PESHAWAR, Sept 20: Assurances given by Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz to two daughters of a slain lady councillor of Upper Dir that free education up to the master’s level and free accommodation in Islamabad would be provided to them are yet to be fulfilled, two years after the cold-blooded murder of their mother.

Jannat Khatoon, 23, and Rabia, 16, told Dawn that after the murder of their mother, Zubaida Begum, in July 2005 the government promised to help them complete their education.

“Former women development minister Nilofer Bakhtiar visited Dir to assure us of help but nothing has happened in this regard so far.”

They said the government had only given the Fatima Jinnah Award to their slain mother and had not provided any support to them despite promises.

Faced with death threats from the alleged killers of their mother, the girls have left their village Darorha in Upper Dir.

“I am teaching in a school and I could not complete my education because of financial problems although the prime minister had promised us free education till the master’s level,” said Jannat who earns Rs4,000 per month and lives with her maternal uncle Pervez Khan.

Zubaida Begum, an outspoken and educated union councillor from Upper Dir, who was awarded the Social Worker Award in September 2004, broke the outdated traditions when she contested local government election from Darorha where women were not allowed to vote.

The widow with three daughters faced severe opposition from conservative men and had to pay a heavy price for her involvement in politics and for being outspoken about women’s rights.

On July 1, 2005, some unidentified men barged into her home and shot her dead while she was asleep. Her 19-year-old daughter Shumaila died in a hospital in Peshawar of bullet wounds.

Zubaida actively engaged in welfare of the women of the area. Apparently, her close relatives did not like her involvement in politics and social welfare work, her daughters and brother said.

“Zubaida Baji was outspoken and she used to go out and help women of her area.

She wanted to set up an organisation for women welfare and several of her relatives did not like it. This is the main cause of her killing,” observed Pervez, who is a lawyer and serves as a special public prosecutor in Timergara on daily wage.

He said that the family had faced difficult times for the past three years after they were displaced because of threats to their lives.

The family has property and a home in Darorha but it is living in miserable conditions in a rented house in another area for security reasons.

Jannat said the alleged killers of her mother — her uncle’s son and a hired assassin — were at large and a constant threat to her and her younger sister.

The family alleged that influential politicians of a ruling party in Upper Dir were the main hurdle in the arrest of the alleged killers.

“The family of the killers is pressuring and threatening us to compromise or face dangerous consequences but we want justice. We want to know why they killed my mother,” said Jannat.

The family demanded that the government should fulfil its promise of providing education and ensuring protection to the two orphan girls.

It appealed to Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry to take notice of the issue and order arrest of the alleged killers.