The Chief Minister (CM) of Sindh has made some prompt decisions with regard to the Thar tragedy. First, he admitted neglect on the part of the local administration. Second, he transferred and suspended many bureaucrats, including the Deputy Commissioner Tharparkar and Sindh relief minister, both the sons of powerful Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) MNA Makhdoom Amin Fahim. Third, he promptly launched relief activities. These acts have put his position as CM at risk. If media reports are to be believed, a group within the PPP is not happy with the CM’s decisions and is trying to have him removed. The bold decisions that he made recently should actually have been made three months ago to save Tharis from significant loss of life. However, it is an unfortunate trend in the history of Sindh that if someone wants to do good, and dares to go against people who display carelessness in their duties, then his or her wings are clipped. Politically appointed officials are responsible for the suffering, anguish, pain and deaths of people, be they in Tharparkar district or elsewhere in Sindh.
It seems quite clear that Sindh government ministers are indifferent to their respective departments. The anomalies within their ranks go unaddressed and multiply in number. The indifference and callousness of the Sindh Relief Minister to the mourning and cries of Thari mothers for help is a glaring example. There is similar insensitivity and inaction by other ministries of the Sindh government too. Like the Tharis’ cries in the wilderness, the rightful demands of Sindh college teachers are being ignored. The Sindh Education Secretary, the brother-in-law of former president Asif Ali Zardari, and the Sindh Education Minister have been paying no heed to peaceful protests by the leaders and members of the Sindh Professors and Lecturers Association (SPLA). In their last peaceful demonstration in Karachi, instead of listening to their grievances and taking immediate measures for their resolution, the government used water cannons and baton charges to disperse the peaceful protestors. The All Pakistan Lecturers Association (APLA) observed solidarity with the SPLA on March 12th. A massive demonstration has been announced by the SPLA in front of the Sindh Chief Minister’s residence in order to bring attention to their protests. What is most shocking and alarming is that education high-ups have been labelling the protests as a game of politics. Meanwhile, the education minister apparently has time to talk to the media to say that news of a forward block forming within the PPP is baseless. The priority of the Sindh education minister should be education, not other party matters. If he does not, then who will solve the problems of teachers in Sindh?
An immense amount of funds and donations are being doled out to the poverty-stricken residents of Thar. The fair, transparent and swift distribution of relief goods and money to famine-affected people should be ensured. After the 2010-11 floods, we witnessed huge inconsistencies and unfair allocation of relief goods and funds. The complete rehabilitation of flood victims has not been managed yet. A great number of people are still homeless in Sindh as a result of the floods and many of them now survive by begging in Hyderabad and Karachi. While stringent monitoring measures have been adopted in Thar, there is still fear about the abuse of relief goods and funds.
It is necessary to understand that the children who died in Thar did not die just because of the recent drought. Poverty is the main cause behind the deaths. The media hype over the tragedy is incomprehensible. Ill-informed journalists have been exaggerating facts in their columns in a hyperbolic style while completely missing the point by misrepresenting deaths caused by poverty as deaths brought on by drought and famine. This is not the time for political point scoring using a human tragedy. All the political parties need to get on the same page in order to help the people of the area and address the problem of extreme poverty immediately. Relief measures and cash for the victims are temporary measures. Thar has extremely dry weather. This adds to food shortages and water scarcity, the biggest challenges to the Thari people. Unaddressed, poverty will not allow the area’s people to cope with diseases, weather changes, and the scarcity of food and water. Development measures like the Thar coal project are badly needed to provide employment to the area’s people. Government and private sector investment in the area can contribute tremendously in tackling the issue of poverty on a long term basis.
The suffering of the people in Thar or elsewhere in Pakistan is due to misplaced government priorities. The government needs to correct its priorities to tackle the crisis. Thar cannot afford wrong headed and temporary decisions now. The Sindh government must change course and restrain its ministers to their respective portfolios, in order to produce positive and timely results.
The writer is a freelance columnist and teaches English literature