I have the great privilege and good fortune of interacting with a lot of rural Sindhis. Many of them are uneducated, poor and malnourished. Some of them are farmers. Others are labourers or seasonal migrants from Thar. They come and sit with me at an otaq in my village. We mostly discuss the political situation in the country, in particular issues of governance in Sindh. Some of the political insights shared in these conversations are astonishing, as are stories of poor performance of public institutions.
Many of my visitors have had no education, and most have never been to another province in the country. This does not stop them from saying that governance is a lot better in the Punjab and in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. They accuse their elected representatives, particularly ministers, of doing nothing to improve public facilities to cater for healthcare and education needs of the masses in the province.
Migrant workers from Thar often claim that the living conditions are so bad in their region that they cannot be worse anywhere in the world. They say there is never enough food for the people or fodder for their cattle. They lack access to safe drinking water and to health facilities. Most of their children, they say, are malnourished and they worry that many of them might die prematurely. They also say that Thar is rich in natural resources. They say some multinational companies are exploiting these resources but its inhabitants continue to live in extreme poverty. Epidemics, they say, are routine.
I learn that drinking water scarcity in Badin has reached an alarming level, making people and their livestock vulnerable to myriad diseases. I am told that the Irrigation Department prioritises lands belonging to the ruling party’s members. It is alleged that watercourses serving those known to have voted against the government are being closed. Dr Fehmida Mirza, the federal minister for inter-provincial coordination, comes from the area and represents its people in the National Assembly.
Corruption is rampant in the public institutions. Billions of rupees are drawn for development schemes which only exist on paper
Many see chaos and accuse government leaders of ignoring the people who have elected them for the job. Farmers say their rights are not protected. As wheat harvest approaches, many complain that the government has set up no procurement centres and distributed no bags to bring the grain in. They fear that most growers would be forced to sell their produce in local markets and a low price will prevail. Some say the provincial government is delaying procurement in order to benefit the middle man at the cost of the growers.
Corruption is said to be rampant in public institutions. Billions of rupees, it is said, are drawn from the public exchequer for development schemes which exist on paper alone. There are also complaints that government officers are inaccessible to the common man.
Government leaders are openly accused of doing nothing for the people who elect them and of focusing instead on party politics. Some people say the chief minister and all his cabinet colleagues are focusing exclusively on how to protect party leaders accused of corruption and money laundering.
It is no exaggeration to say that there are no credible human rights guarantees in the province.
The writer has a master’s degree in human rights and democratisation from the University of Sydney, Australia