PAKISTAN’S floods repeat a cycle of loss, neglect and silence.

The evening heat in Dubai hung heavy, but Ahmad Khan barely noticed. Sitting in a crowded park, with a half-eaten mango in his lap, he clutched his phone, his thoughts fixed on home in Gadoon, Swabi. The night before, a sudden cloudburst had hit his village, sweeping away roads and houses. Whole communities were cut off. Ahmad kept dialing, hoping someone would answer. “My mother, my brothers… I can’t get through,” he said softly, almost to himself. His helplessness tells the story better than any number. Pakistan’s disasters are felt not just at home, but also by those abroad who can do nothing but wait.

Back in Pakistan, the story is bleak but familiar. This monsoon has already taken more than 670 lives, with nearly 200 deaths in the past week. About 1,900 people are still missing and some two and a half million have been displaced. Bridges have collapsed, roads gone, crops ruined. Entire villages are underwater. And yet, none of this is new. Every year, the rains come. People die, homes are washed away and whole communities are broken. The state reacts slowly, if at all. Camps overflow. Drone footage circulates. Leaders offer sympathy and the usual promises for better........

© Pakistan Observer