MITHI: The residents of Tharparkar watched luxurious vehicles speed through their villages during the Thar Desert Rally on Sunday. The food minister, Mir Nadir Magsi, who also inaugurated the event, won the race for the second year in a row.
The rally brought together 27 racers from all over the country, including Minister for Excise and Taxation Mukesh Kumar Chawla and MNA Mian Mitho’s two sons, Shabeer Mitho and Asif Mitho.
The Sindh Assembly speaker, Nisar Ahmed Khuhro, who was the chief guest at the event, said that “such rallies are meant to promote Tharparkar’s culture and art.” According to him, desert rallies have been organised in Jhal Magsi, Balochistan, and there was nothing wrong with rallies being held in Sindh.
The residents of Tharparkar, however, did not feel the same as they joined members of different political parties and protested on Saturday, claiming that ministers should focus on the drought in Tharparkar rather than rallies.
Devji Bheel, a member of the Sindh Taraqi Pasand Party, said that the rally was an insult to poor people everywhere. “We have nothing to eat and rulers are organising races in our areas,” he said.
Advocate Shahnawaz Hingorjo, who is affiliated with the Awami Tehreek, said that the government should prioritise the needs of the people over entertainment.
Police and rangers had been deployed at the site and six ambulances had been parked.
Published in The Express Tribune, December 3rd, 2012.
COMMENTS (5)
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I am a rally driver and participated in the current Thar rally, it was my first ever visit to Thar and its people. Have it not been the rally I wonder whether I would have visited this lovely place or not. I really liked the town planning and approach of this town, its nicely done and very different from the rest of the towns in sind where they are so congested that one thinks why cant we do some betterment. The desert is really beautiful and its very surprising that the dunes are full of trees and green bushes, one thing which normally we dont see anywhere else.
The track was 95 km into the wilderness, where one passes by several villages. We could see children and people standing near the roads and watching drivers and visitors passing by or even stopping. The rally prepared vehicles were an entertainment for the villagers and specially the kids, who were very exited to see such fast moving vehicles flying in the air and making them laugh or excite them....you never know who among these gets inspiration and thinks to go beyond Thar desserts to the city life to progress and see the developed world... A change comes when you practically see one and witness it.... Who knows among those poor village boys dreams of driving a vehicle like that and commits to himself that inshallah one day I shall also represent my Thar village and drive....
Dear readers, we rally drivers not only go into these fields to fulfil our hobby, but try to bring in some change in that respective area too.... There were nearly 30 rally drivers and nearly some 80 more vehicles who came along and nearly some more then 100 more who came to watch.... We all consumed fuel, food, utility items, services, workshops, bought stuff from that store, beautiful shawls made by Thar ladies in those poor villages, desi ghee, desi butter, pure honey, food from hotels, tea from dhabas and many more...... Its the layman, working class and poor who benefited from all these purchases.. The money from the rich and affordable class pocket went into the working and low classes....isn't that good for that area.... isn't it better that because of our rally many people from Pakistan came and spent into the bazaars of Thar rather spending in Dubai and outside malls....isn't it better that many came to see Thar villages and places for the first time in their entire lives( like me).... Isn't that good that we might have sparked a small light in some young boys heart to stand up and go towards success outside these dunes.. Therefore, I would like you all to support this off Road sport as we drivers are doing all this from our own pockets and taking the monetary cash from Urban life to rural areas. This is the only sport in Pakistan which goes and entertains poor in the rural areas and brings a little economic activity in that specific village...where as all rest sports focus the Urban cities and entertain an affording and much richer society.... While writing this para, a very unique thing came in my mind..... This is the only sport in pakistan where Rich or affordable class performs to entertain the poor in their villages and in rest the middle or lower class from villages grow from their cricket or hokey grounds to entertain the rich sitting in VVIP AC enclosures, 65 inch screens, personnel theatre rooms or sitting in 5 start hotels in front of huge projectors.
Alhamdulilah our drivers have improved great skills and have the ability to further enhance it, therefore we need support from our people to promote this sport so that we can do better and bring a good name in international events too. Thanks
@Dr. Dooli:
Except Paris, name one region / area in Africa from where this rally passes through, improved economically compared to Paris on any area in France through which this rally is passing through...look at the map of the area & route only then you will realize...
@Lobster:
It is not the fault of these poor people all over pakistan especially the rural areas of Sindh, where these feudal lords keep these poor people as slaves & under the burden of loan instead of educating them...
"such rallies are meant to promote Tharparkar’s culture and art". Ironic! But people of Thar equally to share the blame for blindly voting them!
Mr Bheel's statement is valid but such races bring economic activity to the region. The Paris-Dakar car rally goes through one the most impoverished areas of Africa, but it brings money to the region.