PESHAWAR: The students belonging to various tribal regions have threatened to stage a sit-in outside Governor’s House against delay in rehabilitation of the destroyed and damaged buildings of educational institutions in Federally Administered Tribal Areas.

The federal government had ignored tribal people as no step had been taken for rehabilitation of the schools destroyed and damaged during the war against terrorism, Fata Students Organisation president Shaukat Aziz told a press conference here on Wednesday.

Accompanied by FSO senior adviser Haleem Orakzai, chief organizer Zahid Iqbal, senior vice president Aziza Mehsud and Sadaf Afridi, he said that Fata was abandoned and none of the successive governments ever bothered to take any serious step for welfare of the tribal people.

Mr Aziz said that establishment of Fata University was a longstanding demand of tribal people but it was yet to be fulfilled. Every province had dozens of universities both in public and privates sectors but people of Fata were deprived of the facility, he said.

FSO leader criticises governor for not resolving Fata issues

He said that students would stage a sit-in outside Governor’s House if government failed to respond to their demands.

Mr Aziz alleged that Governor Sardar Mahtab Ahmed Khan was not taking interest to bring a positive change in lifestyle of tribal people. Had the governor any interest in it, the process of reforms in tribal areas would have initiated so far, he said.

The FSO president said that it was not a divine law that Fata people would remain backward. They were also part of the country and had similar rights like people of any other province, he said.

He said that government had approved a medical college for Fata but it was yet to be established.

Mr Aziz said that unemployment in Fata was on the rise as job opportunities meant for educated tribal people were availed by residents of other provinces. He said that there were educated youth in Fata but they were not given jobs in the government departments. 

Mr Aziz alleged that governor was focusing on unnecessary issues instead of taking steps for resolution of basic problems of Fata. He said the corruption was on its peak in various departments in Fata but no action was taken against the concerned officials.

The FSO president said that more than 20,000 positions were lying vacant in Fata education department but authorities were not recruiting jobless tribal youth to fill the vacant posts.

Published in Dawn, December 24th, 2015