PESHAWAR: Jamaat-i-Islami, Fata chapter on Monday asked the federal government to stop the ongoing military operation in Bara tehsil of Khyber Agency or give sufficient time to the stranded people to move to safe places.

Speaking at a news conference at the Peshawar Press Club on Monday, JI Fata deputy general secretary Shah Faisal Afridi said that military operation against militancy in Fata had been continuing for past six years, displacing thousands of people, who had been staying in different parts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in pathetic condition.

Mr Afridi said that the ongoing army action in Khyber Agency had caused hardships for tribesmen as many families were still stranded due to non-availability of transportation and prolonged curfew.

He said the federal government should either stop the operation or provide transport facility to the stranded people so they could get out of the troubled spot.

The process of shifting, said Mr Afridi, needed at least 10 days because the people also had to shift their valuables along with them.

He said in the past six years, Fata people suffered heavily as they fled their houses without taking any household item with them.

Mr Afridi claimed that at least 400,000 people were stranded in their areas, saying that these people had freshly returned to their homes under the government’s rehabilitation plan, but another operation was launched all of a sudden, thus increasing their woes.

The JI leader said that innocent people, including children, women and elderly people, had become victims in the crossfire between army troops and militants.

Mr Afridi said that the government should resolve all the issues through dialogue, and if the operation was the only option then the besieged tribesmen should first be moved to safety.

He also demanded a reasonable relief package for the displaced people because they had to leave their houses twice during past six years.

The JI Fata leader said that the already displaced persons were also living in pathetic condition and complaining about shortage of and substandard ration at Jalozai camp.

Published in Dawn, October 21st, 2014