Jirga wants Bangash families resettled

Jirga demands to resettle members of Bangash families displaced after sectarian clashes nearly 35 years ago

PARACHINAR: A tribal Jirga held in the Kurram Agency demanded of the federal government and the governor of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa to resettle members of Bangash families displaced after sectarian clashes nearly 35 years ago. Criticising the official apathy in this regard, a Jirga member Dr Hussain said that these families belonged to the Sadda village of the Lower Kurram Agency, adding that they were still not recognized as internally displaced persons (IDPs). “Because of this, the government has not yet paid any compensation,” he said. “We request the government to relocate them on their ancestral lands which were destroyed during those clashes and provide adequate security,” another speaker Ashiq Hussain stated. The Jirga also urged the government to take immediate steps for their rehabilitation, otherwise, they would stage protests until their demands were met, Malik Hajji Ali said.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 11^th, 2017.