ON Sept 17, local tehsildar Fawad Ali went out early in the morning to dispose of a bomb planted in a school in a far-flung area of Bajaur Agency near Afghanistan border.

An assiduous young gold medalist in international relations from Quaid-i-Azam University, Fawad, and several other levies men sacrificed their lives for the sake of future generation.

But what did we, the government and the media, do? The local media reporters complained that TV channels were not ready to broadcast their reports about the tragedy in the Federally-Administered Tribal Areas (Fata) because they were busy all day covering NA-120 by-polls.

Not only the media, but the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa governor, a PML-N nominee, was so indifferent that he merely issued a statement in which he prayed for the early recovery of the injured without knowing the fact that all officials were martyred in the blast.

By such apathy, what message are we giving to the people of Fata and young officers serving there? Does it mean the NA-120 election was more important than their lives? Are the people of Fata children of lesser god?

This is injustice beyond one’s comprehension. This is a disturbing message for other officials.

Society in Fata has been deeply radicalised by government policies since 1980. However, owing to countless sacrifices by some local people and security forces, things have improved to some extent. But if this indifference continues, the repercussion will be negative.

If the government and the media prefer by-elections and no practical steps can be taken for the welfare of the Fata people, at least their efforts should be acknowledged.

Allah Nawaz Khan
Sikandro, Bajaur Agency

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FIVE people, including a young local teshildar, Fawad Ali, were martyred in a remote-controlled bomb blast in Bajaur Agency when they were returning after defusing a bomb planted near the blast site.

It was not the first time that terrorists used such a tactic — forcing the law-enforcers to rush to a blast site and then launch another attack to inflict a greater loss.

A few years ago, many civilians were martyred in a bomb blast near Peshawar when they gathered there to help the injured of an earlier blast. The second blast is often more intense.

There is a need for enforce some standard operating procedures whenever some mishap occurs. The site must be sealed off and declared out of bound for civilians.

Only trained law-enforcers should be allowed to comb and clean the area. We should learn lessons from the UK when a few days ago the whole area was thoroughly checked and adjacent buildings were evacuated when a blast occurred at an underground London railway station.

M. Sayyad Alam Khan
Peshawar

Published in Dawn, September 22nd, 2017