Height of indifference

While Pakistan's social and political elites were reveling and making merry at the Sindh Cultural Festival in Larkana and Thatta districts, a devastating drought was taking a heavy toll on the people of Thar barely 200 km from the sites of the festivities. Children were dying, families were moving to other places and a famine-like situation gripped the area.
The organizers of the festival, apparently people's leaders, including Pakistan People's Party Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari and Co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari, were oblivious of the grim situation in Thar district in the same province.
A whopping Rs250 million was spent on the 15-day bash that kicked off in Larkana on Feb. 1. The Sindh government led by the Pakistan People's Party was apparently too busy in organizing the event and did not bother to find out what was happening in the neighboring region where animals and humans were perishing due to famine.
This is a typical example of the indifference of Pakistani political leaders toward the people who they claim to represent and who propel them to power.
As the Thar tragedy unfolded, the plight of the impoverished Thar people came to light. It is a pity that the people of Thar do not have the basic amenities of life.
No potable water, no hospitals and not even antivenoms that are needed to treat people bitten by snakes found in Thar desert in large numbers. It is as if they are living 50 years behind the current time. Even after the Pakistani media broke the news about drought in Thar, it took the government quite long to realize it has some responsibility toward the people.
Then began an exchange of allegations between political leaders. The federal government led by Nawaz Sharif's Pakistan Muslim League accused the Sindh government of doing nothing to help the people of Thar — a charge reciprocated by the PPP in the same vein.
For days, the hapless people of Thar waited for relief. Non-governmental welfare organizations were the first to come to the aid of these people. The predicament of these people continues and that begs the question how many such tragedies will spur our leaders into action.