‘Dolis’ In Doldrums

Asem Mustafa Awan

They have for years served thousands of people who built houses high on the mountains as they had meagre means to pay the corrupt land revenue officers who are responsible for over 80 percent of court cases in Pakistan.

Ask any lawyer: the figure is two million pending cases and who is responsible? The corrupt officials who turn civil suits into criminal ones, and then a web of deceit is created where justice gets trapped and finally diminishes.

These people are the ones who choose to stay on top of the hills hassle-free from corrupt practices that prevail down the valley and ahead.

‘Doli’ (the chairlift) is the only thing that connects them with the world. The recent incident in Battagram of students getting trapped in a carriage that swung in midair for hours as the wires broke has resulted in the government putting a ban on these ‘Dolis’ across the province without a thought that it will affect thousands.

The roads don’t lead to these places, which house many thousands, and the nation suffers from inflation that has reached a colossal proportion. This connectivity is also snatched away.

People are of the opinion that a ban is imposed as it was designed and built on a self-help basis and it benefited the commoner but seeing its utility and scope, there is a chance the government wants to regulate it, put a higher price on this utility and put it under its control.

“You go anywhere in Pakistan, from traveling to breathing, and you pay tax,” said a person when asked, naming him Ghulam.

“Go on the road; you pay tax on every picket that is erected to take toll. When you go to the park, you must pay an entrance fee. The road remains broken and the park is filled with filth. Where does all that money go?” said Ghulam.

‘Dolis’ is now closed and that is not the only one; there are hundreds of them that serve these poor people on the mountain, taking them to and fro with food and medicines. These ‘dolis’ also carry the dead which is overlooked by the government as the people who use them also know how to repair them.

The risk factors are all known, and people die on the road or from cliffs. Let them be the way they are and allow them the freedom to have the liberty of dying by choice, not by force.

The news appears time and again where families commit suicide because the state wasn’t there for them when they needed it most, and the reasons for taking one’s life are so negligible that it makes a heartache.

Electricity bills, gas bills, house rents and food (daily meals) are a few of the reasons forcing people to end their lives. The top reason for joblessness is when youth kill themselves by hanging, drowning, or jumping in front of the train.

Who is responsible for all these deaths is a question that has many answers but the ‘people-unfriendly’ approach from the government can be stated as the main reason for all these murders which could have been averted if the rampant corruption in offices was addressed in time.

The people have appealed to let these ‘Dolis’ stay functional as they are well aware of the risks and will not seek any help if this happens next time, as if it is not taken, the government officials will make it their money-making projects and will have these ‘Dolis’ operated under their own protection.