KOHAT: A jirga of internally displaced persons (IDPs) from the Federally Administered Tribal Areas on Wednesday threatened to hold a sit-in in Islamabad if the federal government did not announce a time frame for their repatriation anytime soon.

Speaking at the jirga held at the Company Park here, United Tribesmen Association’s vice-chairman Habib Noor Afridi regretted that after expelling them from Fata the government did not take proper care of the displaced families. He said that they were forced to live like animals in the tented camps and treated like criminals, which could not be tolerated.

Know more: Jamaat warns govt to assist IDPs or face sit-in

“We have been safeguarding the western borders of the country for about 67 years without taking any salary from the government, but the rulers have left us in sub-human conditions after the operations in Orakzai Agency, Kurram Agency, North and South Waziristan agencies, Darra Adamkhel and Bettani tribal area,” he said, adding that due to prolonged stay in camps the future of their children had been ruined.

Demands plan for repatriation

He said that IDPs from Kurram, Orakzai and South Waziristan agencies and Darra Adamkhel, who had no means of earning, were living in squalid tents and rented houses in Kohat and other districts of the province. He demanded that all tribesmen should be treated equally and there should be no difference in payment of compensation to IDPs of North Waziristan Agency and other parts of Fata.

The jirga was attended by representatives from Fata, including former federal minister Ghazi Gulab Jamal of Orakzai Agency, retired assistant inspector general of police Rehmat Ali, Masood Malik, Hidayatullah, Attaullah and Wazir Sherpao.

He said that if the government wanted to end the tribal status of Fata and merge the tribal areas with the adjoining settled areas they should be informed under which law it would do this. He termed it a conspiracy against their independence, which was guaranteed by the Constitution. He said that during past one decade 10 to 15 tribesmen from each family had died in the military operations and drone attacks and still the government was ignoring their wellbeing.

He demanded that IDPs should immediately be given clearance so that they could return to their homes. He said that they should be given proper compensation for deaths of relatives and damage to their houses. He warned that in case the government did not specify the time frame for their return the tribesmen would be forced to surround the Parliament House. They also warned to block the Kohat-Kurram Agency road.

The elders announced that more such gatherings would be organised in other cities of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. They also demanded opening of schools in Fata and provision of more education facilities to end illiteracy.

Published in Dawn, October 16th, 2014