Senator Salim Saifullah Khan, who is the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, has urged the Pakistani community to help boost relief funds for their flood-hit compatriots, as he made a strong case for building the Kalabagh dam to prevent damage of the kind brought about by the natural disaster.
"We don't need just the proposed Kalabagh Dam, we need some ten dams like it in a move to regulate waters," Senator Salim Saifullah Khan told a gathering of Pakistani-Americans at the Pakistan House on Tuesday.The senator said Peshawar escaped much damage because of the Warsak Dam, Swabi was saved by the Tarbela Dam while the under-construction Gomal Zam Dam acted as a shield and minimised the flooding of Dera Ismail Khan.
Salim Saifullah also made a strong plea to the international community tocome forward in a big way to help Pakistan, which has been devastated by the worst-ever floods, triggered by torrential rain. More than 20 million people have been uprooted, one-fifth of the country is inundated and much of the country's infrastructure washed away. "This is a pay back time," he said, citing Pakistan's enormous contribution to the war on terror. Pakistan has lost hundreds of soldiers and incurred many other losses in combating militants. But when this key ally is in distress, the response from the international community is disappointing.
He especially underscored the need for life-saving drugs to deal with waterborne diseases, which have begun to hit the marooned people. About the criticism levelled against the government for the slow response to the crisis, he said no one could ever imagine the magnitude of the upcoming calamity. The wheels of the government usually take time to get into motion, he pointed out.
Moreover, the senator said the local government structure was no longer there to take care of the immediate needs. The country needs local bodies and elections must be held as soon as some normalcy returns to the country. Local bodies were always the first responders in any natural disaster. Salim Saifullah also rejected what he called the sweeping criticism of madrassas, saying they were playing an important role in providing food and shelter to the uprooted people. In this connection, he especially cited the service being rendered by the one in Akora Khattak.
At the same time, he admitted that some madrassas do impart radical education, saying those were few in numbers. The senator said he was on a private trip paid out of his own pocket. Before leaving Islamabad, he said he inquired from the government whether he could do anything for Pakistan in this time of crisis.