“It was the frustration of the tribal people for their rights which inclined them towards Talibanisation and terrorism,” said Information and Culture Provincial Secretary Azmat Hanif Khan Orakzai.
He added that Maliks around the tribal area receive hefty amounts from the government annually but do not spend money on the welfare of their areas. He added the people there have been alienated and were not included in the mainstream politics.
Nighat Orakzai said that unless they ensure education, people in the tribal areas cannot change their fate. She lamented that the education ratio in tribal area is low, especially among the women. She asked for extension of the Political Parties Act to the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) to free the tribal people from the unjust control of Maliks and political agents. Currently, no political allowed to contest elections in FATA, although most candidates for public offices are quietly backed by major political parties.
Abdul Wahab Orakzai, head of Orakzai Welfare Society, raised the issues of tribal internally-displaced persons. He said that they were not allowed to take admission in colleges in settled areas.
Umer Hayat, a youngster from Orakzai Agency, said, “The tribesmen are the defenders of the country and would offer every sacrifice for its unity but we should consider them as equal citizen.’’
He lamented that terrorism is “unjustly linked” to the tribal people, due to which majority of the tribesmen have suffered. He appealed to the world to understand the tribal people.
Published in The Express Tribune, November 12th, 2012.
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