In this election, the voters put the political parties to a great test by giving them a divided mandate. Currently, no political party has enough majority to form the government alone in the federation, so manipulation and power-sharing continue. Domestic politics seem to be subservient to the whims of power rather than democratic principles. No one cares about the country and its people, nor are they included in anyone’s priorities. The country is sinking into the mire of economic misery day by day and the people are losing their lives due to epidemics of terrible diseases like pneumonia caused by deadly weather conditions and rising inflation. Where should the poor go? Even, if he survives hunger, he dies of disease.
It is very sad that the people are suffering from inflation, unemployment, poverty, deadly diseases and politicians have no leisure from playing the game of throne, the axis and center of their politics is their own self, they do not care about the welfare of the populace, nor is the common man involved in their priorities. Therefore, whoever came to power, he resorted to looting, filled the houses and sent capital out, while the burden of heavy foreign debts has always been and will continue to be placed on the common man. The government lifts the price of petrol, electricity and gas whenever it wants. Don’t they realize that an increase in energy products not only raises the price of petrol or gas but also increases the cost of all other necessities? Whether the poor live or die, the looters have no sense and the power sharers see no poor; while here is a poor person starving and dying of pneumonia.
The total number of deaths from pneumonia in Punjab this year is 393, with more than 29,000 children affected by the disease. Meanwhile, the performance of the government and the health department has been limited to mere word of mouth, while the non-availability of pneumonia drugs from the market is compounding the hardships of patients and their families. Contrary to the claims of caretaker government and a significant reduction in cold severity, the increase in pneumonia cases indicates poor government management, as this disease cannot be controlled by mere preventive measures, it is also very essential to have better treatment facilities.
This caretaker government has started the construction and repair work in most of the hospitals of the province without understanding the ground realities and without making alternative arrangements, due to this, most of the departments of all the government hospitals in Lahore have been closed and the patients are suffering. The relevant authorities should not only complete the construction and renovation of the hospital as soon as possible, but also ensure the supply of medicines for other diseases including pneumonia at cheap rates, so that the people can get better treatment facilities yet on the contrary, the caretaker government is busy promoting its efficacy.
The problems of the common man are worsening across the country, and politicians’ power struggles are far from over. Where should the poor people go? There is no room for admission in hospitals, nor are medications available. On the other hand, the drug mafia has deliberately driven-up the cost of life-saving medicines. Citizens are missing out on medical treatment due to the incompetence of relevant departments, including the Drug Regulatory Authority and no one is going to ask or stop the pharmaceutical companies and the drug mafia. However, the assets of the drug companies have reached billions and the retail medical stores are also earning big money, while the poor are being destroyed.
The country is currently experiencing its most critical period in history, with the economy in shambles and the poor are dying as a result of a lack of health-care facilities, whereas mothers and children are protesting for the recovery of their loved ones, inflation is raging, environmental degradation and load shedding of electricity and gas have paralyzed life. In such dire circumstances, instead of solving the problems seriously, the society is suffering from division. There is currently a severe shortage of people who speak out on public issues. In this case, the behavior of politicians and those in positions of power demonstrates that they are uninterested in public issues but rather greedy for power. The people have clearly realized that democracy is the best revenge and the slogans of the elites like respect the vote are very hollow. Nothing is going to change with this leadership and their tried and tested slogans, nor will there be any change in the lives of the people, the poor were dying yesterday under the weight of the experimental policies of the previous leaders and will suffer the same consequences in the future.
Attiya Munawer
The writer is an activist and environmentalist. She covers human rights and politico-environmental issues. She tweets @AttiyaMunawer and can be reached at attiabutt121@gmail.com