Floods are, in effect, a serious threat to national security. Please read and comment....

According to very conservative estimates, the current catastrophe of floods visiting Pakistan has already ruined the economy. It has routed everything at such a scale that experts have started expressing their concerns about the National Security. Presently, one fifth of Pakistan is inundated by the flood destroying crops completely. The magnitude of this loss is evident in the fact that major segment of the population is, in one way or the other, earning its livelihood from agriculture sector. Barring those few who had the power to divert the flood from their crops to drown millions of living souls, rest of country’s land-owners have lost tremendously.

This loss has a chain effect on other sectors of the economy. According to the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations, massive damage to agricultural infrastructure has been caused by the floods, and seed for the next year’s crop has also been washed away. Almost eighty per cent of the families living in the flood-affected areas depend on agriculture as a means of livelihood; and after the floods washed away even emergency food stocks, this segment faces an economic and food crisis of massive proportions. Furthermore, the FAO believes that if September’s wheat planting window is missed due to water-logging, the impact could last for up to two years. Areas growing rice and maize will be able to harvest their first crop not before autumn of next year.

These floods have made the budget meaningless as no target will be possible to meet. This situation is not an economic crisis alone, it is a National security nightmare and has to be dealt with accordingly. And we should keep it in mind that National Security strategy can not be drawn without economic stability. USA had to backtrack from its Strategy due to fiscal difficulties. The nation should treat itself to be at war with a faceless enemy which can wear a face if not tackled immediately. To start with, the Prime Minister should sack his entire Cabinet including himself as this large Cabinet is not only inefficient and corrupt but has proved to be not more than a burden on the economy. And the Cabinet includes the Prime Minister himself. Similar steps should also be taken in the provinces.

The Public Sector Development Plan should only be used for infrastructure development in the flood hit areas. Like a Clean Commission, a clean cabinet of professionals and technocrats should be formed. These are extra-ordinary times and need extra-ordinary measures. The vote-grabbers have totally disappointed the constituents and have no right to remain as a parasite for national economy any further.

Remember, this is a National Security crisis and those responsible for National Security should be carefully monitoring the situation. This is a golden chance for blood-suckers like IMF, World Bank and ADB but the nation should not let them in on any pretext. If you realize, these institutions and their debt are a threat of a much higher magnitude to the National Security.