Disasters that recur

The Sindh Assembly was told some days back that over 100 children have died in Thar this year. The figure given by doctors at the Mithi Taluka hospital is 121. In contrast, the Sindh government says that “only” half that number died.

In fact, this was also the argument taken by a senior Sindh government functionary in a program on Express TV. He said “children die in large numbers all over. Why are we blaming just the Sindh government?”

At this stage, we are not even sure why the children died. What we are told by the Sindh government is that the deaths occurred due to widespread drought. The NDMA chairman has, however, categorically stated there is no connection between the two.

Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif made a valid point when he visited Mithi to see for himself the situation. He asked that if there was drought in both Tharparkar and Cholistan, then why was the death toll only limited to Tharparkar?

It was a good gesture on the part of the PPP chairperson, Bilawal Bhutto, to receive the PM and take him around the hospital to meet those whose near and dear ones were admitted.

This needs to be followed up by Bilawal Bhutto with an inquiry so that he can get an answer to the PM’s question. The answer lies within his party’s provincial government.

Sadly, neither the treasury nor the opposition benches have much interest in what goes on in Tharparkar. The discussion in the Sindh Assembly was a passing mention. No one wanted to take the government to task for this. No surprise, the government itself is unwilling to take any blame for it.

In one of his visits to the impoverished region, the Sindh CM blamed the media for “blowing out of proportions (sic) the issue of the Thar drought and large-scale migration triggered by it.”

It is a well known fact a large number of Tharis migrate to other areas to work as farm hands during the wheat harvest season, he added.

He also said that an enquiry was under way which would follow stern action against the elements responsible for creating the humanitarian crisis. So far, apart from a verbal order to sack the relief commissioner, and noises to remove the commissioner and DC, no one has been suspended, let alone removed from service.

Journalists who visited Thar in this period said that most people that they met did not blame the drought for the deaths.

One of the brightest men to represent the region – Lal Malhi, an MNA from the PTI, points out that the Sindhi media has reported on the situation as it occurs every year. “Some are saying that this is not a big deal as it happens every year, but the question getting lost in this discussion is — why does it happen every year?”

If the annual migration of Thari families is not new, says Malhi, then why is that so? Before 1947, they did not need to migrate in such large numbers. There was an efficient system set up to provide for these families, which does not exist now.

The migration of Tharis from their impoverished areas, where they are denied the most basic facilities, results in greater tragedy.  To survive, they have to work as Haris for the landlords of lower Sindh. This in turn leads to them being sold into bondage after they cannot service the loans they are given. For the landlords, who dominate both the Sindh assembly and the cabinet, a drought in Thar brings them good tidings. Bonded labour continues to be the main source of help on their massive fields.

For the poor Tharis to fall into this trap, the only issue is that they should not be given any relief in the interim. It is not therefore a surprise that they have not seen a trickle of the Rs1 billion aid promised by the PM.

The Sindh government has meanwhile banned the sale of Thar livestock in other parts of the province. This only makes matters worse for the Tharis. This correspondent phoned the advertised numbers of the grandly named “Tharparkar Relief and Rehabilitation Cell” set up by the CM to inquire into the relief effort. Not once did anyone pick up the phone. Not much of a surprise there.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 24^th, 2014.

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