Benevolence Is Divine

Pakistan In Picture

 

Asem Mustafa Awan
The benevolence is a divine blessing and the roadside hotel has its owner having it in abundance where he doles out food for the needy while serving the customers at the same time.
This is not uncommon many such small roadside kiosks are doing it as they feel for the people who are hungry and have eyes that have only one question ‘Food’.
The world celebrated “The Food Safety Day” on Thursday this week and it is no secret many countries are faced with acute food shortages mostly in the African continent.
The wars simmering in Africa have displaced millions and suffering is way beyond human imagining. Famine added to civil war is a curse that no country should ever face but people at the helm of affairs are putting the public as gun fodder in their quest for power.
There is no end to their nefarious designs that have put millions of lives at stake and more wars are around the corner.
Pakistan has an agrarian base and leads the world in many products but sadly it suffers from mismanagement as the product never reaches the public that dies in quest for a bag of flour.
Children and women were trampled to death while a few suffered heart attacks from the bag that too was too substandard and not fit to eat. Over twenty lives were lost that was officially stated while it is believed the figures could be a lot more.
Where does it all go is a secret that no one dares to put a full stop to. There have been numerous reports from international think tanks who have dealt with policymakers of Pakistan and what they think of people representing Pakistan at the helm of affairs which has left readers in a shocked state.
Petty gains and for a pittance, national integrity was sold and all is documented and unchallenged leaving a bad taste as to how low can these policymakers have gone for their vested interests.
The masses are deliberately kept hungry as the bumper crop as harped is sent outside Pakistan where foreign exchange is amassed at the cost of the poor farmer who is not even paid in full.
The plight of farmers in Pakistan has resulted in people selling their lands to housing societies and leaving the profession that is one of the oldest in the world.
Not long ago hundreds of mango trees were cut as the land was developed for society. The ecological damage is yet to be gauged but it is a fact, 25 per cent of forest in a country forms its ‘lungs’ while Pakistan has it but a few numbers that was 5 per cent in the past but at present it is believed to be far less.
This is no secret that Punjab both in Pakistan and India was the food basket of the entire Sub Continent and more, where did it go wrong should be the question for people at the helm of affairs.
Pakistan is blessed with everything it only needs honest leadership to make it grow and glow in the world and it is time to give the public a chance so that they can sustain themselves on their own.

The writer is a journalist based in Islamabad and writes on a wide range of issues.

Photo Credit: Nadeem Khawar