Suicide surge in Thar

The Thar Desert located in Sindh province is the same desert that is known as Rajasthan across the border. The border that we established after the establishment of Pakistan in 1947, there is uniformity in the Bodobash style on both sides.

Over the past few years, there has been an alarming increase in the trend of suicides in Thar, while this news found space in newspapers and sometimes on TV channels since 2019.

The Sindh Mental Health Authority, funded by the Thar Foundation, revealed in a recent study that 24 percent of those who committed suicide had pre-existing mental illnesses and 9 percent were heavily indebted.

About 60 percent of those who committed suicide were between the ages of 10 and 20 years, while about 36 percent were youths between 21 and 30 years of age.

45% of women and 15% of men who committed suicide had no formal education. As many as 76 percent of those who commit suicide have never been able to see a mental health professional for counseling.

The main reason for such an alarming rise in the suicide trend in the Thar desert could be base poverty and economic depression. Mental health and domestic problems are also cited as major causes of suicide.

Unemployment can also be said to be a major cause of suicide. In an area like the Thar desert, industries and other sources of employment are naturally non-existent and in this regard, the government has not taken any significant steps.

It is also reported that many people of Thar were forced to leave their ancestral land and migrate to cities because their land was acquired by the government for various development projects.

Lack of employment, economic problems, and displacement from their homes led to further poverty and economic distress, and it is possible that many Thar residents considered suicide a priority for this reason.

In Islam, suicide has been declared as the most reprehensible act of disillusionment with Allah, the punishment of which is very severe. A common Muslim believes that a person who commits suicide will be sentenced to death again and again in the same manner as he committed suicide in the Hereafter.

It is necessary to raise awareness and awareness about Islamic Sharia among the residents of Thar, provide them with education and employment, and take all the necessary steps to end the economic crisis by helping to reduce the tendency of suicide. can be found