the dense crowds that shopkeepers are waiting for.

Will the crowds eventually come? Karachi has been in the forefront almost from day one of the earthquake disaster, demonstrating solidarity with the affected population. Karachi has responded in an amazingly impressive manner, and not just through television channels, but in day to day conversations has there been genuine and even agonised concern for the victims. Whatever the real reasons in the minds and hearts of Karachiites, they have so far made the country realise that it has the mettle to play a leadership role.

And this is where comes in the point about an anticipated “influx of survivors” which according to a report appears imminent. It does not surprise in a way. Survivors have quite understandably moved from their respective devastations to the perceived protection and comfort of Islamabad. Though, one TV channel this Friday evening showed children interviewing children and adults about how they felt being within the confines of Islamabad. They sounded neglected, as if the Federal capital wasn’t providing them what they were hoping for.

Will Karachi be able to meet the expectations of the survivors who have arrived? wonder Karachiites. Will more people from the affected areas come to the Sindh’s capital. One English daily has published two views on this subject of migration to Karachi, and while the government spokesman has supported the idea, an opposition spokesman has said that there are likely to be negative repercussions of this influx. There are signs that survivors have moved from the devastated areas to Islamabad, Rawalpindi, Peshawar and even places in Punjab, but given the economic opportunities there exist in Karachi, and the mild moderate weather, alongwith the Karachiite’s image and personality, it is the Sindh capital that could take the majority of those who may seek a resettlement. And it could be a long-term resettlement, mind you. These citizens have explicit about their plans to stay in Karachi in the foreseeable future.

One may also bear in mind that injured survivors, scores of them, are already in Karachi’s private and public sector hospitals, is another dimension to the earthquake that is possibly contributing to the mood of the city. The role of the print and electronic media has been, and remains a central factor in projecting the sufferings of the victims, and the process of rescue, relief and rehabilitation. Therefore, with all this happening, it will be significant to observe the response and reaction of this city to the earthquake and its aftermath. Indeed, a destabilizing aftermath. A resettlement question, if delayed in finding answers, could have grim after effects (after shocks) spilling over in other parts of the country. And while Islamabad may find its elitist, aristocratic environment diluted, and polluted, Karachi could witness its ethnic equilibrium being challenged, seriously. In a way, the resettlement of displaced people, in 1947, and 1971 onwards comes to mind. There is indeed, much to be worried about, in addition to be just sad.

Returning to the question of Eid, it is very pertinent to mention what children in many families have turned around to tell their parents: that they do not feel celebrating Eid. That they do not want to make new clothes, get new shoes, and the other accessories that go with the colourful festival. Others who are doing this are doing it without any feelings, merely going through a ritual. Of course, there are those, who should clearly be in a minority, who have not been able to absorb the depths of the reality that has come to light after the Oct 8 destruction of life and property.

The point to watch in the next ten days or so to go before Eid is whether Karachi’s crowds will suddenly emerge in the bazaars and markets to try and enjoy Eidul Fitr in the traditional way. So far even the Iftar parties have dropped. Even ordinary family Iftar get togethers have become simpler, and even sad. At the back of the mind is the misery and its magnitude of the suffering thousands, said one Karachiite who is unable to buy his new pair of black shoes from his favourite store.

Indeed these are some of the implications of the tragedy that has struck. The implications are being examined not just in the media, or at seminars, but even in personal conversations. Citizens have pointed to the fact that this tragedy hit us in Ramazan, and that too in the first ten days. What does this mean.? It surely means something.

Other Karachiites have referred to the Karachi university seminar held during the week wherein a Professor of Quran wa Sunnah Fazal Ahmed is quoted to have said “the latest event of the earthquake could be considered as a divine warning, if not wrath” Does this thought relate to the fact that there are some banners put up in town, asking Allah to forgive us, as a people, and asking the people to repent?