People of Mohmand Agency discuss their grivances with officials of political administration during a khulli katchery. PHOTO: EXPRESS
It is thus with a sigh of relief that locals were pleased to know that the Mohmand Agency administration had organised open courts (Khuli Kucheris) in Safi and Baizai sub division to enable the locals to get their grievances redressed.
Locals took up issues of blocked CNICs destroyed health and education facilities, drinking water, governance suspension of cellular networks and power supply.
It was a dawn of a new era for residents of Safi, Khwaizai and Baizai when they got the opportunity to meet the local political administration official at political compound at Lakari Tehsil headquarters of Safi, and Bahai Dag Baizai sub-division after 2007.
In the past few years when Safi was under militant rule in 2007 militants had established their courts till 2011-12 locals had no alternative other than to comply and visit the courts when they were summoned by militants for resolution of local disputes in these courts.
Later in 2012-13 when peace was restored they were visiting Ghallanai the agency head quarters as the offices in Lakaro were not able to handle their problems in all matters including verification of IDs card and passport as most of their cards had been blocked by the NADRA declaring it suspect by authorities.
Malak Sultan who was heading a local militia in the past in Baizai sub division and was helping the administration in maintaining peace there welcomed the move and added that about 50 per cent of the CNICs of locals residing in the proximity of the Pak Afghan border areas had been blocked in the sub-division after being declared suspect by NADRA, and they had a lot of problems in unblocking them.
He pointed out that most of the residents had moved out to K-P and Punjab due to law and order, lack of basic facilities like health education and unemployment, and when their cards were blocked they faced numerous problems with police and local officials in places where they had settled.
He added that the process of unblocking the ID cards is dependent on political administration but unfortunately some officials in the local administration and NADRA at Ghallanai are not people-friendly.
He demanded of the political administration officers and NADRA high-ups to take notice of the problems and resolve the issue as some have been blocked since years.
Some locals in Bahai Dag also raised the issue of health and educational facilities in the area and added that although govt had established schools and health institutions in Baizai areas but they are empty buildings with no basic health facilities in them and when they have some health issue they have to go to agency headquarters hospital, which is not possible at times at night due to law and order situation.
The locals raised the issue of education also and added that there is no high school for boys and girls in the entire sub-division and only few middle schools and the children had no access to proper education in primary and middle schools due to non-availability of educational institutions.
Locals also raised the issue of sub-divisional headquarter offices which were made functional two years ago but closed after few days due to lack of interest of political administration officials who are based in Ghallanai instead of visiting Bahai Dag to solve the issue on spot.
Assistant Political Agent Baizai Agency Education Officers Sher Alam, Faridullah Mehsood and others have assured them of solving their outstanding issues regarding governance and education.
Similarly locals in Safi have termed the move as positive in the area which was once a busy office, but closed due to militancy after 2007 in the Safi area. The locals demanded that although Safi had no college, schools and health institutions as most of them had been destroyed in the long period of militancy in Safi, They added that since many had closed down due to non-availability of building, they should be made functional by reconstructing the destroyed buildings.
The locals also raised issue of the power supply in the area and demanded that it should be regularised, as the marble factories in the area had power supply but the local consumers had no such facilities due to corruption in the department. They also raised the issue of mobile phone suspension since March 2017, and demanded the opening of it on priority basis.
APA upper Mohmand Tariqullullah have assured them that the Tehsildar Khalid khan are permanently working in Lakaro Tehsil to solve their issue on the spots. He also assured them that cadet college in Mamad Gat is under construction and the destroyed schools construction are under way. He told them that it is an era of a new dawn when the political admin official who once could not even visit the place was now organising open courts (Khuli Kucheris) in Safi to listen the locals grievances and solve them on the spot.
It is pertinent to mention that Safi tehsil of Mohmand agency came under militant rule when in 2007 militants captured the shrine of Haji Sahib Turnagzai ( a prominent freedom fighter of Pakistan movement) and controlled the area till 2011-12 until the military operation against them, wherein 2014-15 about 70 educational institutions had been destroyed only in Safi.
Baizai sub-division once an inaccessible area of Mohmand in the past was made accessible in 2002. It has now been cleared of militancy and the administration organising Khuli Kucheris is a sign of moving towards peace in the region.
Published in The Express Tribune, March 13th, 2018.
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