Surviving The Rain

Asem Mustafa Awan
Islamabad: Water is everywhere, and the rain in Lahore a few days ago washed away all the tall claims of the government’s past and present down the drain, leaving many dead.
The water entered the low-lying residential areas, and losses of lives and property were reported. More losses are likely to occur as there is no respite in sight and more rain is around the corner.
The officials, in their beat-up statements appearing in the media, harp to the tune of all good, but nothing good happens, the people continue to die, and there is nobody who could serve as their rescuer.
The machinery and staff hired for cleaning the drains are worth millions, but humans who die of their negligence in drains and get swept away in flash floods are unaccounted for as they serve as collateral damage.
The rainy spell is expected, and though the provincial government is trying to make amends, what is expected as always will be additional damage to properties and the like.
The picture by Malik Sajjad portrays it all. What happens to these unaccounted-for humans in the ‘land of the pure’ shows the commitment of the higher-ups.
The woman is baking bread in a clay oven at the River Ravi in Lahore and has survived the rain with her belongings and loved ones. The worn-out clothes and her shabby appearance depict how hard the past few days were, as the water stretching at the back is but a few feet away from the clay that serves as the only lifeline for her family.
How many of these homeless people are referred to as common gypsies, though people who hold ill will term them as scavengers and creatures.
They don’t have any identification on them and are often booked for theft or petty crimes. They beg in the streets and rummage through garbage dumps because, to date, the policymakers in Pakistan have kept them out of their priorities. Enlisting these people can change the dynamics of their thinking, and these people, who are treated as sub-humans and have lived in fear for decades, will be a part of the mainstream, which benefits only a few.
Provincial metropolis Lahore has many slum areas where the poor have made their mud or brick houses, but sadly, these people don’t even qualify for slums.
The reports of unidentified corpses with no identity tags either found in water or in the fields are of these people who die of hunger and disease. The authorities always report the dead without remorse as if nothing happened, and yes, the count is always on the rise. What is there for them to live for?

The writer is a journalist based in Islamabad and writes on a wide range of issues.

Photo Credit: Sajjad Malik