Pakistan is unusually gifted by visits of catastrophes every few years.
Many years ago, terrible floods paid us a visit and a friend remarked in Punjabi, “hun bahutan di chandi ho jai gi.” From my puzzled expression he gathered that he needed to explain. He said that aid would now flow in, and much of that will be misappropriated to enrich many of those charged with its distribution.
I thought this meant that things like tents and blankets, and flour and sugar and milk would appear for sale on the streets, instead of being distributed among those for whom these items were meant. That did indeed happen. But over the years, it is now clear, much more takes place. Elites routinely plunge their claws into what essentially belongs to the devastated and the destitute. The first such story which broke into the open exposed Ali Imran, Shahbaz Sharif’s son in law, who discovered some funds meant for earthquake victims lying unattended. And with the expert advice of his father-in-law, he decided to bestow attention on them, pocket them, get discovered, and flee to Great Britain, the mother of modern democracy and the safe haven for all scoundrels.
Turkey came to our assistance to tide us over the devastation which we suffered because of the floods of 2010. Among the donations they made was a very beautiful necklace from Mrs. Erdogan which was duly pocketed by Mr Yusaf Reza Gillani, our Prime Minister of the day.
When this became a scandal and there was no way for Mr Gillani to hold on to this necklace he returned it. His explanation for filching the necklace was that Mrs. Erdogan was like a sister to him and so he had kept the necklace. The moral of the story was that if something belonged to one’s sister and was sufficiently enticing, its theft became valid. Now consider the fact that our leaders consider the 22 crore people of Pakistan as their brothers and sisters, and you will know why they consider it legitimate to steal from them!
But there are instances of theft that drown others out by their sheer shamelessness. Consider the merciless floods of 2022. With them came the opportunity to plunge ourselves into depths of national disgrace and shamelessness not yet reached.
When these floods came, Turkey, a brotherly country which is always among the first to extend a helping hand to us, was not found wanting in its generosity. They sent us all manner of aid and relief goods which they could.
And then, a few weeks later, Turkey suffered what was the most catastrophic earthquake of the last few years. And among others the government of Sindh, who else, decided to send aid to Turkey. When the Turkish authorities opened the first few packages of this aid, they found markings on them declaring: Assistance from the People of Turkey to the Brotherly People of Pakistan!
The bigwigs of Sindh, ever driven by unsatiated hunger, had pocketed the funds earmarked for the victims of the Turkish quake, and diverted the aid received from Turkey to relieve our flood victims, back to Turkey to give relief to their quake victims!
Ever wondered why stench reaches us when members of the Zardari and Sharif family are even miles away?
I went to Turkey for a few weeks in mid-1968. What was most noticeable for me was that the people there treated Pakistanis with a special warmth. I could not understand why this was. So I asked Suleman whom I had befriended. He was a young man of my age doing his conscript service in the Turkish Navy. It is from him I learnt that during the Frist Great War which Turkey lost, the Muslim women of India donated their jewelry to aid the Turks; and many Muslim soldiers of the British Indian Army in Mesopotamia frequently deserted their lines, and joined the Turks at a time when they were not just losing the war but were also starving.
The Turks were taught not to forget this. This memory was consciously kept alive in Turkish hearts and formed the basis of their love for Pakistan, the home of the Muslims of India whose women had sold their jewelry to aid them.
Zardari’s recent gift to Turkey must surely have gone miles to enhance the respect they have long nurtured for Pakistan. That of course should be understandable. But what beats the mind is where does the Army High Command’s respect for the Zardaris and the Sharifs spring from?