K-P govt attempts to make good on unfulfilled promises to Aitzaz's family

K-P Finance Minister Jhagra says martyred youth's brother called for a meeting to discuss compensation

PESHAWAR: A five-year-long wait of Aitzaz Hasan’s family for the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa government to do good on its compensation promises has come close to a conclusion with provincial Finance Minister Taimur Saleem Jhagra reiterating the government’s resolve.

The 15-year-old was martyred while preventing a suicide bomber from entering his school in Hangu district of K-P in January 2014. He was conferred with Sitar-e-Shujaat on the recommendation of former premier Nawaz Sharif.

Jhagra and Chief Minister Mahmood Khan reportedly called Aitzaz’s brother, Mujtaba, and invited him to the CM House in Peshawar next week to “sort out the issue”.



“Aitzaz is a national hero. I called up his brother, and CM Mahmood did as well. We will invite him to the CM House next week, and sort this out,” said Jhagra on Twitter.

Thank you for pointing this out. Aitzaz is a national hero. I called up his brother, and @IMMahmoodKhan did as well. We will invite him to the CM House next week, and sort this out. https://t.co/jETaJG3d2t

— Taimur Saleem Khan Jhagra (@Jhagra) January 10, 2019

The move came after social media highlighted the center and the province’s failure to compensate the martyred youth’s family.

Speaking to The Express Tribune, Mujtaba confirmed receiving phone calls from CM Mahmood and Jhagra. He said the K-P ministers invited him to discuss fulfilling the commitments. “For the first time in many years, the government has made some effort. We had been waiting for five years and filed numerous requests to the chief minister but to no avail.”



The unfulfilled promises

To honour Aitzaz’s memory, K-P government had announced to name a road being constructed from Hangu to Kohat after the martyred youth. However, no such notification was issued.

Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf chairman Imran Khan had promised the provincial government would provide a monthly stipend but the K-P government had failed to provide any financial aid.

The former K-P chief minister Pervez Khattak’s adviser Amjad Afridi had promised to build two colleges and a sports stadium – that promise too had not been fulfilled.

Last year, Mujtaba had written to the prime minister, lamenting that the family was left without security or aid but no measures were taken to resolve the issue.