Feed them words - Shared by Tarique Farooqui

An oped on a subject which is current…..

Fouad

Feed them words

F.S. Aijazuddin — Dawn

Click here for the article

Summary

F.S. Aijazuddin examines how famine, once understood as a natural or divine calamity, has increasingly become a deliberate human-made weapon, with Gaza as a current example. He traces historical contexts of famine, from biblical accounts to the Bengal famine under British rule, highlighting how political decisions and indifference often determined life or death. He notes parallels with Pakistan’s own dependence on U.S. food aid under the PL-480 programme, which was later withdrawn due to political disagreements rather than agricultural self-sufficiency.

The article critiques Israel’s policy toward Gaza, framing famine as a calculated tool of genocide rather than mismanagement. Aijazuddin argues that Palestinians are being deliberately deprived of food and dignity, with starvation becoming a weapon of war. He stresses that international aid, while necessary, remains inadequate—words and statements cannot substitute for actual sustenance. Evoking the iconic Vietnam War photograph of a napalm-burned child, he suggests Gaza’s equivalent today is the haunting image of starving children, their frail bodies a symbol of collective punishment and global failure to act decisively.