It has been four years since Jamal Shah’s father was killed and he is still waiting for the job promised to him in the police force.
His father, Syed Ali Shah, was killed in a militant attack outside the office of the deputy inspector general of police (DIG) in Saidu Sharif in 2009. Jamal applied for the post of sub-inspector under the compensation package announced by the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) government for sons of fallen policemen, but he is still waiting for a response. However, he is not the only one who is yet to be compensated.
Rashid Ali, another young man whose father was killed in a suicide attack inside the police lines in 2008, is also waiting for a response from the police department. “I’m getting tired of the wait. My father rendered sacrifice for the country and nothing can compensate my loss, but unfortunately the government has not yet fulfilled its promise of giving me a job,” he said.
Waiting in a queue outside the police department, another such candidate Amir Zeb said: “After going from pillar to post, I have still not heard back. We are at the mercy of God.” Zeb’s father, Mohammad Rahman, was killed when a suicide bomber blew himself up during the funeral procession of Deputy Superintendant of Police Javed Iqbal at Haji Baba at Mingora in 2008.
When contacted, Malakand Division DIG Akhtar Hayat Khan said that cases of all such candidates have been forwarded to the concerned authorities and the selection process will be finalised soon. “All other candidates who applied for constable positions have already been employed but it will take some time to complete the procedure,” he said.
From 2006-2010, over 100 police personnel were killed and hundreds others injured in various militant attacks in Swat. For the bereaved families, the provincial government announced various compensation packages, one of which promised jobs to sons of the fallen policemen.
Published in The Express Tribune, November 23rd, 2012.
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