DERA GHAZI KHAN, Aug 9: As their appeals for help fail to evoke any response from the ranks of government or the NGOs, the parents of conjoined twin-sisters Rania and Tania may well conclude that they live in a society of stone-hearts where humanity seems to have been relegated to the status of matter due to its claimants’ preoccupation with material pursuits.

The twins opened their eyes on July 7 in abject poverty. Their parents had two normal children, Kiran (7) and Khuram (4). The father sells dates for a living.

The mother, Salma Bibi, told this reporter that Rs500 was spent on the twins in a day, which was simply unaffordable for the family.

She said that the twins had been referred from a local health facility to the Nishtar Hospital in Multan, where they were provided free medical treatment and referred to the Children Hospital in Lahore. “We could not afford to go to Lahore. We returned home, and have since been waiting for sponsorship for an operation abroad.”

The doctor concerned, Munaza Batool, said the operation for separation of the twin-sisters was not possible in Pakistan.

EDO Dr Shahid claimed that the twins were to be sent to Lahore where the health department would extend help. However, he failed to answer a question as to how or in what shape the help was supposed to materialize.

The government is not even ready to sponsor the family’s trip to Lahore. More than a month has passed and the infants are still in Dera Ghazi Khan. Neither the government has taken responsibility for the twins nor any philanthropist come forward to bear the expenses likely to be incurred on an operation abroad.

The parents have appealed to the president and the prime minister for immediate help to save the children.