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| Pakistan's young and old flood Victims |
Source/Credit: The Huffington Post
By Shirin Sadeghi | September 9, 2010
This week, as flood waters ravage Pakistan's land and 20 million of its people, and after Pakistan's own president, Asif Ali Zardari, managed to muster only $58,000 of his own vast wealth to the flood relief (a donation nearly doubled by Angelina Jolie), yet another devastating blow has hit Pakistan: news that the government has now approved an $11-million statue of the President's assassinated wife, Benazir Bhutto.
And yes, this is Pakistani taxpayer money.
The statue itself will cost 4.7 million dollars, and it will be built on land that is worth another 5.9 million dollars. Apparently, Mr. Zardari, whose personal wealth is estimated to be more than 1 billion dollars, just couldn't afford to donate the land or the statue in honor of the mother of his children.
His government decided the people of Pakistan could afford it, though. People who, according to the World Bank, have an average per capita income of $870 annually.
Admirably, the people of Pakistan have taken it upon themselves to try and stop this misguided use of funds in the midst of a national disaster. A legal action failed, but now a petition is available online.
Another day, another battle in the Pakistani people's war for a representative government.
Shirin Sadeghi is Middle East Consultant and former Producer for the BBC and Al Jazeera
Read original post here: $11-Million Monument to Benazir Bhutto: APPROVED
Shirin Sadeghi's post regarding Monument to Benazir Bhutto is not only
ReplyDeleteheart burning but unfortunate. He is no doubt a hate monger who do
nothing except twisting the facts and figures. Sadeghi's post has
nothing in it except a recycling, with a clever twist, of information
from the announcement about the plans to build a memorial to honor the
former Prime Minister announced two years ago. The twist in the story
is somehow connecting the cost of the project to the current flood
situation, thereby intentionally making the government look
insensitive and indifferent. Given the polarization in Pakistan, those
who hate the government and who have fought against democracy and
supported military dictatorships throughout our history would readily
believe that President Zardari has probably insisted on diverting
resources from flood relief to building such a memorial. Those who do
not have a visceral, historical hatred of the PPP democratic
government would mostly likely dismiss this charge for what it is,
disinformation which is part of a destructive political agenda. The
government of Pakistan has made it clear that all nonessential
projects throughout the nation have been suspended until the flood
needs of the flood victims have been addressed. The greatest memorial
to Benazir Bhutto is what lies in the hearts of the people of
Pakistan. How unfortunate that we don't hesitate to criticize the work
for a lady who no doubt spent even a single minute for this soil and
people. She was the lady who motivated people to stand up against
extremism and said she was the first politician who “fearlessly” spoke
against parochialism.She was the first lady who broke the glass
ceiling as the first elected woman leader of Muslim world.Benazir
Bhutto represented aspirations of the Pakistanis for modern democracy,
empowerment of the poor and an inspiration for the intelligentia.She
was a tolerant leader and had full faith in democracy, an inspiring
figure for the people desiring change in their lives. But the people
like Shirin Sadeghi can not understand this as their aims are heinous.