The recent rains and floods, which killed thousands of people and made many homeless across the country particularly in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP), sparked a heated debate in Senate on Monday as the members went all out to record their displeasure regarding the inadequate measures taken by the government to tackle the catastrophe.
Senator Haji Muhammad Adeel of the Awami National Party (ANP) lambasted the government for its inadequate aid to the flood victims and accused it for leaving the people of his province at the mercy of God in times of crisis.
The people of KP, he said, are those who have rendered sacrifices more than anybody else in eradicating the menace of terrorism, but when they are in need of support, nobody is even bothering to look towards them including the international community, he added.
He said people are still trapped in the flood affected areas including a large number of tourists in Swat due to the non-availability of resources to lift them to safer places as the provincial government had only two helicopters, which were mostly being used by the chief minister and the governor for protocol duties.
He warned that if the victims were not taken care of on war footing, the situation would become serious for the displaced people as in a shelter less state, they were exposed to multiple hazards. "It is a shame the rulers are silent and enjoying in Paris while hundreds of thousands of people in the country are sleeping without shelter, food and medicines," he added.
Senator Abdul Rahim Mandokhel said people do not even have even a glass of water to drink while the ruling class has confined itself in villas and some are enjoying abroad, completely ignorant of what is going on in the country. He stressed on the need to set up a disaster management authority with proper budgetary allocation, as the existing National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA), he said, has completely failed to cope with the natural disasters in the country for the last several years.
Syed Tahir Hussain Mashhadi of the MQM called for co-ordinated efforts between provinces to tackle the challenges faced during natural calamities. He criticised NDMA's measurements regarding the prevention of disasters, and said it has failed to deliver in every situation despite all its claims to have the capability to tackle natural disasters.
Senator Nilofar Bakhtiar said, except some army 'jawans' nobody was seen in the flood-affected areas to help the victims. "It is our collective responsibility and we should also join the relief activities by suspending the senate proceedings," she added.
Nilofer called upon the government to concentrate on health issues to prevent an outbreak of diarrhoea, cholera and leptospirosis. "Why disasters have hit this country over and over again? We are being tested by God so that we do not stay selfish," she said.
Our leaders are selfish, our economic players are selfish, she said, and added the government failed to learn lessons from the 2005 earthquake. "The government has distributed flour bags among the victims but how can they use it as they neither have houses nor gas to cook," Nilofer said.
Senator Ishaq Dar of the PML-N said the whole nation should be united and contribute towards the rescue, relief and rehabilitation of the flood affected people, urging President Zardari to cut short his visit and return home without visiting UK.
He said there is a need of a collective plan at the national level to rehabilitate the affected areas by taking all stakeholders onboard to better mobilise the people for rescue and relief operation. We should make efforts to suspend our development programmes for the time being and give priority to the rehabilitation of the flood victims. He also said the NDMA is not prepared and equipped to face such natural disasters.
Commenting on UK's Prime Minister David Cameron's statement last week, he said the prime minister of any country has no right to give statements or judgements against Pakistan. He said Pakistan is a sovereign state and we would not tolerate such statements. Why Cameron did not mention about the brutalities of Indian army in Occupied Kashmir, he questioned.
He also appealed President Zaradri to postpone his visit to the UK and return Pakistan form France to oversee the plan for rescue and relief for the flood affected people. Meanwhile, on the death of Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) leader and member of the Sindh Assembly Raza Haider, the Interior Minister Rehman Malik said an inquiry has been ordered into the incident. The culprits would be taken to task soon, he also said.
"I appeal MQM to show patience as this is the time of unity. A strategy has been chalked out to destabilise the country. I request the Chairman to adjourn the House on the sad demise of Raza Haider," said Malik. While responding to a point of order, he said the government has arrested many persons involved in target killing in Karachi.
Haji Muhammad Adeel of Awami National Party (ANP) said the workers of MQM have started targeting the ANP activists after this incident, which should be stopped. Rehman Malik said attacking the other party without evidence is an act of emotion. He urged the chief of ANP Asfandyar Wali to move forward positively.