Charles Mudede Jun 13, 2011
We are always talking about the God-crazy Islamic terrorists of Pakistan. We are quick to point to religion as the source of the chaos. We only see extreme Islam and not the extreme poverty of Pakistan.
ISLAMABAD: The Government of Pakistan is shying away from disclosing figures on poverty. The government has plenty of reasons to do just that.
On 25 March 2008, the day Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani was taking oath of office, there were an estimated 47.1 million Pakistanis living in extreme poverty. Over the past three years an average of 25,000 Pakistanis per day - every single day of the past three years - have been driven into extreme poverty. The total now stands at an estimated 72.9 million under the poverty line, meaning that three years of the PPP-led government has shoved an additional 25.7 million into abject poverty.
Living below poverty line means making dreadful choices-a choice between feeding your daughter and buying medicine for your ailing mother. Living below poverty means uncertainty-uncertainty of where your next meal would come from.
We now have 72.9 million Pakistanis, 41.2 percent of the total, who are ending up spending up to 70 percent of their entire budget on food.
The violence in Pakistan is not unrelated to this poverty. Therefore, the solution to the violence is not more drones or more military aid. You get my point.
http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2011/06/13/poverty-and-terrorism
We are always talking about the God-crazy Islamic terrorists of Pakistan. We are quick to point to religion as the source of the chaos. We only see extreme Islam and not the extreme poverty of Pakistan.
ISLAMABAD: The Government of Pakistan is shying away from disclosing figures on poverty. The government has plenty of reasons to do just that.
On 25 March 2008, the day Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani was taking oath of office, there were an estimated 47.1 million Pakistanis living in extreme poverty. Over the past three years an average of 25,000 Pakistanis per day - every single day of the past three years - have been driven into extreme poverty. The total now stands at an estimated 72.9 million under the poverty line, meaning that three years of the PPP-led government has shoved an additional 25.7 million into abject poverty.
Living below poverty line means making dreadful choices-a choice between feeding your daughter and buying medicine for your ailing mother. Living below poverty means uncertainty-uncertainty of where your next meal would come from.
We now have 72.9 million Pakistanis, 41.2 percent of the total, who are ending up spending up to 70 percent of their entire budget on food.
The violence in Pakistan is not unrelated to this poverty. Therefore, the solution to the violence is not more drones or more military aid. You get my point.
http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2011/06/13/poverty-and-terrorism
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