Problems like a shortage of educational, health, drinking water, tourism and other facilities in Tharparkar are likely to get a hearing in the Supreme Court.
Supreme Court of Pakistan Chief Justice Gulzar Ahmed, while addressing lawyers in Tharparkar on Saturday, asked the district bar association to file a petition in this regard.
The petition will seek justice for the people of Tharparkar who are still deprived of many fundamental facilities. "The petition should state all the matters which he [Advocate Vasand Thari, president of the district bar association] stated in his speech," he said.
"He should tell the Supreme Court that so much injustice and the people of Thar need justice."
CJ Ahmed assured the people that the apex court will provide justice even if he no longer remained in his seat. He said people have the right to education, health services, water and employment opportunities. He emphasised that the lands and grazing areas of their cattle should also be protected.
The CJP found a huge disparity between the versions of the deputy commissioner of Tharparkar Nawaz Soho and lawyers who both separately narrated the state of affairs of their desert-based district. "What Vasand maintains and what you [the DC] say; I find a lot of difference in the two versions."
He said he considered the DC as a competent bureaucrat. "I had begun to think that Thar has received a Messiah in your form."
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He reminded the DC that he had claimed, while briefing the CJP the other day, that educational and health facilities in Thar have been improved and that hospitals are providing round-the-clock services. "However, Advocate Vasand says no such facilities exist here," he questioned.
He said the Constitution has enshrined equal rights to all citizens of Pakistan and denying those rights is a crime. "If people of Thar are kept deprived of their constitutional rights, this won't be a service to the country; rather a huge disservice."
Justice Ahmed found great potential for tourism and religious tourism in Thar, but noted with concern that the district lacked facilities, hotels, rest houses and trained staff. He asked the government to set up hospitality management training institutes in Thar to train local people.
He said the handicraft, livestock and leather industries can also flourish in Thar. The CJP observed that the desert region has still not been connected to the rest of the country through the rail network and underlined the need of constructing highways and motorways as well.
He noted that the people of Tharparkar are not reaping the benefits of the value addition in the products which they have been making for a long time. He asked authorities to establish technical institutes to impart skills of value addition to Tharis.
Justice Ahmed advised people of Thar to take their complaints to the relevant government departments and if their issues still remain unattended, they should then seek legal help.
Quoting the DC, he said that a campus of NED University, Karachi, has been established on 340 acres of land. He asked officials to ensure that all disciplines of engineering like civil, mechanical, architecture and others, are taught at that campus.
"Tharparkar is a very beautiful place. I see it turning into heaven whenever I visit during monsoon," he commented. According to him, he first visited Thar in 2000 when he was general secretary of the Sindh High Court Bar Association (SHCBA).
Realising the agonies of the drought-stricken people, he said the SHCBA collected donations and supplied eight trucks of ration and water for the people of Tharparkar which he himself distributed door-to-door.
Published in The Express Tribune, January 9th, 2022.
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