Khyber Agency Political Agent Shahab Ali Shah said the compensation being paid by the government to victims and their families is a large amount. PHOTO: FILE
According to government officials, the families of those killed will be paid Rs0.3 million while the injured, numbering 19, will be given Rs0.1 million each. The list also includes individuals shot by government officials for violating curfew.
Khyber Agency Political Agent Shahab Ali Shah said the compensation being paid by the government to victims and their families is a large amount. However, he said authorities are facing a problem in locating families of victims as most deceased persons’ families have relocated and it is difficult to trace them.
“The names of those killed or injured are available but contact details of their families and tribes are not,” said Shah, explaining that political administration officials are striving hard to ensure compensation reaches the deserving families. He said those not included in the list will also be paid but only after proper verification.
Moreover, the political agent said that those killed accidently by khasadar, levies or security forces during curfew violations or other incidents will also be paid. He informed that half of the individuals included in the list were killed in such incidents.
Ilyas Shinwari, a resident of Zargaran, Landikotal, said his father is one of the deceased and hopes he will receive the compensation amount. Ilyas’ father, Samiullah Shinwari, was killed by levies personnel at Charqazgai check post in a case of accidental shooting last year.
Ilyas said despite several appeals to the political administration by his family, they have not yet been paid. “I have now been told that my name will be included in the list of those who are to be paid,” he said, adding he still does not know whether it will happen soon or take decades. Ilyas explained that families of some of the people gunned down by law enforcement officials were paid Rs0.3 million by the political administration apart from Rs70,000 for burial, and Rs0.3 million separately by the FATA Secretariat.
He added another tribesman, Navidullah Shinwari, was shot dead by khasadar officials at Prang Sam check post in early 2013. He said Navidullah’s family was paid the entire amount by the government.
“I appeal to the government that I be compensated for my loss as my father was the sole bread earner for our family,” he said.
Mairajuddin Shinwari, an elder of the Khuga Khel tribe, said more than 100 people killed in militancy-related incidents have not been included in the list, explaining that most people do not know that compensation is being given to victims’ families.
He said political administration officials should devise a system through which people can be properly informed about the procedure. “Many victims hail(ed) from remote areas and have no access to communication systems, but that should not mean they are not compensated by the government,” he said.
Published in The Express Tribune, June 17th, 2014.
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