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Editorial: Solidarity for Pakistan
Rather belatedly, we appeal to readers and all Indonesians to spare our thoughts and prayers this weekend for our sisters and brothers in Pakistan, whose lives have been devastated by the incessant floods these last two weeks, with no clear end in sight of when the situation will ease
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ather belatedly, we appeal to readers and all Indonesians to spare our thoughts and prayers this weekend for our sisters and brothers in Pakistan, whose lives have been devastated by the incessant floods these last two weeks, with no clear end in sight of when the situation will ease.
The floods engulfing the Indus river basin, the worst to have happened in Pakistan in the last 80 years, have claimed more than 1,600 lives, displacing more than 2 million others, and disrupting the lives of more than 14 million people. That is just the immediate impact of the disaster.
Medium and long term, Pakistan’s economy will suffer with the predicted 4.5 percent growth in GDP this year unlikely to be attained with all its dire consequences in terms of jobs and income. Agricultural production, the main staple of the economy, and the nation’s exports, have been ravaged, and with it the income of farmers.
Pakistan is not short of assistance with massive aid pouring in from the international community, but the scale of death and destruction is so immense that no amount of help will be sufficient or will be fast enough to relieve the pain and suffering, repair the damage and put the nation back on its feet.
The UN has appealed US$459 million in emergency aid, and has said the cost of rehabilitating the agriculture sector will run into billions of dollars.
The Indonesian government and people must rise to the occasion and extend support and help. We need to show our solidarity not only on the grounds of our shared faith, but more on humanitarian grounds.
These were the same grounds that sent the Pakistan Army Task Force and the Pakistan Islamic Medical Association to bring relief supplies and provide medical assistance to Aceh after it was struck by a devastating earthquake and tsunami in 2004.
We laud President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono for his decision early this month to airlift 15-tons of medicine and food supplies amounting to the equivalent of $1 million and dispatching some doctors to Pakistan. We believe Indonesia can do better, and a solidarity movement led by the government or a private organization/foundation will go a long way in helping our sisters and brothers in Pakistan. At the very least, you can send donations to special bank accounts provided by the Pakistan embassy in Jakarta.
