In the immediate aftermath of the Kashmir earthquake of 2005, for example, the army was called upon to reopen devastated roads and distribute supplies. The scale of the disaster meant many victims were left pleading for more help. But, for all that, many acknowledged that the army did a pretty good job in atrociously difficult circumstances.
This time it's different. Hundreds of thousands of military personnel are fighting the Taliban in the north-west of the country. The constraints this has placed on the military's response to the flood has only served to expose more clearly the incapacity of the civil administrative structures.
The weakness of the state has reached extraordinary levels. Fewer than 5% of Pakistanis pay any tax. The government is unable to provide schools and medical care for tens of millions of people.
But even if the flood has heightened the level of criticism they face, the politicians will not be unduly concerned. They are so used to being viewed as incompetent and self-serving that they are largely immune to public criticism.
Some Pakistanis fear that hardline Islamists could exploit the state's failure by mounting relief programmes. But past experience has shown that the religious organisations also lack the ability to deliver aid on a national scale.
Except for a lucky few, Pakistan's flood victims are on their own. Many will survive only because their poverty has rendered them extraordinarily tough and resourceful.
Owen Bennett Jones
from the Guardian, 14th August 2010
