Pakistan: Destructive floods in a killer system

By Hassan Jan

In countries like Pakistan, It has become a deadly routine that every few years they are ravaged by natural calamities like rains and floods.. Low-lying areas with poor infrastructure are the most affected. Thousands of houses, Mud huts and other impoverished residences are destroyed. In rural areas, livestock and all the scarce assets of the impoverished are lost and thousands of human beings lose their lives.. Everything that poor families build over decades of work is lost in an instant. In relief efforts, The State is nowhere to be seen and the majority of it is done by the people themselves who help themselves.. The ruling classes, their political representatives and government officials shamelessly jump on the bandwagon to do photo sessions with the victims. The government and its bureaucracy begin a campaign of corruption and looting in the name of helping the victims. These disasters, that are not at all "natural", They seem to be ordinary events for the callous rulers of these rotten states.. But all these calamities further expose the system and the government in the eyes of the masses and the working class and shake their conscience..

Widespread flooding caused by devastating monsoons has affected 33 million people in Pakistan, around the 15 percent of the population. Includes some 650.000 pregnant women in urgent need of care in flood-affected areas. Anger is growing over the government's inability to provide assistance in a timely manner..

This monsoon season, The rainfall has almost tripled the national average in recent years. 30 years, most likely due to the effects of worsening global warming that the entire world is suffering. Pakistan's share of global emissions is only 1 percent, Nevertheless, has been persistently considered among the 10 countries most affected by climate change. Recent rains causing flooding are now wreaking havoc on the already impoverished regions of southern Punjab, Sindh, Baluchistán y Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. According to official figures, more of 1000 people have lost their lives, including women and children. The footage that emerges is painful and chilling. The real number of deaths may be much higher!, possibly several times! There are still many parts of the country where all land transportation access is disconnected, and there is fear of great damage to life and property. Entire towns are under water. Balochistan is already the poorest province in the country, where a large part of the population can only afford to live in mud huts and other precarious housing that has now been razed.

In Balochistan, in the last 30 years, fell an average of 55 mm of rain, but this year it increased 200% a 289 mm. Similarly, in the province of Sindh, the previous average of 107 mm increased to 375 mm this year. This is alarming climate change. It is an irony that rich capitalist countries (mainly its ruling classes) are the main contributors to carbon and greenhouse gas emissions, while poor countries and regions must pay the price. We can say that global capitalism and its desire for profit is the cause of this destruction on a global scale.. On the one hand, Millions of hectares of forest are cut down for industrial production and profit, and there are no restrictions on the production of industrial waste and poisonous gases. On the other hand, the Military Industrial Complex, for hundreds of billions of dollars, recklessly explodes its weapons in peacetime tests, in wars and in civil wars, which causes environmental destruction, pollution, unprecedented radiation and human suffering. All of this is driving climate change to unforeseen levels..

Due to its crumbling infrastructure and economies, Countries in the so-called Third World are much more affected by disasters such as floods compared to advanced nations. For example, London receives an average of 690 mm of rain in a year and New York around 1139 mm, Nevertheless, we rarely see loss of life and property. Due to its historical advantage with capitalism, have been able to build relatively better water management and drainage infrastructure. On the other hand, in Pakistan during the period of 1961 a 2010, The average rainfall was 297 mm per year and during the period of 2010 a 2020 it was of 408 mm. Even if we include the effects of climate change, this is much lower than many advanced countries. Still every few years there is great destruction due to these rains in Pakistan. Pakistan's late, crippled capitalism and its ruling class were born of submission to the British Raj. And that is the reason why when they had the opportunity to govern directly they failed to build a modern capitalist state.. Due to its historical backwardness, Pakistan's ruling classes have been unable to build modern planned cities and adequate water and drainage infrastructure in recent years. 75 years. Conversely, existing infrastructure is rapidly deteriorating. Human habitations have been proliferating in such an uncontrolled and unplanned manner that they completely ignore natural drainage channels and other foundations of urban planning.. As a result, there are floods and destruction every few years. This is very typical of the uneven and combined nature of the chaotic and absurd development of capitalism in this region., devoid of any planning.

Recent rains and floods have once again exposed the rotten state of capitalism and the ruling classes in Pakistan. In these conditions, the economy already in crisis, that goes through an IMF program, and politics will decline further and become more chaotic, but at the same time the masses will draw conclusions from the insensitivity of the rulers and their internal struggles. These lessons will play an important role in the mass uprisings of the future. A system that suffers from its organic crisis on a global scale cannot build a healthy State and infrastructure in one of its weakest links such as Pakistan.. In the current capitalist system, the poor will continue to suffer from these “natural disasters.”. Even a small relief for the masses requires a major social and economic transformation. In the same way, to save cities and towns from flood destruction, We must end speculation on private housing schemes, and cities must be rebuilt under state planning that addresses human needs. Instead of building housing projects and towns on natural water channels, we need to reinforce these waterways. But this is only possible by overthrowing the criminal capitalist system and establishing a centrally planned economy., where all the dominant heights of the economy are under the democratic control of the masses and all resources are used for social development, improving infrastructure and meeting human needs.

Help the 33 Millions of people devastated by floods in Pakistan…

¡DONA!

(For vital medications, dry foods, drinking water, carpas, hygiene products, milk and cookies for children)

Campaign organizer:
Awais Qarni (+92 3338827194)

Bank Al Habib Limited (branch of Fazilpur)
Account holder: Muhammad Awais Qarni
Account number: 00690081003222016
IBAN: PK38 BAHL 0069008100322201
Swift Code: BAHLPKKAXXX

For details on the activities of the Revolutionary Flood Relief and Protest Campaign, follow our Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/flood.campaign