Taking stock: Tribal elders urge govt to set timeframe for NWA operation

Say govt should order judicial probe into ongoing malpractices in distribution of relief goods.

BANNU:

Tribal elders from North Waziristan Agency have threatened agitation if the government does not set a timeframe for the ongoing military offensive and accept their demands.

Speaking at a news conference at the Bannu Press Club on Thursday, tribal elders pressed the government to repatriate displaced people and provide estimates of damages caused to houses and infrastructure in the agency since 2001 within a week.



They maintained displaced persons are facing severe challenges. Therefore, the government needs to set a timeframe to avoid any further discomfort to them. They also urged the government to order a judicial probe into ongoing malpractices in the distribution of relief goods amongst the tribesmen.

Moreover, they raised their voice against the government’s apparent indifference to their plight and threatened to protest if their demands are not met.

According to the elders, their agitation would not be like the sit-ins of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf (PTI) and Pakistan Awami Tehreek (PAT), claiming they would “halt all government activities throughout the country”.

Tribal elders present at the conference included President of Qaumi Committee of Affected Tribesmen Nisar Ali Khan and General Secretary Malik Ghulam Khan.

False promises

According to the tribal elders, the government has not fulfilled the promises it made to them. In June, they wholeheartedly supported the military offensive in North Waziristan as it was in the nation’s interest. However, the government has not compensated them for their sacrifices, they claimed. The elders complained that they are being repeatedly humiliated at the hands of the government and its agencies and functionaries.

When Operation Zarb-e-Azb was announced in June, tribal elders abandoned their homes and proceeded towards Bannu. Over the last few months, the government has failed to provide the displaced persons with basic amenities and they have been forced to live under harsh conditions.

According to the tribal elders, millions of rupees worth of aid has been pouring into Bannu to facilitate the internally displaced persons (IDP). And yet, thousands of families have been deprived of compensation as the money is being embezzled by civil administration officials.

The way forward

The tribal elders urged Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa governor to take notice of corruption, malpractices and selective policies adopted by the civil administration in distributing aid to IDPs. They also requested the government to give priority to the problem of accommodating IDPs.

After they were evacuated from schools in Bannu, dozens of families have been forced to rent single-room residences at exorbitant prices. The tribal elders have pressed the government to arrange tents for displaced persons living under harsh conditions. Similarly, they have demanded instant registration and cash compensation for all those tribesmen from North Waziristan who have dual addresses on their national identity cards.

Cast aside

The government’s approach to handling the plight of the IDPs in Bannu has earned the ire of the tribesmen.

In September, a grand Jirga of internally displaced persons from the Uthmanzai tribe urged the government to immediately repatriate them to North Waziristan Agency, threatening they would otherwise march towards the Red Zone in Islamabad on October 10.

Participants of the jirga expressed concerns over reports of outsiders looting properties in the evacuated areas.

Speaking at the jirga, Malik Khan Daraz, a tribal elder, had said they had left behind businesses, household items and cattle in the safe hands of security forces when they left the area. However, their property had not been protected and was snatched by outsiders.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 17^th, 2014.