Rulers use flood to fill their coffers: Palijo

Qomi Awami Tehreek leader Ayaz Latif Palijo blamed the ruling political parties in Pakistan for turning the flood entailed disaster into a source of income for them. Addressing a rally in Matiari, he argued that such indifference to the miseries of the displaced people is hard to find in the world.

"The aid being collected in the name of the affected people should reach them," he insisted. He lamented that hundreds of thousands of people in the riverbed villages of Sindh and a far larger number of people in Punjab have been badly affected by the flood.

The flood peaked at 635,759 cusecs and 571,800 cusecs at Guddu and Sukkur barrages, respectively. It is yet to attain the high point at the third and the last barrage, Kotri, before the Indus river meets the Arabian sea. The reading at Kotri's upstream stood at 328,142 cusecs on Friday evening.

Palijo reiterated his opposition to the alleged occupation of Sindh's cultivable land and snatching of its water resources under the guise of development. He deplored that the rulers have let tribal vendettas and dacoits of the riverine areas rob the people of Sindh of their security and peace.

"A country can't progress under fear and injustice rather equality, justice and harmony provide the only way forward." He wondered why the federal government, parliament and the superior judiciary have grown indifferent to the miseries of Sindh's people which they keep expressing through various mediums.