(Publish from Houston Texas USA)
(By: Nazia Naz Defender & International Researcher & Human Rights)
The rising trend of suicide in Tharparkar and Nagarparkar has become one of the most tragic and disturbing realities of recent years. A region once known for its deep-rooted cultural warmth, peaceful desert landscapes, and resilient people is now struggling with silent suffering that often ends in irreversible loss. Behind every suicide lies an unspoken story, a story of helplessness, economic pressure, social isolation, mental distress, and lack of timely support. Today, this crisis demands urgent attention from the state, society, and human rights institutions.
In villages where tradition shapes daily life, mental health is hardly recognized as a health issue. People rarely speak about depression, stress, or trauma, and seeking psychological help is still seen as shameful or unnecessary. Many young individuals, including girls and boys, end their lives under emotional burden created by poverty, limited job opportunities, forced responsibilities, domestic conflicts, and sometimes failed relationships or social pressures. Even parents who are facing the inability to feed their families choose extreme steps — an alarming sign of structural failures.
One heartbreaking incident from Nagarparkar reflects this crisis deeply: three friends committed suicide together, leaving their families and entire community shattered. Another case involved a father who, unable to provide meals, reportedly gave his children chicken and later took his life. Such events are not isolated; they represent a pattern of desperation that is silently spreading.
Despite these increasing numbers, proper mental health services, counselling units, crisis helplines, and rehabilitation mechanisms are almost missing in most areas. Girls and boys have no safe spaces to speak about their struggles. Schools do not incorporate emotional well-being sessions, and local hospitals lack psychologists and trained professionals. The absence of a state response further deepens the hopelessness. The government must launch immediate interventions: establish mental health counselling centres, deploy trained psychologists at district and taluka hospitals, integrate awareness campaigns into schools and communities, strengthen social protection schemes, and develop helplines for emergency support. Civil society, NGOs, media, and religious/community leaders should also work collaboratively to break stigma and open dialogue.
Preventing suicide is not only a health responsibility, but it is a human rights duty. Every life lost reflects a failure in protection, awareness, and empathy. Tharparkar and Nagarparkar need healing, hope, and professional support. We must respond now, before silent pain claims more precious lives.
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