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THERE are those among us who think politics is about nothing but taunting your opponents. These are precisely the sorts of weaklings who feel strong and emboldened when they are part of a group, but shrivel up into diminutive creatures when caught out alone. We all know the type, even if from school days.
For days and days as the city of Karachi grappled with a historic flood and a crippling power outage that sent consequences cascading in every direction — from cellular network outages to ATM and fuel pump closures — there was this lot among us who thought the opportunity demands nothing more from them than to taunt the provincial government.
On Saturday, many areas of the city were still in the thick of the power outage, the lucky ones jostling for generator fuel at those few pumps that were open but mobbed, the rest either suffering through 48 hours without power or seeking refuge in the houses of those whose power had been restored. That same night, just 12 minutes shy of the midnight hour, our power minister tweeted the following line.
“Strongly recommend that PPP Sind Govt and Officers visit Mohenjo Daro and Harappa to study the drainage & sewerage system used there 4500 years ago.”
There is not much one can say about the mindset which leads people to hurl taunts, abuse and mockery at those who are beset by difficulties.
When this tweet was sent, large parts of the country’s largest city, the beating heart of its economy, had been without power for 60 hours. Think about that for a moment.
I was one of the lucky ones whose generator had not broken down from such continuous running, but had spent a good amount of the day rushing from one pump to the other searching for fuel, while frantically calling loved ones, including those who are advanced in age and live alone, to check if their power situation was alright and whether they needed me to pick up fuel for them too. It was quite obvious to those who were still without power that night that there was a long way to go before the restoration of supply.
With a prolonged power outage, there were very few functioning ATM machines in the city, so those without a supply of petty cash at home had a second round of shuttling to do, running from one ATM to another to see which one might be working. Prolonged power outages also led to the breakdown of telecom services, as one by one, the towers ran out of back-up supply and the inundated streets made it impossible to service them.
So those who had to venture out, either to seek refuge in other people’s homes or to replenish food and fuel supplies, hugged their own family before leaving home because while they were out there would be no way of contacting them. I remember when I came home after one of these errands, the family anxiously came to the door and asked “was everything alright? How are the streets? Did you manage to get everything?” This is a glimpse of what it is like to live through a couple of days during a city-wide disaster.
I’m not sure what possessed the minister that he forgot, so close to the midnight hour, that he was the power minister of the government and it was his job to oversee the power system in the entire country. I know he had his reasons for why he was unable to oversee restoration of supply but then, wouldn’t those he was taunting have their reasons for why the flooding was beyond their control?
A few hours earlier he had tweeted this: “Have told KE management repeatedly that KE must make every effort in restoring power to the affected areas of Karachi. Govt of Sind should provide all out assistance in clearing the water logged areas so that power restoration can be expedited.”
And then a minute later came this: “My name is Omar Ayub Khan. I am from Pakistan and I #SupportGaza”. And there it was, a tweet for the people of Karachi, and another for the people of Gaza. I wonder what he was doing in the two hours between his Gaza and Mohenjodaro tweets.
If you’re wondering why I’m reserving my ire for the power minister when many others were attacking the Sindh government, the answer is that I do not expect it from ministers of the government in power to taunt their rivals and opposition members when tens of millions of people are living through an emergency in precisely the area of responsibility held by the minister.
There is not much one can say about this mindset which leads people to hurl taunts, abuse and mockery at those who are beset by difficulties. At the time of writing, the valley of Swat is in the middle of terrible flooding as the Swat river has overflowed due to heavy rains in the valley. My prayers, and I expect the prayers and thoughts of all especially those who are in a position of power, should be with the people who are suffering in the midst of this developing disaster.
But it is nearly futile to try and point out the basic rules of human decency anymore. The climate created by the ruling party is one where the most voluble abuse is considered to have won the day. Where one taunts others when they are in difficulty but demands decency when one is oneself in difficulty. Where there is one set of rules for those who refuse to give blind devotion to the party leader and another for those who do.
Sadly, no newspaper would print my feelings when I saw the tweet recommending the Sindh government and its officers to visit Mohenjodaro and Harappa to study their drainage systems. But let me just ask the minister this question: should they take DHA and Cantonment Board Clifton officers with them when they make this trip?
The writer is a member of staff.
Twitter: @khurramhusain
Published in Dawn, September 3rd, 2020
