Photo of tribesmen. PHOTO: AFP
Mehsud tribesmen, displaced as a result of military operations against the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) in South Waziristan over five years ago, staged a protest in Islamabad on Wednesday, demanding they be allowed to return to their homes.
Thousands of tribesmen fled their villages ahead of an army operation, Rah-i-Nijat, in October 2009 in South Waziristan. Mehsud tribesmen say a majority of the IDPs, who are living in rented houses in other cities, have not yet been granted permission to return home. This is their second protest in nearly a year in Islamabad.
A protestor at the camp outside the National Press Club Islamabad told The Express Tribune that the protest was called off last year when the governor of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Shaukatullah Khan assured them that that their demands would be accepted.
“Promises made to the Mehsud IDPs proved to be hollow slogans,” Sherpao Khan, a representative of the protestors said. He claimed that nearly 700,000 tribesmen had fled their villages.
Published in The Express Tribune, February 13th, 2014.
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