A dream turned sour

The loss of human lives in Karachi because of the killer heatwave is unprecedented. Different reasons are being assigned to this catastrophe: some are holding climate change responsible while others believe that the disaster has been caused by bad governance in Sindh. Amidst all this people are dying. Heat claimed more than 1,000 lives in India this summer as well and the misery could only subside when the monsoon rains hit the country. The question is: why was this allowed to happen on such a massive scale? And why were only NGOs seen to be helping people?
The onset of neo-liberalism in the early 1990s is now showing its real impact on society. The 1990s brought liberals to the fore in both Pakistan and India. In India, it happened under the centre-left Congress government led by Narsimha Rao whereas in Pakistan, the centre-right PML-N introduced the policy of deregulation and privatisation. The policy continued all through the 1990s. It got great impetus under General Musharraf. Shaukat Aziz’s consumerism and trickledown economics reduced the role of the government in the social sector. Consequently merciless forces of the market took control of all spheres of the social structure. The gulf widened between the haves and have-nots rendering the poor even poorer and the rich, richer. The dream of an Islamic welfare state seems to have gone sour.
Malik Atif Mahmood Majoka
Melbourne
Australia