No homecoming: Afridi tribe demands repatriation, monetary assistance

Say more jirgas will be held to resolve issue of displaced persons

PESHAWAR: Tribal elders from Bara, Khyber Agency demanded the government repatriate them without any delay and announce a special package for them. These demands were made at the Bara National Jirga organised by Sipah tribe in Hayatabad  on Sunday.

MNA Nasir Khan Afridi addressing local leaders of all political parties in Khyber Agency said the displaced people were in extreme financial problems and could not afford to rent houses. “The Afridi tribe is loyal to the country and I do not understand why they are still facing such hardships,” he said.



Shah Faisal Afridi from Jamaat-e-Islami said the government should help the displaced people of the Sipah tribe monetarily.

He asked they waive off the Rs1.2 million fee which was imposed on the tribespeople after the attack on security forces in Bara during the military operation code named Khyber-1. “So many of these people have lost their lives for this nation and since all infrastructure, including schools and hospitals, in their area has been destroyed during the current war on terror, they need immediate assistance,” he said.

Former state minister Malik Waris Khan Afridi said the Sipah tribe only wanted restoration of peace in Fata.

Advocate Latif Afridi, also at the moot, said the government was being “unjust” with the Sipah tribespeople by not announcing the date of their return. “We will continue holding jirgas till our problems are solved,” he said.

It was decided that a Grand National Jirga will take place soon to resolve these issues.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 5^th, 2015.