The provincial government has acknowledged that 344 children have died in drought-hit Tharparkar over the last 12 months.
These deaths have, however, not been associated with the drought-caused malnutrition and rampant poverty. The figure is also half of the unofficial death count which according to the estimates is over 600 since the start of this year. Deputy Commissioner Asif Jameel said on Monday that 344 children, 105 men and 120 women have died since December, 2013, but he claimed that the reason for their deaths was illness.
Separately, the district health officer Dr Jaleel Bhurgari also confirmed deaths of 316 children since January. He also played down the relation of drought and undernourishment as the cause. With one more death of four-month-old Nazeer in Civil Hospital, Mithi, on Monday, 98 children have died in Tharparkar in 22 days of December, according to the unofficial estimate.
Published in The Express Tribune, December 23rd, 2014.
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Sindh Government should not just admit the number but also admit that they are to be blamed for 600 plus deaths of innocent children. Which makes them worse than the militants who attacked APS on December 16, 2014. They also deserved to be hanged.