DI KHAN: The government should take measures to alleviate the suffering of the Mehsud tribe, demanded a jirga which met in the political compound of South Waziristan in Tank district on Sunday.
The Dahra Mehsud Jirga demanded the repatriation of Mehsud IDPs, education for their children and an enquiry into the alleged embezzlement of funds for displaced people by the political administration.
Participants of the jirga reached a consensus and demanded that the government repatriate the tribesmen with dignity and ensure they are compensated. They said the Mehsud people had been displaced for the last six years and authorities had done little to care for them.
The members alleged that even the funds released for the displaced people had been embezzled and nobody bothered taking notice.
The jirga stressed that children from the tribe were suffering as they were deprived of an education. It demanded free schooling for displaced children until the entire tribe is repatriated and has a chance to get back on its feet.
Jirga members alleged that Mehsuds living in Karachi were being harassed by the Sindh government and demanded an immediate end to the discrimination. They further alleged that Mehsud tribesmen were subjected to torture and killed extra-judiciously.
Maulana Asamuddin said the Mehsud tribe was being ignored and the government failed to address the issues faced by them.
The jirga concluded that members would not shy away from holding a sit-in outside the parliament to press for their demands.
Large numbers of Mehsuds have been living as IDPs since Operation Rah-e-Nijat against Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan in South Waziristan in 2009.
Published in The Express Tribune, November 10th, 2014.
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