LAHORE: Someone once said that Punjab is mother, and a mother feeds without discrimination. Having similar thought in mind, a group of flood victims made their way to Lahore in search for life.
It is needless to explain what all they lost in flood but it is important to explain what they did not; it was courage. Six families got aboard a flood effectee train and found themselves in Lahore without shelter, without money – but with hope.
The families left their home village Shikarpur in Sindh along with the rest of the village and boarded whatever means of transport they could find. Now they live in a temporary abode next to the railway lines in Shahdara town near Sangeet cinema.
The victims were boarded by their relatives and currently do not know where their relative may be. The six families combine to 34 heads: 8 men, 10 women and 16 children. The youngest of the children is two and a half years old. “We boarded the evacuee train to Lahore,” says Chaphan, one of the evacuees.
“I was a tenant in Sindh. Now I polish shoes whenever someone let’s me,” he said. “We came and settled outside the main city. We settled on the other side of Ravi. We were told no one would disturb us here. Little did we know no one would care for us either,” says Allah Waraiya.
“Our women beg, our men polish shoes. It is only by combining our incomes that we are able to make ends meet,” he continues. “We came hoping to take temporary shelter before we returned to our home,” says Taru, 34, “now we don’t know how we shall return.”
“Our children live here when we are away. One or two of us stay with them during the time,” Taru continues. Their hope was that the city that would become their temporary abode will somehow shelter them and say that they will leave this place when the water leaves theirs.
They said that “We have only one appeal to the government that they arrange for our rehabilitation. We left with a number of our worthy belongings including our cattle and importantly our land, but it’s all gone now. Who are we suppose to look up to? It is only the government that can save us, so please do.”
