Voicing concern: JI warns of sit-in if IDPs aren’t helped

Sets one-month deadline for granting proper rights to the displaced population

PESHAWAR: Jamaat-e-Islami Ameer Sirajul Haq warned the federal government on Thursday of another sit-in in Islamabad if the grievances of the internally displaced persons from Fata are not addressed within a month.

Addressing the participants of the grand tribal jirga in Peshawar, Siraj said that the IDPs are an issue of the 180 million people of Pakistan, not a problem of a particular political party, adding that the foregathers of these “brave” tribesmen had rendered all out sacrifices for Pakistan, especially in attaining the liberation of Azad Kashmir.

Siraj pointed out that East Pakistan broke away because of the wrong policies of the rulers of the time. He warned that similar elements at the centre are inclined towards leading the nation to another 1971-like situation.

“So many people have been killed in the aggressiveness of India but the government did not respond in a tit-for-tat manner and those brave tribesmen who were capable to respond in a befitting manner had been turned refugees in their own country which was unfortunate,” he said, adding that there was no concept of self-accountability in this country and no one ever dared to think or even know about the cause which led to the separation of Bangladesh.

“Islamabad has a habit of keeping the nation in the dark and once again the wrong policies of the ruling elite are creating more problems,” the JI chief added. The grievances of the IDPs, if not addressed would trigger another sit-in in Islamabad to press the government into granting the IDPs their rights, he added.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 10^th, 2014.