Nationalists protest against improper arrangements for flood victims

KARACHI: Hundreds of people associated with different nationalist parties on a joint call of the leaders of Sindh Action Committee (SAC) on Sunday protested against the federal and Sindh governments for making improper arrangements for the flood victims.

The protesters took out rallies at different areas of the metropolitan city, which later converged outside the Karachi Press Club (KPC) and turned into a big demonstration against the indifferent attitude of the government functionaries towards the flood victims.

Prominent nationalists, including Syed Jalal Mehmood Shah, Ayaz Latif Palijo, Dr Qadir Magsi, Syed Zain Shah, and other leaders of the committee led the protest demonstration. Addressing the protesters outside the KPC, they lashed out at the high-ups of both the Sindh and federal governments for doing nothing to mitigate the sufferings of millions badly affected and displaced by the floods.

The nationalists said the people in most districts had to suffer due to the corrupt rulers who did not take preemptive measures to avoid the flooding situation, adding that they were making money from the international donor agencies by showing the miseries of the poor flood victims.

They said that water experts as well as the irrigation department officials had already exposed the farcical faces of the PPP rulers, saying that the rulers despite the repeated warnings did no pay heed towards the floodwaters and hill torrents that came from Balochistan.

Syed Jalal Mehmood Shah, head of the alliance, said the rulers of Sindh were only interested in making money and had no concern for those who had nothing to eat as their lands and houses were still under floodwaters.

He said the rulers despite massive destruction in Sindh had no plan to drain out water from the settlements of villagers and their farmlands, adding that tens of thousands of the people were still forced to live under open sky along the roadsides.

He also slammed the rulers for their criminal attitude towards the families of 19 victims, who lost their lives in a bus fire incident and belonged to Khairpur Nathan Shan, adding that many families who were rendered homeless faced similar predicament when their loved ones were crushed by speedy vehicles.

Ayaz Latif Palijo said the flood-related incidents and outbreak of the deadly diseases had taken the heavy toll on the people of ravaged parts of Sindh but the rulers were seen nowhere to even provide them with foods, tents and medicines.

“The people who took shelter in the government buildings are being forcibly evicted by the police, while those living along roadsides have been left at the mercy of harsh weather, mosquitoes and snakes,” he said and added that it was the responsibility of the government to not only provide them required relief items but also rehabilitate them in the devastated towns and villages.

Palijo said that it was a matter of grave concern that more than 60 percent villages and even towns were still under floodwaters but the rulers were least interested to drain out the water and save them from fatal diseases.

Dr Qadir Magsi urged the people to vote against the PPP in the upcoming elections and said the rulers had already turned Sindh into ruins and the recent floods had further pushed the people decades back. He added the rulers had neither will nor any plan for the rehabilitation of those millions displaced by the destructive floods.