We are in it together

Almost one-third of our country is under water. Thirty-three million people have been displaced, and their homes, livelihoods and future have been destroyed by the recent floods. The very fact that there are people whose main worry is to search for food is beyond painful.

In Khairpur, Sindh, a one-year-old girl lost her life due to hunger, and in Mehar, Dadu, a father and daughter died due to a shortage of food supplies a couple of days ago. And these are the few stories which have reached us.

There are children, women and men, who are living in tents or under the sky, and are suffering from skin diseases, diarrhoea, malaria and other ailments, and they have little hope of help coming their way. Their situation is utterly depressing; they have no access to clean water and sanitary necessities.

Women are additionally suffering due to patriarchal norms as well. They have no privacy, and they cannot relieve themselves in the open the way men can do (though men must not be comfortable with this as well); their sanitary needs are not met and they fear harassment.

What is their future? And what is the future of these children? Will they have access to home, better living conditions and schooling? Once their miseries are over, will they be able to get out of the trauma of this life-changing experience?

And what should those who are fortunate enough to not have been affected by the floods do? The answer is: empathy. They should be empathetic towards the affected population. Empathetic people put themselves in the shoes of others. The ownership of the problem is the first step towards this empathy. It is not just their problem; it is our problem as well.

People who did not get affected by the floods should recognize their privilege and must realize that this privilege was not earned by them, but it was given to them by their circumstances. The flood-affected people do not have enough time to cope with this devastation, and why should we think it is their job to cope with such devastation?

Are they the ones who have brought this upon themselves? They are suffering the faults of others. They are underprivileged not only because they are flood affectees but also because they are already poor and suffer from the failure of governance.

So, one must show humility in the better situation one enjoys. But humility is not all that is due to us; we must also feel compelled to help them. The very basic help is in the form of monetary assistance and participating directly or indirectly in flood-relief activities. Rescue is the first step of solving this problem, and the next step is their rehabilitation. This can be done by giving them a place to stay in our cities.

It seems that people are already feeling resentment towards this. Calling the flood victims thieves or criminals and claiming that they will be consuming our resources is the last thing one should be thinking right now. First, they are facing a natural (read man-made) calamity; these are not our usual-day problems. Disasters have different dynamics, and they need different moral obligations. Right now, our only concern should be their immediate rehabilitation.

Of course, their rehabilitation should be properly planned and managed. But one must realize the desperation of leaving one’s house. Nobody does that willingly. And one must also realize that nobody lives in a city for free; everyone is bound to contribute to make a living. Instead of being xenophobic one must demand from the government to improve governance and fulfil its responsibilities.

Second, though the people of urban areas also suffer from governance failure, the misery of those who live in rural areas is extremely dire in this respect. Once we understand this thing, we will not consider them as ‘the others’ and the distinction between us and them will be diminished. Our collective miseries must not be the source of division; it should be the source of unity among us. Misery can unite people as nothing else can.

Those who are safe from the floods must also make the government responsible for its callousness. The flood-affected people are angry, and they express their anger when they meet government representatives, but those who are living in safe areas are obliged to ask the government to speed up the process of rescue and rehabilitation.

They must ask the government to share the plans of their rehabilitation and the plan to mitigate future disasters. We must ask how the government is planning to tackle the problem of climate change. Merely being xenophobic will not get us anywhere. It is our collective responsibility to deal with this disaster together because we are in it together.

The writer teaches philosophy at a public-sector university.