Police rough up 20 protesters

Flood survivors are injured when the police beats those who gather to register for Watan cards.

SUKKUR: At least 20 flood survivors were injured when the police started beating up those who had gathered to register for Watan cards.

Hundreds of flood survivors, living in Rohri relief camps, had gathered at the counter established by the National Database Registration Authority (NADRA) at Government High School, Bedil Bekus in Rohri on Tuesday afternoon.

As the crowd around the counter swelled, the police deployed urged people to follow rules and stay within queues. However, the people kept pushing and shoving each other, leading to a baton-charge.

As a result, 20 people were injured and taken to Taluka Hospital, Rohri, where they were released after first aid treatment. One of the injured men, identified as Najeeb Zangejo, was in a critical condition.

While Zangejo was being treated at the hospital, someone started a rumour that he had died. All the survivors who had gathered outside the hospital took to the streets immediately.

They blocked the National Highway at Beri Chowk in Rohri and suspended the traffic between Sukkur, Khairpur and Rohri for three hours. The protesters also pelted stones on cars  and attacked nearby shops. SPO Rohri Mushtaq Shah and his team reached the highway to negotiate with the protesters, who agreed to end their demonstration. They also learned later that Zangejo was alive and recovering in the hospital.

One of the flood survivors said that they are being forced to wait in line for the Watan cards even though they have computerised national identity cards. He also accused the police of demanding Rs100 from each survivor for letting them stand in queues.

“People are used to blaming the police for nothing,” SPO Shah told The Express Tribune. Brushing aside the allegations against the police, he said that a large number of people are coming for registration and it becomes difficult for the police to control them.

He added that quite a few people, whose areas were not affected by the floods, are also coming to claim Watan cards. NADRA officers are present at the counters and the cards will be issued only after proper verification, he said.

NADRA issues 65,000 Watan Cards

According to a statement by NADRA, 65,000 Watan Cards have been issued to flood-affected families. The Watan Cards will ensure that each family receives Rs20,000 by the Government of Pakistan as compensation for the losses that they suffered during the floods, said NADRA deputy-chairman Tariq Malik on Tuesday.

Malik added that NADRA is issuing these cards to the heads of the flood-affected families from 22 sites in Sindh and the Punjab.

By now, NADRA has processed a total of 70,000 computerised national identity cards, during its campaign to help flood survivors. This service was provided as a relief to flood affectees who had either lost their ID cards in flood had never applied for one. Given that the registration and distribution of Watan Cards is a complicated process, “it is a testing time of DCO’s management skills as they have to coordinate the law and order situation”, said Malik.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 22^nd, 2010.