Aug 12, 2010

UNPO Causes of the flooding in Pakistan


In a letter published by The Guardian today, UNPO points to the decades of bad governance as one of the reasons behind the massive flooding currently inundating Pakistan.

 

Below is a letter published by The Guardian:

 

The people of Pakistan may be in God's hands now that swathes of Sindh lie under water, but for decades they have been in the hands of an Islamabad coterie who have failed to deliver autonomy or basic rights to its citizens. Pakistan's problems are regional problems and they lie rooted in bad governance. Islamabad's attempt to centralise a state around Wahhabism promoted institutionalised Islamic extremism and destroyed traditional values of tolerance. Globalisation offers a chance to shrug this off and support the viable self-determination of Sindh, Baloch and Punjab peoples within a Pakistani state – a state that, if reformed, could bring security and a new model of governance to the region. It's time the international community recognised this and listened to Pakistan's people instead of its jet-setting leaders.

 

Andrew Swan

Project co-ordinator (Brussels), Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organisation