Kalabagh Dam: the Question of Alternatives
Kalabagh Dam: the question of alternatives
THE rush to build the Kalabagh dam is taking General Musharraf and many of his supporters, including some born-again superpatriots, to heights of irrationality. As if the doctrine of necessity, which has provided the alibi for all military coups since the original one of Ayub Khan, was not enough, a new and much more sinister doctrine, that of indispensability, is being promoted. Its purpose is to justify the indefinite continuation of the present regime and to coerce into acceptance its pre-determined choices, often based on dubious and doctored data.
At a time when the entire nation is preoccupied with grieving for the victims of the earthquake and worrying whether the survivors will be lucky enough to avoid the “second wave” of deaths that stares them in the face during the long and severe winter, it is nothing less than diabolical for the regime to leave an unfinished human agenda and embark on a politically-charged mega project on which the nation is so divided.
Despite the regime’s stubbornness to be in denial about the realities of the earthquake, all reports, both by national and international observers, suggest that the relief effort is woefully inadequate and, barring a massive increase in the resources and in the efficiency in the delivery system, the nation should brace itself for a human tragedy even bigger than what befell it three months ago.
This was an ideal time for the government to unite and heal the nation across political, social, economic, gender and geographic divides which have stalked the country since its inception, particularly since the military action in East Pakistan, 35 years ago, for which the military remains unrepentant. But the regime has been more interested in keeping itself in power than in keeping the nation together.
The way it has tried to monopolize the relief effort by the military and marginalize civilian efforts, can hardly engender any credibility about the
THE rush to build the Kalabagh dam is taking General Musharraf and many of his supporters, including some born-again superpatriots, to heights of irrationality. As if the doctrine of necessity, which has provided the alibi for all military coups since the original one of Ayub Khan, was not enough, a new and much more sinister doctrine, that of indispensability, is being promoted. Its purpose is to justify the indefinite continuation of the present regime and to coerce into acceptance its pre-determined choices, often based on dubious and doctored data.
At a time when the entire nation is preoccupied with grieving for the victims of the earthquake and worrying whether the survivors will be lucky enough to avoid the “second wave” of deaths that stares them in the face during the long and severe winter, it is nothing less than diabolical for the regime to leave an unfinished human agenda and embark on a politically-charged mega project on which the nation is so divided.
Despite the regime’s stubbornness to be in denial about the realities of the earthquake, all reports, both by national and international observers, suggest that the relief effort is woefully inadequate and, barring a massive increase in the resources and in the efficiency in the delivery system, the nation should brace itself for a human tragedy even bigger than what befell it three months ago.
This was an ideal time for the government to unite and heal the nation across political, social, economic, gender and geographic divides which have stalked the country since its inception, particularly since the military action in East Pakistan, 35 years ago, for which the military remains unrepentant. But the regime has been more interested in keeping itself in power than in keeping the nation together.
The way it has tried to monopolize the relief effort by the military and marginalize civilian efforts, can hardly engender any credibility about the