SUKKUR: Police baton-charged a crowd of impatient flood victims who could not bear with long speeches made by local Pakistan Peoples Party leaders and district officials before distribution of relief goods at a tentage village, said to be biggest in the district, set up in Labour Colony here on Tuesday.

The programme was orgnised by the district administration where former Sukkur mayor Barrister Arsalan Islam Sheikh and Deputy Commissioner Shehzad Tahir Thaheem were to distribute relief goods among the people accommodated in the camps and flats of the colony.

As soon as Mr Sheikh along with the DC and several other local PPP leaders and activists arrived at the venue, the audience raised slogans in favour of the party and its leadership. The leaders then started making speeches one after the other recounting and praising efforts by the PPP and its Sindh government to rescue flood victims and provide relief to them.

The audience looked uneasy when the speeches took longer than bearable time. Some of them lost patience and walked towards the place where relief goods were kept. Groups of more people followed suit disturbing the gathering and embarrassing the speakers and organisers.

Before the organisers could make them to keep sitting, the impatient people rushed towards the stock shoving and jostling each other to reach the place and fetch whatever the relief goods they could first.

A complete chaos was witnessed until the district officials asked police personnel to bring the situation under control.

Several men, women and children were slightly injured in the chaos and the baton-charge applied by the police to restore order.

Many people were seen running away with items, like kitchen sets and mosquito nets, in their hands.

The programme resumed after police managed to drive away unruly people.

Local reporters present there quoted some of the audience as claiming that they were asked by the organisers to keep raising slogans in favour of PPP and Sindh government. Some other audience alleged that “a couple of policemen were among looters of the relief goods”.

Towards the end of the programme, Barrister Sheikh distributed ration bags, pedestal fans, crockery, cutlery, mosquito nets and items of daily use among the internally displaced families.

Published in Dawn, September 28th, 2022