Protest camp: Young Mehsud tribesmen ask K-P governor to listen or resign

Demand compensation for IDPs and an honourable welcome upon their return.

DERA ISMAIL KHAN: University and college students from the Mehsud tribe and the Mehsud Qabail Movement set up a protest camp in front of the Tank Political Compound (PC) Monday.

The movement’s leader, Advocate Sherpao shared their list of demands with The Express Tribune. Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Governor Shaukatullah Khan had promised to visit their protest camp outside the parliament and did not do so, claimed Sherpao. At the last Mehsud tribe jirga held at Governor House in September, Shaukatullah had made a lot of promises to help the tribesmen but had not kept any, added the young leader.

It is because of these unfulfilled promises that Sherpao and others are protesting outside the PC.



One of their demands is an honourable return for those Mehsud tribesmen who had to leave South Waziristan and live as internally displaced persons (IDPs) in Tank, DI Khan and other parts of the country after the 2009 military operation – Reh-e-Nejat – against the banned Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan.

The students also demanded anyone affected during the operation should be compensated. They said new IDPs, who were registered with the government, should be provided with ration as they cannot afford it. The protesters also wanted to know what happened to government and non-government funds which were supposed to help those affected by the operation in 2009.

Zam Public School, Tank should be provided with privileges and funds like Musa Nika Public School Wana, South Waziristan, was another demand made by the students. Zam Public School’s student body includes many young people from the Mehsud tribe.

Steps should be taken to make all government educational institutions in the Mehsud area of South Waziristan functional, added the Mehsud youth.

According to Sherpao, they plan to protest till their demands are met. He explained they did not want to set up a protest camp in Islamabad as the country was going through a rough patch but wanted the chief justice of Pakistan to take suo moto notice of their situation.

Also present at the protest was tribal elder and Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl MNA Maulana Jamaludin. He said he supported the youth’s demands and would cooperate with them. He added that the governor often made promises but forgot to keep them.

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