Rehabilitation: QWP chief urges government to send IDPs back home
Says the distinction between good and bad Taliban must stop being made.
PESHAWAR:
Qaumi Watan Party (QWP) Chairman Aftab Ahmad Khan Sherpao on Saturday urged the government to send the internally displaced persons from the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (Fata) back home.
“The government must compensate the tribesmen for the losses they have sustained during displacement,” he said while addressing a Fata workers’ convention in Watan Kor.
QWP Senior Vice Chairman Bakht Baidar Khan, K-P Chairman Sikandar Hayat Khan Sherpao, General Secretary Hashim Babar, Justice (Retd) Shahjahan Khan, Jamil Khan, Asad Afridi and Zahir Shah were also present on the occasion.
Sherpao said the IDPs had suffered a great deal over the last 30 years. “The IDPs have left all their belongings behind. They have been rendered homeless and jobless,” he said, urging the government to announce a financial package to ease their miseries.
The QWP chief said the entire nation shared the grief of the families who lost their children in the brutal attack on Army Public School on December 16. He blamed the provincial government, saying the massacre indicated its failure to maintain law and order.
“The government should scrap the policy [of distinguishing between] good and bad Taliban. The time has come to take indiscriminate action to eradicate the scourge of terrorism.”
Sherpao said the country cannot progress unless peace is restored. He added action must be taken against all those challenging the writ of the state.
Sherpao demanded a complete separation of judicial and executive powers in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas. He said judicious distribution of funds should be ensured for the uplift of the tribal belt.
Calling for the extension of the apex and high court’s jurisdiction to Fata, the QWP chief demanded an increase in the job quotas for tribesmen. He said a fresh census should be carried out to ascertain the population of Fata so that funds can be earmarked for development accordingly.
Published in The Express Tribune, December 21st, 2014.
Qaumi Watan Party (QWP) Chairman Aftab Ahmad Khan Sherpao on Saturday urged the government to send the internally displaced persons from the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (Fata) back home.
“The government must compensate the tribesmen for the losses they have sustained during displacement,” he said while addressing a Fata workers’ convention in Watan Kor.
QWP Senior Vice Chairman Bakht Baidar Khan, K-P Chairman Sikandar Hayat Khan Sherpao, General Secretary Hashim Babar, Justice (Retd) Shahjahan Khan, Jamil Khan, Asad Afridi and Zahir Shah were also present on the occasion.
Sherpao said the IDPs had suffered a great deal over the last 30 years. “The IDPs have left all their belongings behind. They have been rendered homeless and jobless,” he said, urging the government to announce a financial package to ease their miseries.
The QWP chief said the entire nation shared the grief of the families who lost their children in the brutal attack on Army Public School on December 16. He blamed the provincial government, saying the massacre indicated its failure to maintain law and order.
“The government should scrap the policy [of distinguishing between] good and bad Taliban. The time has come to take indiscriminate action to eradicate the scourge of terrorism.”
Sherpao said the country cannot progress unless peace is restored. He added action must be taken against all those challenging the writ of the state.
Sherpao demanded a complete separation of judicial and executive powers in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas. He said judicious distribution of funds should be ensured for the uplift of the tribal belt.
Calling for the extension of the apex and high court’s jurisdiction to Fata, the QWP chief demanded an increase in the job quotas for tribesmen. He said a fresh census should be carried out to ascertain the population of Fata so that funds can be earmarked for development accordingly.
Published in The Express Tribune, December 21st, 2014.