Scream

Ijaz_Gul #133:

``Thanx Vareesh Romair and Behram for sidetracking the discussion. Are we all the fly by night type drawing room reformists?``

I have not sidelined the discussion. The whole point of this article is to discuss the tragedy. We are discussuing the policies the Pakistan govt. should make, in regard to handling this situation in the long run. This is an important discussion........I am quite sure it is taking place at the highest levels of the Pakistan govt. also........Rest assured, all of us are helping. Some, perhaps, quite a bit more than you may realize. No nee to minimilize other people`s efforts.........There is quite a bit people are doing, without making it public.......My attachments with that area, go quite deep.........

I am not sure what one can do on a website, other than carry out a discussion.........Anyway continue your good work, and don`t doubt others` intentions.........

Behram1 #132: ``Now how do you correlate........ How does having political contacts become corruption? Here your logic becomes a little fuzzy.``

There is a general rule you can apply to societies that have corruption and a lot of poverty. If in a neighborhood, everyone is poor, and there are two huge houses, then there is a pretty good chance those houses are a product of corruption, somewhere.

All of us on Chowk have done extremely well in Pakistan`s corrupt system (this was my referal to foreign degrees etc.). We are in the less than 1% elite. This, obviously does not mean that all of us are corrupt. But as a group, we have benefitted from the system. And this is how the general society in Pakistan views us. The upper class of Pakistan, as a whole, is viewed quite negatively by the middle and lower class of Pakistan.

We, on Chowk, are from families that run Pakistan. We are related to politicians, businessmen, civil servants, mliitary generals, feudals, etc. We need to accept the fact that we have had the power, and have not delivered........

``We might be intellectually from upper class of Pakistan, but financially we are not.``

Less than 1% of Pakistan has Internet access at home. An even tinier number has a foreign degree. So if you have both of these, you are definitely from the 1% or far less of Pakistan. I think most urban Pakistanis do not realize how poor Pakistan is.

The rest of your comments on Pakistan`s economics are accurate. Though I think this govt has done far better than previous ones..........

Re: # 145

I agree with your observation. You should send a note to the email address and let the person know about the pros and cons. The tents on the provided site looked like ``toy tents``.

#126 ZahraJ
I completely understand the sentiment to do everything and anything to help. However, the type of tents needed AFAIK are not camping tents. They are looking for tents that you can pretty much live in, cook in, etc.
As you may imagine, there is not a great demand for these normally and that`s why current supply cannot meet the sudden spike in demand. FYI pakistan, the largest manufacturer, exports some 300,000 such tents each year.

143# Shankar,
Got your email and replied alongwith two pics.

Hands that help are better than hands that pray.

I feel obliged.

Cheerios

Re: # 140
{{am not using recycled bottles. These are brand new packaged in my own mineral water plant in Rawalpindi. To clarify I have no link with any charity nor anyone including chowkies responded in any manner with donations. Being a Pakistani and a human, I owe it to my country and its people. }}

I`m afraid you misunderstand me, sir. My comment to you wasnt supposed to be tongue-in-cheek. I`d like to send a check to a respectable charity. Buying tents & sending bottled water seems like the right thing to do. Now, is this the same charity that ZahraJ is talking about? I`d like to send a check in US dollars....to somebody who puts his money where is mouth is...now, who do I send it to?

Khuda Hafiz

Re: # 129
A Pakistani Capt only makes 9000 Pakistani ruppees. Wow.....

Dude, join Indian Army, you will about twice that and free ration on top.

Re: # 137

shankar:

``Man!!...joyneee!!!!....joyneee!!!!..``

LOL ... reminded me of parsis of mumbai....

#134 Vareesh,
Anwers to your querries will be found in my upcoming article on Front Page, ``PAKISTAN ROCKED``. I think the title SCREAM irks you more than anything else, but I am sure you know what it means.

1. A catastrophe of this magnitude per se becomes an international concern. International organisations of which most countries are members are supposed to respond. Your slanted comments in no way assist or obstruct the process. This is Pakistan not yelling for help but asking for assistance for which it has a right under the international code.

2. Not ask questions and pray. Thats the least.

3. Ground realities are dilated in my essay.

#135 Shankar,
I am not using recycled bottles. These are brand new packaged in my own mineral water plant in Rawalpindi. To clarify I have no link with any charity nor anyone including chowkies responded in any manner with donations. Being a Pakistani and a human, I owe it to my country and its people.

Cheerios

OXFAM joins the scream

http://www.oxfam.org/eng/pr051026_southasia_appeal.htm

Despite Kofi Annan’s urgent call for more aid last week, the UN appeal remains only 19% funded and if pledges are included (which are often not delivered) this only brings the total to 30%. ($90 million has been pledged out of the $312 million the UN requested).
Only four countries (Sweden, Luxembourg, Netherlands and Denmark) have so far given more than their fair share to the appeal.
Governments that have given less than one fifth of their fair share include, Japan (17%), Germany (14%), the US (9%) and Italy (7%).
Seven rich country governments have so far given nothing at all to the UN appeal – Belgium, France, Austria, Finland, Greece, Portugal and Spain. By contrast much poorer countries such as Poland and Chile have given contributions to the appeal.

Re: # 137

My dear shankar:

Sou thayou! Em kem vaaht karoach? However, you are absolutely right...[Keep it up, pal & even the poor vultures wont eat your pickled brain after you depart this life....] there will be nothing left for the poor vultures.

Thanks for making me laugh.

Respectfully submitted,

Re: # 127

My dear bawa-ji,

{{Thank you for a response. I will try to untangle your logic gracefully so please have patience with me.}}

Good LUCK!!!
Man!!...joyneee!!!!....joyneee!!!!..youre a bakra for trying to unravel grideon knots!!:)))

All you`ve done is tee off poor Dr shridhar!


{{Phew! That was real hard work, going thru your post and trying to untangle your logic for you.}}

You finally figured it out, eh?....
all by your lonesome; no less!
Keep it up, pal & even the poor vultures wont eat your pickled brain after you depart this life....

Audaciously submitted,
shankar

Re: # 133

Mr Gul,

Do you have an extra ticket on your relief aircraft?

May I humbly recommend you give it to the exalted Field Marshall on Chowk, who seems to have nothing better to do that give silly editorials & look at gift horses in the mouth.

He is well trained & well travelled. I`ll have you know that the only expertise he doesnt possess is living with penguins in Antartica. Maybe those poor victims` sorrow will be lightened by his Polyannish attitude to life.

Maybe he could regale us with his incredible insight from a tent in Muzaffarbad, as he freezes his butt off with his bretheren. For company, he ought to take ol` man bawa-ji to pour cold water over him, when his mind goes out of this galaxy.

Re: # 126

ZahraJ,

Is this the same charity that Mr Ijaz Gul talked about on the Chowk link (re buying bottles of potable water?) So many different charities are springing up, my head is spinning...Time is running out for those people; folks!

Re: # 133, Ijaz, I am not side-tracking the real issue, which, to my mind relevant to this article is:-

a) How to make a scream effective?

b) How to do something over and above the scream?

c) How does the ground reality impact what will happen to pakistan looking forward.

There are related issues of refugees flooding into India (which is the loudest scream possible that any country can not afford to ignore) and my queries from some chowkies like Romair and Manto on what they are doing (or not).

This Jinnah-Gandhi stuff that Yasser has brought up, I agree, has nothing to do with the subject.

Thanx Vareesh Romair and Behram for sidetracking the discussion. Are we all the fly by night type drawing room reformists?

``The smallest of actions is always better than the noblest of intentions.`` Robin Sharma
Thanx Zaharaj.