In London a fire in a tower block inhabited by refugees killed perhaps a hundred. In Bahawalpur a fire at an overturned oil tanker killed perhaps two hundred poor rural people who came to collect the fuel. In both cases there is a breakdown of state and society’s responsibilities towards its weakest. Neither administration or society has demonstrated a meaningful response to the decades- or centuries-long structures that lead to such tragedies. At least the one in the UK may lead to enquiries and resignations and annual breastbeating rituals; The one in Pakistan will be forgotten in weeks and nothing will change.
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