New Delhi: Pakistani godmen are coming up with innovative ideas to counter the floods that have ravaged the country. They are having their go-corona-go plate-banging moment.
A visual shared by a local journalist Ahsan Wahid on X showed a pir, or a godman, sitting on top of a charpoy being carried by men with drums and pipes, wading through drainage water to apparently end the floods.
“This Pir Sahib, with the full band of drums and pipes, set out on a charpoy placed on the shoulders of his devotees, apparently to stop the flood. May Allah have mercy on our condition,” the journalist wrote.
Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz Sharif said on Thursday that timely precautions had averted large-scale flood damage, adding that it was by the grace of Allah Almighty that Punjab was spared from severe losses.
During her visit to the Ravi river, the CM observed that three rivers in Punjab were under intense pressure, but praised the swift and effective response of the administration and rescue agencies.
People, however, are not convinced. Many feel that the Punjab government has not done enough to build infrastructure like dams to prevent flooding due to excess water.
Also read: Pakistan defence minister blames India for Sialkot floods. ‘Dead bodies flowing’
‘People’s blind faith’
Amused Pakistanis have a consensus: The godman is still better than Punjab CM Maryam Nawaz.
“I can’t decide whether to give the best acting award to Maryam Nawaz or Pir Sahib… Friends!! You tell me,” Pakistani X user Wasim Khatri wrote.
“It is fitting for people like Maryam to rule over them,” one person said on X.
Other people wanted quick solutions.
One X user, Shahzaib, said: “This ignorant saint should place his blessed foot in the water and make the water disappear.”
Harun Khan noted grimly that “this so-called priest is trying to prevent floods in Pakistan with his followers. People’s blind faith in these fraudsters is one of the main curses of South Asia.”
BOL news journalist Tania Masood added how this is a systemic problem where the lawmakers do not focus enough on literacy.
“The ruling elite have deliberately kept the masses uneducated through systematic and intentional planning,” he wrote on X.
Imran Khan’s followers chimed in too on how he had tried to “educate people”.
“South Asia is filled with such illiterate ppl. N these THUGS so called PIR take advantage of it. Keeping ppl illiterate also suits politicians n army especially in Pakistan. All they need control these thugs pir with honey traps. Imran Khan tried to educate ppl,” X user Jhanzeb Khan wrote.
Dawn columnist Maham Fazal summed up the sentiment: “Across South Asia, the challenge is the same regardless of faith. It appears embedded in our social make up. We seem divided by religion yet united in folly.”
Around 200,000 people have been displaced as severe floods sweep through Pakistan’s Punjab province.
In the last 15 years, Pakistan has faced a destructive flood every single year, each one more disastrous than the last.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Wednesday assured that the federal government would extend full support to provincial authorities in mitigating flood risks, particularly in urban centres such as Gujarat, Sialkot, and the country’s second-largest city, Lahore.
(Edited by Aamaan Alam Khan)