DESPITE not being among the most populous districts in Sindh, Tharparkar has earned notoriety of late for being the suicide district of Sindh due to the high suicide rate reported from the region. Although quantitative data on suicides is rarely available in Pakistan, according to a five-year report (2016-20) prepared by the Sindh Mental Health Authority (SMHA), Tharparkar emerged as the district with the highest suicide cases in the province.
The report has counted 79 cases of suicide in Tharparkar in 2020 alone; the highest among all the districts. But as per the report by a reputed journalist, the number of cases is underestimated, even though police records show more cases than does the SMHA report. As opposed to the global patterns, there are more women victims in Tharparkar; 48 out of the 79 cases.
Research conducted in other Asian countries has shown a close link between suicides and social upheaval. Ghizer, the district with highest suicide cases in Pakistan, was isolated for a long period during which it went through social upheaval owing to numerous infrastructure development projects and boom in tourism.
Similar to Ghizer, Thar remained isolated for centuries till it came under the limelight due to the state’s interest in the vast reserves of lignite coal lying under the desert region. Alongside this, the loss of social ties among the families because of migration from rural land towards urban or semi-urban areas has given rise to the lack of trust which has ultimately increased the custom of watta satta, involving simultaneous marriage of two brother-sister pairs from two households.
What that means is that the custom of neglecting the opinion of young people in the choice of their better half is flourishing. This causes an increase in troublesome marriages and marital disharmony. To make matters worse, divorce is considered a sin in the region, which has worsened the matter further.
There is an urgent need to address the issue of suicides in Pakistan, more specifically in Tharparkar, for this is a human rights issue. In order to resolve the issue, prompt actions are needed, including proper laws dealing with upstream factors, such as social factors, and downstream factors, such as training health workers in the identification of mental illnesses, youth engagement in skills development, access to psychological counselling, and carrying out district-wise studies on suicides.
Salik Ansari
Karachi
Published in Dawn, August 27th, 2022