Floods rupture Pakistani feudal ties
FEATURE |
SUKKUR — Bakhsh Ali Lashari has spent the last year living in a tent since floods devastated a third of Pakistan. His home is no longer under water, but death threats mean he’s never going back.
The monsoon-triggered floods — the worst in Pakistani history — affected up to 21 million people, killed another 1,750 and ran up losses of $10 billion; a year later a shattered economy has barely recovered.
Lashari’s part of southern Pakistan was one of the worst hit areas, submerged in gushing waters that took months to recede.
But the disaster gave him a chance to break free from centuries of oppression. He is one of thousands who prefer life in rotting camps to returning to feudal estates where debts and marriages can end in death..... MORE
Source: The Daily Tribune
URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/commentary/20110727com5.html
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