Of, by and for the people?

Sindh Assembly Speaker Agha Siraj Durrani’s comment during a discussion in the legislature this Thursday on rising dog-bite cases in the province was only aimed at bringing a smile on the faces of people present there. This was a good way to lighten the heavy atmosphere when a sad reality was being mentioned. The speaker only followed the dictum that tells the truth and makes them laugh in order to make effective what you say.

The reality is that the issue of stray dogs and dog-bite has long been persisting in the province. The grim reality is that between Jan 1 and Sept 30 last year, 150,000 people have been bitten by dogs in Sindh, according to the provincial health department. The Sindh High Court recently suspended the membership of two legislators over their failure to control dog-bite incidents and to curb the population of stray dogs in their constituencies.

Ironically, when the issue of MPAs’ suspension came up, members from the treasury benches appeared worried only about their colleagues’ suspension as they perfunctorily mentioned the issue of dog-bite. The latter is a life-and-death question for their constituents, though. Ruling party members maintained that the lawmakers’ job was legislation, not to kill dogs. Opposition members claimed that the government had not taken them on board on the issue. A legislator from the ruling party suggested that lawmakers from the ruling party as well as the opposition should move a joint petition before the court declaring that their job was making laws and not culling dogs.

Recently, red tape has been increased with regard to victims’ entitlement to anti-rabies vaccines. In government hospitals, after the victims are administered the first dose of the vaccine, they are told to bring a copy of the police FIR of the incident with them for the subsequent doses. While the government maintains that a sufficient quantity of vaccines is available, doctors contradict this. Laughter is the best medicine, perhaps.