This is apropos Idrees Khawaja’s article ‘Poverty and terror’(Oct 18). The writer has correctly pointed out that poverty is the main factor behind terrorism in Fata.

Those who live in Fata consider education a waste of time and money. To them, getting education will bring further miseries in the form of joblessness. They consider child labour a productive activity and thus avoid sending them to schools.

Schools established in Fata lack basic facilities like trained teachers. Thus, prevailing terrorism is not a question mark, but a reality. History proves that a deprived area is prone to either rebellion or terrorism. If one visits a Fata area, one will find young people spending their time in fruitless activities.

Since Pakistan’s inception Fata has been ignored by all political parties. All policy-makers worked for their own provinces, ignoring Fata. No government ever thought seriously about bringing economic stability to this region though it can be easily turned into a prosperous agricultural area. Thus it is losing its ability to produce. Land is getting scarce because of overpopulation.

The government should adopt positive policies like building good colleges, small-scale industries, agriculture policies, and skill development strategy programess to lessen poverty and provide jobs to all young people in Fata.

Muhammad Sarfaraz

Peshawar

Published in Dawn October 25th, 2016