Besides been a snapshot of post
flood conditions, it is also a sharp reminder of why cities attract shanty
towns. The seriously oppressed finally
have the option of simply walking away from the horror of feuds and tribalism.
Here the informants tell us that
they are making much more than they did at home and you can be sure it is all
theirs. By such steps real civilization
arises
Their abandoned lands will allow
for larger and more economic agricultural units to evolve. So perhaps the flood did some good in an
indirect manner.
Floods rupture Pakistani feudal ties
by Staff Writers
Bakhsh Ali Lashari has spent the last year living in a tent since
floods devastated a third of Pakistan
The monsoon-triggered floods -- the worst in Pakistani history --
affected up to 21 million people, killed another 1,750 and ran up losses of $10
billion; a year later a shattered economy has barely recovered.
Lashari's part of southern Pakistan was one of the worst hit areas,
submerged in gushing waters that took months to recede.
But the disaster gave him a chance to break free from centuries of
oppression. He is one of thousands who prefer life in rotting camps to
returning to feudal estates where debts and marriages can end in death.
Lashari had a steady income as a labourer in Jacobabad, 375 kilometres
(234 miles) north of Karachi
"The couple suddenly disappeared and the influential tribe
threatened all of us with death," said Lashari, wearing just baggy shalwar
trousers and standing in a tent city on the fringes of Sukkur city.
"We couldn't have moved away in normal circumstances. Then the
floods came and we fled. It was a blessing in disguise. We are not going back
now."
His camp, lying under a bridge, was one of scores set up by foreign aid
groups, the United Nations and local charities in August 2010.
But as waters have receded, many relief organisations abandoned the
camps, dismantling education programmes and leaving behind uncomfortable,
sagging tents where thousands have remained, either unable or unwilling to go
home.
"They have nothing to lose if they don't go home," said
Jaffer Memon, who edits a newspaper in the southern city of Hyderabad
"In fact they'll get rid of feuds, burgeoning debts and lethal
customs that force them to marry off minor daughters to elderly men to settle
feuds, and kill their mothers, wives, sisters and daughters in the name of
honour," said Memon.
Deedar Ali Jatoi, an ailing grandfather from the town of Garhi Khero,
whose entire family has moved into tents, couldn't agree more.
His community was locked in a feud with a rival tribe that killed
dozens of loved ones on both sides.
"We've decided never to return. We don't want to put our lives in
danger again," he told AFP in the same tent city on the edge of Sukkur,
where women cook on makeshift wooden stoves and younger children play naked
outside.
"We are poor peasants but as members of a tribe we're bound to
follow our chieftains and fight against rivals. But I don't want to see any of
my children killed in such feuds."
"We have started earning now and can support our families. We're
not going anywhere. We want homes here, not there," Jatoi said.
In Hyderabad
Most found the wages double what they were earning back home -- up to
$4.50 a day for menial jobs.
Those who returned home have tales of woe.
"Our houses have been under water for months and are too dangerous
to live in," said Virsingh Patel, 34, a peasant from a Hindu village near Hyderabad
"We were given just a few bricks to construct our homes. We have
no money to purchase cement and extra bricks to make our homes safe," said
Patel.
Nadeem Ahmed, who was chairman of the National Disaster Management
Authority during the floods, acknowledged the shortcomings, which he attributed
to a lack of donation pledges -- in sharp contrast with the response after the
2005 earthquake.
"Now where things have really gone wrong is the
reconstruction," he told reporters in Islamabad
"Out of those $10 billion required for reconstruction, I think
hardly $1 billion or $1.5 billion have been committed so far. So there is a
huge gap towards rebuilding or reconstruction."
In Patel's village, Radha Kolhi, 50, pointed to a picture of her dead
husband hanging on a cracked wall and clothes and utensils lumped in a corner.
"Even if we can rebuild our house, we'll never live without fear.
"The flood washed away the hurdles between us and the river, so
now even a smaller flood can send us in camps," she said.
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