Displaced persons: Mehsud tribe rankled by lack of compensation

Authorities yet to fulfill their promises to locals following operation in 2009.

SOUTH WAZIRISTAN/ CHAGH MALAI:

Mehsud tribesmen who have resettled into their old homes after years of displacement are unhappy that they haven’t been treated half as well as others driven out of conflict zones in the country.

Their bitterness stems from the federal government’s failure to compensate them adequately -- and in line with the promises made to their representatives.

Talking to The Express Tribune at a marketplace in Chagh Malai in South Waziristan, the tribesmen said they were not properly compensated for the damage that their shops and houses suffered during clashes between the Taliban and security forces.

Nearly 100 shops in Chagh Malai – described by a tribal elder as the gateway to South Waziristan  – were destroyed when the army launched a major operation there in October 2009.

Some 300,000 people fled the Mehsud region and a majority still live in Dera Ismail Khan, Tank and other parts of the country.

Military officials say that nearly 15% of internally displaced persons (IDPs) have been repatriated and many more would follow after
reconstruction is complete and facilities are made
available. Tribesmen, however, claim that only 5% of tribesmen have returned so far.

“The political agent had told us that every person whose house had been destroyed would get Rs400,000 from the government. I returned two years ago but the money has not been paid yet,” a tribesman told The Express Tribune.

Another man said they were promised that their houses would be rebuilt. “We were told that we would be given compensation for the destruction of our houses. We were told that our houses would be rebuilt. We were told we would receive schools and hospitals and the electricity system would be restored. But we have been given nothing,” he said. He went on to add that he has been given only one room.

“Every house owner has suffered the losses of around five million rupees. Everything – carpets, freezers and air-condition – in our houses were destroyed”.

An elderly man said he is hopeful that once the army withdraws, they will leave a proper system behind. “They cannot quit without a mechanism. They will definitely put in place a system”.

The tribesmen further said that while nearly 4,000 families left the area, only 1,200 to 1,300 have returned in three years.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 26^th, 2013.