As far as foreign donations go, muslims have donated nearly $1billion.
http://www.dawn.com/wps/wcm/connect...ims-donate-nearly-1-billion-to-pakistan-rs-07
The national donations will probably match those. The intellectual class is working together to help, with many people actually visiting camps and distrubiting themselves. The situation could have been much worse. The most important thing is there is relative security and not much looting has been reported (African scale). The army is probably responsible for this.
Another thing; the people trust the army. Most people either donate to the army or NGOs and refrain from donating to the government which they perceive as super corrupt.
I've always been a fan of the army and the work they are doing is commendable. They are saving cities (Thatta) and building dikes, repairing major bridges, provding security, saving people. All the government apparently does is make statements that the army is working on the government's orders. Where are Zardari's billions? The entire government has donated less than Angelina Jolies contribution.
However, it seems that the flood has bought some resemblance of unity in the different parties of the country. Even though Khyber Pakhtoonkhwa keeps complaining, the fact that all provinces have been affected makes it a national problem.
The biggest personal fear was a mass dispora of people coming to the cities and destablizing them. However, the relief camps set up have to a major extent avoided this. I live in Karachi which has seen rioting between ethnic groups last month. More people would have made the riots much worse effecting the stability of the entire region. Ofcourse, I would have had to worry about leaving the house.
I see these floods as a positive change in the long term, despite the death it has bought. Sometof the affectees were effectively slaves, especially in Sindh province. Most were small-scale farmers who ate what they grew. Most will lose their land, and some will create new towns which would create a more industrialized economy. It is about time we stop being an agrarian society and start creating more cities like China has done. Large land in the hands of less, richer people will probably increase the agricultural output. Ofcourse all this requires planning and vision which the current government is not capable of. Foreign governments, firms, and the army should play a role here. There is lot of potential. Millions of people; millions of labourers.
As far as those who have lost everything are concerned, they will have to find a way to live. I feel sorry for them but that's life.
I'm happy for the international assistance provided. I'm also pleased with the way locals and the army is working. I'm disgusted and the government and especially the crook Zardari. I hope the government collapses soon. Nothing could be worse...
Most affectees interviewed on TV reinforce their faith in God, which will probably give them strength for the months to come. Hopefully, we will have a stronger, more secure Pakistan in the next decade.
Another thing. There is no Taliban anywhere. Where are they? Where are these camps controlled by gunmen? Other relief camps would make soft targets and the taliban would achieve their objective of scaring away workers. Looters have been a bigger threat than these taliban across the country. Propaganda against them in the last few years seems to have worked and I don't think anybody supports them.
Facebook
Twitter