Flooded, forgotten and forsaken

Don’t disturb! Siraiki Waseeb’s stepmother is in deep slumber while her children are sitting under the open sky in heavily inundated areas waiting for the government’s help which is in no sight so far.

Millions of people are affected and only a few urban centres like Taunsa, Dera Ghazi Khan, Jampur and Rajanpur are safe so far. Even these cities are facing the threat of heavy flooding, and warnings have been issued to vacate them, culminating in sleepless nights for the inhabitants.

Hundreds of villages and small towns have vanished, thousands of people have died and or gone missing and millions displaced in the forsaken Sairaiki belt. The callous approach of the administration towards a human tragedy of this magnitude is nothing new. These areas have experienced this before on several occasions, more recently in 2010 but like always political will is nonexistent and cities like Taunsa are also on the brink of flooding, the hometown of the last chief minister of Punjab.

Unfortunately, the state of Pakistan never recognised its stepchildren living in the southern Punjab’s Siraiki-speaking belt let alone taking tangible steps for their welfare and right of living.

For the record, it is South Punjab and not to be mistaken as Siraikistan since that would be a “threat” to our national cohesion and a cause of major insecurity to Takht-e-Lahore. The same Takht-e-Lahore is busy in upgrading Gujrat from district to division, when an old and forsaken division is heavily inundated. Western parts of Dera Ghazi Khan division are tormented by the torrential floods from Koh-e-Suleman, ranging from tribal areas of Taunsa to Rojhan. On the other hand, Indus River is also posing a serious threat where flood levels are increasing rapidly.

All the Buzdars, Lagharis, Mazaris, Khosas, Dareshaks are mere spectators and some of them are even playing their part in the catastrophe by saving their own fields and crops by diverting the floods towards poor villages. Gillanis, Qureshis, Makhdoms and all other political leaders are playing the Siraiki card in the last elections and are nonchalant about the ground realities.

These flood-affected areas are home to numerous wealthy and influential politicians and leaders, including prime minister, president, governors, chief ministers, speakers, deputy speakers and several ministers of present and past at both federal and provincial levels. On the face of it, the government of PTI elected its ‘Wasim Akram with several pluses’ to overcome a deep sense of deprivation entrenched in the social fabric of this area and the chief minister also worked to improve the overall situation, but he was too busy to remember the imminent threat of flood, hence did not take any timely preventative measures during his short tenure.

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has just realised the severity of climate change and Pervaiz Elahi has spared a few precious moments from ‘Gujrat Division’ to announce nominal relief packages which can only be considered too little, too late.

Some of these leaders are blaming illiteracy and negligence of the locals for building houses on water routes; but the last time we checked, it was the responsibility of the state to provide access to quality education, health, and opportunities of gainful livelihood. Dera Ghazi Khan and Rajanpur often rank at the bottom of education, health and population welfare rankings of the province, if not the country.

Barring a few tickers and some coverage on international media outlets, mainstream media is oblivious to this human tragedy. Harrowing visuals of children, women and men losing their lives surfacing on social media ratifying that people of these areas are children of a lesser god and our media is far too busy in other issues of so-called national importance. Not to mention rural areas which are bearing the actual brunt of the floods; water has engulfed Fazil Pur, the third largest city of district Rajanpur, and citizens of Rajanpur city have been asked to vacate as soon as possible. All other major cities and towns also facing similar threats.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 23^rd, 2022.

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