Cholistan

Articles

Cholistan: Beyond the drought
(Riaz Missen)

Cholistanis, at last, have been rescued by the heaven. Successive rains in the last two weeks have filled their tobhas and kunds that will quench their thirst as well as of their live-stock. Although they have lost more than 200 fellows and four million cattle-heads they, always thankful to the Almighty Allah, are going to start their life anew. They are heading towards their jhuggis surrounded by sand dunes in deep desert and will soon repair their dwellings, arrange the marriages of their young ones, and their live-stock will be doubled within the span of one year. But one would wonder if the DC Bahawalpur Division, Mr. Masood Shah, changes his mind about the desert and its life: " it was a phenomenal disaster and, thank God, it is over", he would say.

In the mid 1980's the government started digging a canal to provide fresh water to Cholistan in cooperation with Asian Development Bank, but the project was stopped for reasons best known to the concerned authorities. Later, Cholistanis started digging up a canal on their own initiative to utilise the water from Head Sulemanki that every year goes wasted during the flood season, but they were stopped from doing so by the Rangers on the ground that this was a strategic area, where commoners were not allowed to tread.

Afterwards, UNICEF offered a grant of six million rupees for the construction of a canal from the same Head Sulemanki but nobody knows what happened to the project. Soon after the drought-spell started affecting Cholistan, a Japanese team visited the area to study the desert life. Where they were impressed by the uniqueness of life in Cholistan, they were moved by the hardships of the people due to inadequate arrangements for the supply of water to 118,000 human beings and 1.6 million of their live-stock. They offered to donate mobile turbines, that were to be shipped to Karachi. These could pump out water from the depth of 2700 feet. But, surprisingly, it was India that benefited from it: the government could not arrange Rs. 0.8 million required for transporting these turbines from Karachi to Cholistan and their plantation in the area.

For the last five years, the drought has been persisting in Cholistan creating a famine-like situation throughout the area. The divisional administration of Bahawalpur during this period remained under the false impression that it was a periodical phenomenon the people were accustomed to cope with. The persistent hope of Cholistanis that the situation would improve soon also prevented them from migrating towards the green belts of the Bahawalpur and Sukkar divisions.

The change of government at the federal level with a special objective to end administrative corruption and streamline the national economy created panic among the officials of the Bahawalpur division. Facing threat of suspension and other severe penalties, they concentrated more to save their own skin rather than that of the poor Cholistanis, well-known for their patience like people of the desert around the world are accustomed to. Where the administration became strict in revealing facts about the drought-spell and its hazards in terms the loss of human life and that of the live-stock in the area, it termed the protest of nationalist parties as a part of their anti-state propaganda - thus forcing the media men to neglect it and concentrate more on the developments in the drought-hit areas in Sindh and Balochistan. Moreover, traders' protest in the major cities of Pakistan against the government drive to document the economy also diverted the attention of the press from the drought spell in Cholistan.

The appointment of a retired Major as managing director of Cholistan Development Authority, bearing the sole responsibility to take care of the area put the whole administration on its toes. He, right on the very first day of his appointment, is reported of showing an overwhelming interest in the land allotment related cases of corruption. And soon he was surrounded by the well-informed people of the area ranging from the educated people of Cholistan to the nationalists of the area who have made the allotment of the Cholistani land to the people other than Cholistanis a major political issue. It was, however, not surprising that he soon became aware of the imposing linkage between corruption and the ongoing drought in Cholistan. More he knew about the problem of the area, more he became convinced about inefficiency of the administration. When the federal government announced a relief package for the drought-affected areas of Sindh and Balochistan, he reacted promptly: "I can show several graves of Cholistanis who died of thirst".

He issued certain statements about the drought situation in Cholistan that contradicted the official stance of the divisional administration. His revelations were alarming: while addressing a seminar in the first week of May, he told the stunned audience that Punjab government had allocated only one million rupees so far to tackle the menace of drought in Cholistan and that, 70 per cent of the fund had been already consumed by the divisional administration. He mentioned 20 places in the area where turbines could be fitted to provide sweet water to the people. His appeals not only fell on deaf ears, but also deprived Cholistanis of the only voice that was raised in their favour so far: within a few days he was arrested on charges of corruption! Cholistanis are great people as they own the kafis of Khawaja Farid that contain a hope for better days. They have been surviving the hardships of the hostile weather conditions of the desert for centuries and are always prepared to do so any time in the future. But what justice demand is that this "phenomenal disaster" should not cost them such a heavy toll of life and property.

Magazine "Sunday Review" of daily The Nation 23/7/00