As devastating rain and flash floods and ambiguous threats of cyclone (Karachi specific?) make disturbing news stories in the country's print and electronic media, I am absolutely certain that at least some of us find memories of the cyclones that hit former East Pakistan coming alive.
Not quite the pleasures of nostalgia. Instead a recollection of the cynicism and the skepticism that one heard so often when it came to the relief efforts that were made in West Pakistan for the East Pakistani brethren.
Is there something in our mindset that evokes distrust and often only that when it comes to relief efforts and funds that are created for people struck by calamities and disasters? This thought crosses the mind in a context where there is much focus on the efforts being made to provide life saving help through massive operations. Even then it is proving impossible to reach all the unfortunate people.
This is the kind of thought that crosses the mind of the Pakistani citizen whenever the officialdom announces an inquiry into something that has gone wrong in our national life or the setting up of a commission to investigate something like the abuse of power or the misuse of authority or crime or injustice on a scale that threatened to destabilise societal equilibrium.
The story of these floods and rains and relief measures that are taken is something the Pakistani citizen has been familiar with, for as long as I can recall. I am unsure of the floods and rains that hit East Pakistan in the late fifties, but the impact of that in the early sixties is something that does strike a familiar note.
As a school boy, in the early days of President Ayub Khan, one recalls the public appreciation there was of the relief work that was spearheaded by Lieutenant General Azam Khan (Retd), who was Governor of East Pakistan. One heard of the good work that he was doing in the routine of our conversations, even though as school and later college students the focus was diluted.
Another thought that crosses the mind is that perhaps this country has not had another person quite like Lieutenant General Azam Khan (Retd) in the context of all the rescue, relief and rehabilitation work that he pioneered, and has been remembered with affection and respect. On this point, I also wonder why we never really mention him as one of the good men in our national life. Indeed there is much else to wonder about how national life.
I am reminded here of the East Pakistan Cyclone Relief Fund that was created. I remember how in October 1961 the top most film stars of East and West Pakistan played a fund raising cricket match at the National Stadium in Karachi, and apart from Santosh Kumar, Darpan, Sabiha Khanum, Mussarat Nazir, Neelo and others there was the Indian actor (and journalist?) I.S. Johar who played to raise funds for the lakhs of people whose lives had been undone virtually.
But with Time, and the sometimes savage and ruthless manner in which the ravages of Time unfold, there appeared on the horizon the mild but surefooted questioning of what was being done with all that money that was being collected. There was something that was collected with the cinema tickets that cinegoers resented or disagreed with, and there was something that was collected along with the gallon of petrol that vehicle owners were made to compulsorily pay. They too wondered what was really happening, amidst all the regular news of relief work that was in the media.
Which reminds me that in those days there was no Television - at one stage not even Pakistan Television, which began in the midsixties (late 1964). In a way, the more the PTV expanded the more came distrust of the official word? But that is another issue, for another day. There was Radio Pakistan, the National Press Trust dailies, the official APP, and what is now regarded as private independent media. And there was the foreign media - BBC Radio. No CNN, please!
What is worth contemplating at this stage, in retrospect is what would have been the public perception of those East Pakistan floods and cyclonic disasters had there been television to show the visual face of the tragedies that hit that province of Pakistan year after year. What would have been the socio-political impact of the presence of the kind of media that the world has today? Or that Pakistan has today?
Stories of the havoc being played by heavy rains, floods and flash floods are major stories at this point in time in our lives - and the death toll is sadly rising. The role of the Pakistan Met Office is central to our daily routine. Its forecast is valued and given the awareness of the public of weather prophets both Radio and TV channels attach priority to precision - there are some very interesting forecasts provided daily.
At times, hourly. I write this on Monday night and the forecast is for heavy rains with winds to "lash" the country until Friday (6th July). The thought that our relief efforts at times cannot even reach much less meet the needs of the poor rendered poorer still by rains and floods, isn't it the same story every year, asks a voice within?
Can we ever reach a stage in our national life where all the measures that are needed to protect the vulnerable people from seasonal rain and flood will be taken, and all that is required will be delivered?
There is currently being mentioned overseas help and international assistance, for the flood and rain affected. As we are said to be going through defining moments in our national life, and political activity is geared towards the general elections, there are being heard political voices that these floods alone could become a cause for delaying the polls. Indeed the next couple of months are crucial.
But I am inclined to return to the East Pakistan theme again. It reminds me of the days when optimism was coloured by an innocence as well .Or am I merely being naïve and imagining it all?
With Karachi rain and sunshine sharing space Mr Doubt had this to say to me one afternoon: "Owing to a strike at the Meteorological office, there will be no weather tomorrow." He clarified that he was not referring to the Pakistan Met Office.!!