Thar famine

Letter March 01, 2015
I want to ask readers: who will you call when an infant dies because of thirst, malnutrition in parched lands of Thar

HYDERABAD: Thar has been facing a famine-like situation for a number of years. For three years, the Tharis have been a suffering a lot but this time around, the famine has been particularly deadly, claiming the lives of more than 600 infants, a number which remains heavily underreported in the local press. The Sindh government has barely made any efforts to improve conditions in the area, but has made every possible effort to wash its hands off the problem.

While lawmakers from the Sindh Assembly claim that the news of the famine is exaggerated, and blame everyone from India to the media for their own negligence, babies are dying in Thar, and their mothers are sobbing for the loss of their poor children. Children are not only dying of hunger, but also of poor nutrition, which enervates their bodies and makes them susceptible to preventable diseases. I recently noticed a statement by Dr Seth Berkley, the chief executive officer of the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunisation, who said, “It’s a tragedy when a child dies from a preventable disease.” But I want to ask the readers: who will you call when an infant dies because of thirst and malnutrition in the parched lands of Thar, where there are barely any hospitals or doctors?

Muhammad Aslam

Published in The Express Tribune, March 1st, 2015.

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