Once valued, twice scorned

SUKKUR: They were valued when they could work the lands, but the floods had cost haris not just their belongings, but also their landlords, who had abandoned them when most needed.

Kashmir Shaikh, a resident of Dari, near Kandhkot, used to work as a hari on a landlord’s lands.

“When our area was flooded, the landlord just pulled us out and left us on the road,” Shaikh told The Express Tribune.

While cradling her one-year-old son, Shaikh’s wife, Jannat Khatoon, said the family had first gone to Shikarpur, but were unable to find shelter in the area, after which they came to Sukkur. They found a camp near the new bus terminal, she said, adding, however, that after some children died due to gastroenteritis at the camp, Shaikh and his family decided to leave. They are now living under trees near the Central Jail-I Sukkur along with 12 other families.

“It was very hot at the camp. It’s quite cool here, but no one is taking care of us,” she complained. “Yesterday, some people came and distributed bags of flour among the families. Sometimes, people come here and provide us with cooked food, but not regularly,” she added.

When asked whether their landlord is looking after them or not, Jannat Khatoon said the landlord has yet to come and see the conditions they are living in.

“We are living under open skies. We are at the mercy of the government, which seems to be doing nothing for us,” she said. “Two of my sons are suffering from skin allergies and doctors at a nearby camp have refused to treat them because we are not registered. Where do I take them?” she asked.

Naseem Ahmed Banglani used to work as a hari on a landlord’s land in Karampur.

“Our landlord has left us,” said Banglani. “I lost two of my buffaloes in the floods and two of my children - four-year-old Rafiq and six-year-old Rasheeda - to gastroenteritis at a camp in Sukkur. That is why I left the camp and chose to live here,” he added. Banglani has six children left, all of whom are suffering from skin allergies.

“Nobody is taking care of us”, Hurmat Khatoon told The Express Tribune. “Once every two, sometimes three days, some people come here and distribute cooked food among us. As of now, my son has gone to a nearby camp to find some food for us and we are waiting for him,” she said.

“At times, we are forced to beg shopkeepers for food,” she added.

Despite the district administration’s claims of providing food, water and medical facilities to more than 100,000 people, it appears that hundreds of people like Shaikh and Banglani are still unaccounted for by the government during its relief efforts.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 28^th, 2010.