Source/Credit: Cutting Edge News
By Martin Barillas | September 6 2010
Some 20 million people have been affected by the worst flood in Pakistan’s recent history, while at least 2,000 people have died and 600,000 are completely cut off from outside help. Approximately one-fifth if the country’s roads, bridges, and other infrastructure appear to be nearly collapsed in the areas affected by the flood while Taliban insurgents have further hampered relief efforts by killing relief workers and disturbing supply lines to the stricken. The Taliban conducted a suicide bomb attack in the city of Quetta, killing at least 65 innocent people, and have also demanded that Pakistan should refuse any aid from the United States.
Food crops and agricultural land are still under water. A struggle over land tenure is expected, since landmarks and boundaries distinguishing one farm property from another have been obliterated in many areas.
About 22 percent of Pakistan’s economy is dependent on agriculture, and two-thirds of the 180 million people are in agriculture-related work. About 6,000 schools have been destroyed and more than 6 million children are now at risk of waterborne diseases. The area affected by the flooding is equivalent to the size of England or Florida.
According to Aftab Alexander Mughal of Minorities Concern of Pakistan, the country needs at least $5 billion in relief in order to address reconstruction and rehabilitation. Despite Pakistan’s continued appeals, the international community has been slow to respond to this human tragedy. Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani said that the country’s resources could not cope with the losses. Pope Benedict XVI urged the international community to offer "concrete support" to flood-ravaged Pakistan. The U.S. is rushing $150 million in aid, including helicopters and halal food.
Christian, Hindu and Sikh individuals and their religious and social organizations were quick to help flood-affected people without any religious discrimination, according to Mughal. Along with millions of Muslim people, about 600,000 Hindus and Christians living in the Sindh region, over 200,000 more Christians in the Punjab region, and thousands more Christians, Hindus and Sikhs in Khyber Pukhtunkhah province were forced to leave their homes because of the deluge. Critics have denounced that religious minorities, including Christians, Hindus, and Ahmadi Muslims, are now doubly affected by the disaster since they have been subjected to unfair and inhumane treatment by relief workers of the Pakistani government and some relief agencies.
According to Minorities Concern of Pakistan, Hindus and Christians have held protest rallies to condemn religious bias in the distribution of relief. In the Sindh province, Hindus were attacked and robbed. Ramesh Kumar of the Hindu Council appealed to the government to mobilize the Army in the affected areas including Ghospur, Kandkhot and Karmpur. Christians and Ahmadi Muslims have also had the same experience at some relief centers. In DG Khan, Muzaffargarh and Rajanpur districts (Southern Punjab), government workers and local Muslim clerics refused to shelter around 500 flood-affected Ahmadi families. Ahmadi Muslims are considered by many Muslims as heretics and accorded much the same treatment as Christians and Hindus.
Minorities Concern reports that Christian refugees are purposely not identified and registered, while a Christian village suffered damage from deliberately diverted water, including loss of human life, homes, and crops. Economic analysts estimate that it will take at least 5 to 10 years to rebuild the infrastructure in Pakistan and contribute to the rehabilitation process of all those affected.
Reports out of Pakistan note that during the floods some landowners sought to save their land by building dams and diverting the floods into areas with villages and lands belonging to small farmers and poor peasants, often of religious minorities. Raza Haroon, Minister for Information Technology in the Sindh province, has called for the formation of a special commission to determine those responsible for the diversion of the water, asking that judges of the Supreme Court of Pakistan be included on the case. The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan and other NGOs, from diverse religious backgrounds, are demanding a government investigation and the intervention of the Supreme Court.
"The fact that water is diverted to the detriment of the poor has caused extensive indignation in public opinion. Rich landowners have sought to save their fields, building channeling structures without addressing the consequences. They are wealthy, influential, and also directly present in Parliament. They think that they can act without consequences," according to Mehdi Hasan, President of the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP). An official protest has been presented to the government denouncing water diversions that have affected at least 2 million people in Sindh and Punjab. Human rights campaigners have noted that along with the slowness of aid, the water diversion is one of the motives behind the increasing frustration of the refugees. "We ask the government and the courts to investigate and ascertain those responsible...and, if it appears that there are members of Parliament [implied], that they initiate action against them for a specific charges and payment of damages," added Hasan.
The HRCP alleges that there is discrimination in the distribution of aid among religious minorities. According to Hasan, “The problem occurs when the aid passes through the hands of Islamic fundamentalist charitable organizations." "First, there is a political issue: the feudal lords of Pakistan enjoy strong support and influence in high places. Secondly, it is a social and cultural question: the Pakistani army is trying to defeat extremism by force, but it should act instead at the cultural level. They need to take another look at the education system in Pakistan and the formation of the younger generations, under the banner of the values of democracy, respect for religious freedom."
According to Sajib Ayub, director of the nondenominational Organization for Development and Peace (ODP), peasants working small farms will need help to recover at least the grain to be planted for the next autumn harvest. He said, “Otherwise, famine will strike the area...The government must take responsibility for these people. In a joint statement, signed by several NGOs, we have also requested the intervention of the courts."
Cutting Edge Senior Correspondent Martin Barillas edits www.SperoForum.com
Read original post here: Pakistani Religious Minorities Demand Investigation of Devastating Flood Diversion Schemes
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