by IRFAN AHMED
Children are bearing the brunt of the drought in Tharparkar, often the first to fall victim to diarrhoea and pneumonia brought on by malnutrition. Photo/Irfan Ahmed/IPS
The main entrance to the Civil Hospital in Mithi, headquarters of the Tharparkar district in Pakistan’s southern Sindh Province, is blocked by a couple of men clad in traditional dress and turbans. They are trying to console a woman who is sobbing so heavily she has to gasp for breath.
She lost her two-year-old son just moments ago and these men, both relations of hers, were the ones to carry the child into the hospital where doctors tried – and failed – to save him.
Just a couple of yards away, a team of paramedics waits for the shell-shocked family to move on. They understand that the mother is in pain, but scenes like this have become a matter of routine for them: for the last two months they have witnessed dozens of people, mostly infants, die from starvation, unable to withstand the fierce drought that continues to grip this region.
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Some claim that the government’s neglectful attitude towards the region, which has resulted in rampant under-development, is due to the large Hindu population in the area. A resident of Tharparkar who did not want to be named alleged that the government was less concerned about the people since 35.6 percent of the population was Hindu, while 64.4 percent were Muslim.
The government, for its part, has refuted such allegations. Senator Taj Haider, coordinator of the Tharparkar Relief Committee (TRC) formed by the Sindh government, denied that hunger and malnutrition were behind the number of deaths, claiming instead that pre-mature births and poor maternal health were the biggest culprits.
Inter Press Service for more
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