By: Asem Mustafa Awan
The doll has a tear and the two stand on top of the rubble that was home but a few days ago.
The young child is holding her doll tightly as it is the only toy she has. The two have nothing as flood wreaked havoc in Swat and thousands have lost their homes and livelihoods. Their loved ones have swept away in the flash floods which engulfed the valley in no time.
They are in the open and have little and next to nothing supplies and not all have been assisted with relief goods. How many nights she has been without food is a question that needs answers.
The harrowing tales are heart-wrenching people have been without food and water for days and if prompt action is not taken there is possibility of disease outbreak in the form of Cholera followed by Dengue.
Video clips are doing rounds on social media where people are moaning the lives of their loved ones and no one consoling the aggrieved as the one making the video has also lost the loved ones.
The floods have exposed the powerful elite who rule the country as the relief goods for the poor are getting stashed in their warehouses. These goods will be used as a political mileage tactic where the poor will be given the goods with the undertaking of their votes for a certain candidate.
The video evidence also shows angry people who after losing their lifelong belongings are venting their anger on the local influential mostly political elites who in order to save their farmland change the direction of the flood water in cutting the water barriers. The water still stands and getting pass these obstacles for fact finding mission can and may result in life threatening consequences.
Many have died and many more will die in quest for truth and justice. It is time that people in Pakistan should get a chance after surviving this calamity they should get a respite to get back on their feet.
They should get what is taken in their names as people who died in earthquake in 2005 still await compensation and rehabilitation and the list goes on and on. The announced money somehow vanishes in thin air and the cheques that are distributed are but piece of paper.
The haphazard relief which witnessed flour sacks getting dumped from the air and then bursting on impact left a bizarre sight as policy makers without any thought wasted away tons of food without planning.
It is no surprise that planning still lacks from the government side but for the powerful elite in Pakistan, the floods are tickets to instant riches which is amassed on the name of the poor.
The experts gave a comparison of cities in different provinces and the amount of rain it received some cities managed the water and saved the residents while some had an opposite case resulting in large scale death and destruction. The figures are always questionable and it is next to impossible to quantify the flood and the damage done.
It is hoped and prayed the two dolls to get the promised relief and the tear is wiped away from the doll’s face as she gets new attire.
The writer is a Special Correspondent at The Dayspring