It is a testing time for millions of Pakistanis from Northern Areas to the Arabian Sea. The people are either living in misery after being run over by water or living in fear of being inundated anytime. Rains, ruthless as they have been this season, are continuing and people are suffering the double jeopardy of pouring from skies and floods on ground. We had not yet recovered from the wounds of terrorism and target killings in Karachi when we have had this. This is a time of reckoning, of national solidarity in which we must forget all our internal conflicts, likes dislikes, hates, peeves and prides, to emerge as one nation united in a bid to help our people marooned in this catastrophe. Media, politicians, civil society, all sections of society, must play a positive and constructive role in these testing times. Stop the blame game. Lets fight this calamity with the oneness of purpose it deserves so that we are able to bring out of trouble the many millions of our countrymen. Let us all, we the people of Pakistan, resolve that there shall be a ceasefire on all fronts between us until such time that we bring the country back on its feet again. Media has to play a vital role in this 'back-on-our-feet drive. First of all, it has to stop mudslinging and mocking of the elected rulers of our country. It must give them a chance to come up to the expectations of their electorate, their constituents. Let them swim or sink in the public eye without giving them the excuse of blaming a third force that did not let them deliver. Media must report facts as they exist and stop giving opinionated versions of how it sees things. Then, let the people judge for themselves who is doing what? Media has to oversee this whole affair as the fourth pillar of state with a sense of responsibility rather than an opportunity to malign. The solemn purpose of us all is to serve the society and resolve problems of people. Politicians should demonstrate honesty, sincerity and unity of purpose. This is their best chance to shed their damaged image, this pervasive view of their dishonesty and incompetence. They must unite with the purpose of serving their people with full devotion to rebuild this shattered country. The civil society and NGOs must come out to justify their very existence as a sector which, despite some exceptions, has been mostly marred up to now by their fond proclivity to hold seminars and conferences in luxury. Open field is waiting for them and time has come they practice what they preach. People need our services, help and sympathy. We must not let them down. In the end, I must commend the Armed Forces of Pakistan for their quick and rapid response in the outreach to the troubled people back of beyond. They have proven their worthiness for taxpayers investment in this arm of government in peacetime. -PEER MUKARAMUL HAQ, Islamabad, September 4.