A tale of two tragedies

Managing snowstorms, strong and devastating, is routine for local authorities across the US and Canada. The reason is not that they are technically advanced; the real reason is prompt action and the efficient logistical arrangements once they take notice of the weather forecast.

On January 9, 2022, a sudden fire in a high-rise working-class building in Bronx in New York took the lives of more than 19 and injured 37 residents, many of them Muslim immigrants. The moment a live broadcast of the news of this fire was aired, the governor of New York State flew to the fire affected location, while the Senate majority leader and the new mayor of New York City quit their press conference and rushed to the location. Rather than accusing the public of being irresponsible in using a space heater, all three local, state and federal elected officials used their authority and influence for the rescue of the fire victims in the cold weather and supervised the operation. Officials rushed to the location of the human disaster and responded to the needs of the fire victims without any blame game or distinction of race, legal status, color, cast or creed.

This had nothing to do with rich material resources, electioneering or politics. It was a sense of responsibility and compassion for human beings that made these elected officials aware of the misery of working class humans living in a multi-storey building. Rich resources, technological advancement, capitalist or class mentality or status of office – these were not what led to the swift response of the state governor, a senator, and the mayor. Moreover, there was no advance forecast for this sudden fire disaster. All the concerned agencies of the city, the state and even federal agencies and nearby hospitals were alerted in a matter of minutes not even hours. The Muslim community in the area added their volunteers to heal the affected persons and arrange for the funerals of the dead Muslims.

Just a comparison of the New York fire tragedy and the Murree tragedy that killed 23 people highlights the cruel and arrogant response to the tragic deaths in Pakistan. Prime Minister Imran Khan was only minutes away from the disaster – a helicopter at his disposal.

No one took notice of weather warnings; there was no travel advisory, and no other preventive measures. Instead of facing accountability for this negligence in this human tragedy, spokespersons of the PTI government tried to shift the burden on to the victims. A special assistant to the prime minister, who also claims to be a professor at an American university near Chicago, made a deliberate attempt to mislead the public, by exaggerating the amount of snowfall in the area. Any resident of Chicago or the state of Illinois knows a clear difference between 16.5 inches and eight feet of snowfall.

In short, the Murree snow tragedy was an act of criminal governmental negligence despite advance warning. An attempt to avoid responsibility for governmental failure, Pakistani style investigation, with no results, can further damage the image of the PTI government. An investigation committee composed of some bureaucrats will not be able to produce any results. Prime Minister Imran Khan’s policy of dealing with public issues through his team of spokesmen and cronies has created a trust deficit for his government as well as his own image. The Murree deaths are a national tragedy and criminal act of negligence by the top leadership of the country and need to be addressed in that context.

In other news, a new wave of Covid-19 is doing the rounds in Canada and America. This time Canada seems to be more ready for taking preventive measures. School education is online again and restaurants are closed for indoor dining in Ontario and elsewhere. Air and ground travel is under restrictions again. But, unlike Pakistan, young liberal Canadian PM Justin Trudeau and provincial governments of different political parties seem to be more ready and responsive to the opinion and expectations of their citizens.

Canada consists of 10 provinces and three territories that are being governed by more than seven political parties with varied political positions – from left wing to the far-right including three mainstream liberal, progressive, conservative and national democratic parties – but there is no confrontational politics among the provincial governments or between federal and provincial governments. Pakistan with its four provinces can learn a lot from the Canadian federation about co-existence, tolerance and even power sharing among politically diversified ideologies and political parties.

On the Pakistani front, in Washington, diplomat-turned-politician Masood Khan is expected to assume charge of the ambassadorship for the US. Prior to his retirement from the Foreign Service, he has served as ambassador to the UN in New York, Geneva, China and other locations. After his retirement, he got the political office of president of AJK during the Nawaz Sharif government. Now he has been rehired by the PTI government as ambassador to the US. The Pakistani community in the US knows his diplomatic skills; but they also ask: what has Sardar Masood Khan, as president of AJK, done for the Kashmir cause?

The writer is a journalist based in the US.