The flood crisis in Pakistan is by no means over, with officials conceding that over 1,000,000 people received no aid from the government or official aid groups at all. But those people aren’t out of luck, they’re just getting help from the banned groups.
Which has led Pakistani Foreign Minister Mahmoud Qureshi to be the latest to complain that “terrorist” aid workers, members of banned groups which are seen to have affiliations with banned militant groups, are stealing their thunder.
Qureshi is using the claims to press for more international donations, but the reality is that many of these donations have gone toward the so-called terrorists because they are seen by donors as more effective and more trustworthy than the notoriously corrupt government. Pakistani officials have threatened to lock up anyone caught giving flood aid on behalf of “banned” groups and charge them as terrorists.
Which according to popular opposition notable Imran Khan is ridiculous. “If they are playing a role, big deal,” noted Khan, adding that claims that flood aid was tantamount to terrorism recruitment was “nonsense.”
Oops, looks like the FedGov's puppet regime in Islamabad has a credibility crisis. Too bad.
The great flood of 2010, while devastating the lives and livelihoods of many, has succeeded in creating opportunities for many terrorist groups. But unfortunately our opposition political parties are playing flood politics and went on accusing government . In the meantime our media is involved in raising their programme ratings as they parade the flood victims who make for a good story. Thus they are involved in ‘flood ratings’. The militants, being a part of our society, are not far behind. They are involved in ‘flood jihad’. We cannot lay everything at the government’s door. It is rather simplistic to state that the government should pursue these groups. We need to support this endeavour not by creating peace lashkars or jirgas but by providing local information to governmental agencies. In
addition to this, we, as people, aid groups, politicians and the media, need to stop chasing the flood catastrophe for our own corporate ends and actually help the flood victims. Our silence and in activeness serve as windows of opportunity for the militants and their aid groups. We cannot afford armchair activism, flood politics and flood tourism, as the consequences are deadly.