pakistan

Floods drown hope in Pakistan’s impoverished Punjab villages

Published

8 months ago

August 30, 2023

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Floods drown hope in Pakistan's impoverished Punjab villages

The coursing floods in eastern Pakistan first swallowed Nasreen Bibi’s corn crop, then the cattle that fed on it, and finally her family home.

They retreated to the roof to escape the rising water, before fleeing for their lives by boat.

“We didn’t bring any of our belongings with us, everything we own is abandoned back there,” said Bibi, who guesses her age in the 30s, from a relief camp inside a school in Mandi Ahmedabad, a village in eastern Punjab province.

“There is nothing left back home,” she said, wiping away tears in a tent she shares with three young daughters.

“Fear plays on my children’s minds.”

Swaths of Pakistan’s breadbasket were inundated this month, with at least 130,000 people evacuated, after the Sutlej river burst its banks and spilled over hundreds of villages and thousands of acres.

The head of Punjab’s government, Mohsin Naqvi, said the flooding was caused by India releasing excess reservoir water into the Sutlej river, causing flooding downstream on the Pakistani side of the border.

With the water slowly receding, a ramshackle armada of 40 boats makes twice-daily food and aid deliveries to 80 water-bound villages where men perch on roofs guarding sodden possessions.

The floodwaters are still some eight feet (2.4 metres) deep, and the boats skim past the tops of waterlogged corn stalks blanched by the sun.

A family’s financial security depends on agriculture in this largely impoverished corner of Pakistan.

Mud houses lie in ruins, with tumbled walls pooled in stagnant water, in Falak De Bheni, a village of 100 homes surrounded by drowned fields of sesame and rice.

“I don’t want to plant a crop here next year, my heart can’t bear it,” Muhammad Tufail, 38, said as he stood at his ruined door surveying the damage.

“I don’t even know how much money I spent, how many troubles I went through, to plant these crops. But the flood has left nothing in its wake.”

More than 175 people were killed in Pakistan in rain-related incidents since the monsoon season began in late June, mainly due to electrocution and buildings collapsing, emergency services have reported.

Large tracts of rural Pakistan were ruined by record monsoon floods last summer that scientists linked to climate change and from which it is still recovering.

A third of the country was submerged and 1,700 people were killed, while eight million were displaced

The villages along the Sutlej River were spared in that deluge but are now battling the highest water levels in 35 years, authorities have said.

The assistant commissioner of Dipalpur – the hardest-hit area in this year’s flood – said 11 rescue centres and five relief camps had been set up, with 4,600 emergency boat trips made since the floods came in mid-August.

The flooded villages of Dipalpur remain without electricity two weeks after the floods started.

Most of the cattle have been evacuated but those left behind have nothing left to feed on.

“Fodder has washed away,” said 50-year-old Taj Bibi, struggling to keep a buffalo, a cow and a calf alive on leaves chopped from trees.

“Our cattle are begging us for food but we have nothing to give them,” she said. “We are dying of hunger and so are our animals.”

At Bashir De Bheni, a small hamlet of 15 houses built on the submerged river bank, rescue workers dropped off antibiotics and rehydration medicine for a toddler suffering diarrhoea and high fever.

“Every problem imaginable has befallen us,” said 60-year-old villager Muhammad Yasin.

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pakistan

Former PM Raja Parvez Ashraf raises concerns over IMF bailout conditions

Published

21 hours ago

May 3, 2024

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Former PM Raja Parvez Ashraf raises concerns over IMF bailout conditions

Former prime minister Raja Parvez Ashraf has raised concerns about the potential conditions of the new IMF bailout package for Pakistan.

In a statement issued on Friday, the PPP Central Punjab President suggested that the government should brief parliament on the IMF package, with the finance minister providing lawmakers with details on new taxes and approved austerity measures during an in-camera session.

Ashraf underscored that instead of privatising Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) and other vital institutions, state-owned enterprises should be managed through public-private partnerships.

The former PM strongly opposed the idea of imposing taxes on pensioners, deeming it unacceptable. He urged the Finance Ministry to seek an alternative solution.

Raja Parvez Ashraf also highlighted the potential for enhanced harmony between the Centre and the provinces through the full implementation of the 18th Amendment.

He also proposed the abolition of unnecessary ministries to alleviate the financial burden on the federation.

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pakistan

Pakistan slams Indian atrocities against minorities, Kashmiris at UN

Published

21 hours ago

May 3, 2024

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Pakistan slams Indian atrocities against minorities, Kashmiris at UN

Pakistan addressed the UN General Assembly on Thursday, asserting that India was targeting Indian Muslims, Christians and Muslims in occupied Kashmir, and urged an end to their harsh suppression.

Ambassador Munir Akram stated during a debate on ‘Culture of Peace’ that since the BJP-RSS government took office in 2014, hate, oppression and violence against India’s 200 million Muslims, as well as other minorities like Christians and the ‘lower-caste’ Dalits, became rampant and systematic, driven by the ideology of Hindutva.

The envoy emphasised that unless Hindutva fascism was opposed and the impunity of the BJP-RSS ended, wider violence and conflict in South Asia would remain a real and present danger.

Despite efforts to promote a “Culture of Peace,” Akram noted a rise in hate, violence and war worldwide, with over 300 conflicts raging across the globe.

Highlighting Pakistan’s efforts to combat Islamophobia, Akram expressed deep concern at the officially sanctioned manifestations of Islamophobia in India, citing the Citizenship Law and National Registry list designed to exclude Muslims from citizenship.

The envoy warned of the spread of Hindutva extremism, which he said turbo-charged repression in occupied Jammu and Kashmir. He called for urgent resolution of the Kashmir dispute in accordance with UN resolutions and the wishes of the Kashmiri people.

Akram also highlighted India’s belligerence towards Pakistan, citing threats from Indian officials to “take over” Azad Kashmir and dangerous military doctrines adopted by India.

He accused India of financing and sponsoring terrorist groups to disrupt the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), and highlighted Pakistan’s concerns over India’s campaign of targeted assassinations, even beyond its borders.

Akram emphasised the urgent need for the international community to address these issues and reiterated Pakistan’s commitment to peace and stability in the region.

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pakistan

NA Secretariat accepts inclusion of independent members in SIC

Published

2 days ago

May 2, 2024

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NA Secretariat accepts inclusion of independent members in SIC

he National Assembly Secretariat has accepted the inclusion of independent members (PTI-backed MNAs) in the Sunni Ittehad Council (SIC), Dunya News reported.

The National Assembly Secretariat has released a list of 83 members of Sunni Ittehad Council on its official website after the approval of NA Speaker Ayaz Sadiq.

After the inclusion of independent members, Sunni Ittehad Council has become second largest party in the lower house of the parliament with 83 members.

The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) had sent a notification regarding the inclusion of independent members in the SIC to the National Assembly Secretariat.

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