Daily Times

The mysterious death of safety engineer Haresh Kumar Meghwar sparked protest, anger and uproar in Tharparkar district . The relatives and people from different walks of life from Tharparkar on Wednesday requested the high-ups of the Sindh government to order a thorough probe into the tragic incident.

Mr Kumar, who after completing his masters from China was employed with mining firms engaged in the coal extraction in Block 1 of Thar Coalfields near slamkot town, died under the mysterious conditions while performing his duties some two days back. The relatives of Mr Kumar during their protest demonstrations in Diplo and Mithi towns, accused the executives and officials of the mining firms for his mysterious death, who according to them, turned the bllind eye towards his condition after he faced some cardiac problems.

They said that the deceased engineer contacted his close relatives and informed that despite his deteriorating condition, the officials and incharge of unit did bother him to take him to any hospital for the required medical check-up and the proper treatment. They lamented that due to the callous attitude of the officials, the young engineer died soon after his last contact with his close family members but he was not provided with medical assistance and they held the officials responsible for his ‘untimely death’.

They maintained had he been given timely treatment for his sudden ailment he could have survived. They demanded the high-ups of Sindh government form the committee to probe the incident adding they warned to widen the scope of their protest if justice was done with the family members of Mr Kumar.

The rights activists as well as youths of Tharparkar took to the social media and condemned the calous and arrogant attitude of the officials towards the workers and they alleged that officials soon after the carrying out the coal extraction through the open pit mining not only slammed the doors of the employment on the local people and those got jobs on merit were also being being treated so badly. They also said that officials unlike other mining firms like Sindh Engro Coal Mining Company (SECMC) had failed to come up with any clear policies of doling out jobs and the resettlement for those, who were being displaced, mainly due to the massive coal mining.

They alleged that despite the frequent protest demonstrations by the local people living within the limits of Block 1 the executives and officials had never bothered to negotiate with protesting villagers. They said that if the probes were not made into such incidents Tharis would continue to take bodies of their youths from the coalfields due to inhuman attitudes of the executives towards their employees and workers. They alleged that mining companies were only interested in the coal reserves but were trampling upon their commitments and promises made with the real owners of the ‘black gold’ adding they asked them to mend their ways and stop treating Tharis as step-children. They deplored that the people of the desert district were left to die at the time when rulers were busy in raising slogans like Thar will change Pakistan adding they requested the rulers to stop rub salt on the their ‘festering wounds’ inflicted through their policies and plans. They made fervent appeal to the hih-ups of Sindh government to form the committee comprising the lawmakers, experts and people from Thar to meet both people and officials for the better execution of such mega schemes of coal extraction and the subsequent power generation in the best interests of the desert district. Despite the repeated attempts no officials from the mining companies could be contacted for the official version on the mysterious death of Mr Kumar and the subsequent protests by his relatives and the people of Tharparkar.