Evacuation of earthquake victims?
With cold, snow and blizzards coming to Kashmir and Northern Areas of Pakistan, a question is raised about the fate of hundreds of thousands of homeless, up in the mountains. It has been suggested earlier that they should be brought down to shelter camps but those people have refused due to various social and cultural reasons.
The Acron argues that while it is important to respect the wishes and the sensitivities of the victims, the state also has a responsibility to use its funds to save as many lives as possible. Abandoning die-hards to their fate appears to be callous, especially because it is a act of commission. But not making optimum use of resources has a wider impact, leading to a lot more lives being lost. This appears less intuitive, for such acts of omission are seen as part of the overall failure of the government to provide an adequate response. If the purpose of the relief effort is to save as many lives as possible, then there is a case for the government attempting to convince, coerce and even force affected citizens to evacuate to safer areas. This applies for any government, but only democracies can do so with sufficient moral authority.
And here again, Pakistan’s military dictatorship, works against the interests of its own people. Lacking popular support, it cannot even consider a policy of mass evacuation without risking public wrath and political upheaval. Attempts to do so have already been condemned by political opposition and the civil society alike. It is unlikely that Gen Musharraf will have the courage to attempt an evacuation-centric strategy until perhaps it is too late. But for the sake of the millions of victims of last month’s earthquake, it is incumbent upon Pakistanis and the rest of the world to leave no stone unturned in attempting to save as many lives as possible. Musharraf already relies on international support for a large part of his political legitimacy. The same, perhaps, can encourage him to explore a more pragmatic, albeit unpopular, approach. Before its gets really cold.
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