LANDI KOTAL: The voters belonging to minority communities in the two constituencies of Khyber tribal district have little faith in the candidates for fulfillment of their demands.

“The Christian and Sikh families living in Bara, Jamrud and Landi Kotal took active part in the electioneering during the previous elections and voted in large number for the candidates of their choice,” the residents of Rangarh Colony in Landi Kotal Bazaar told this scribe during a visit to the congested locality.

Razzaq Masih, an elder of the area, said that every candidate promised them during the last elections that he would resolve their issues, which included establishment of a separate but specious residential colony, provision of drinking water and electricity, construction of a community hall and above all decent jobs for their educated youth, both male and female.

However, he felt that they were ignored by the candidates after winning elections. “They will not pick up our calls nor will they give us time for a meeting once they are elected. They will forget all their promises made to us before the elections,” he added.

Residents of Christian locality say former lawmakers ignored them

Razzaq Masih said that that time they had decided collectively to vote for the candidate, who would give them concrete guarantee about fulfillment of their legitimate demands.

Shahid Masih, another resident of the area, complained that the winning candidates after the previous elections even refused to acknowledge their assurance about voting in their favour.

“Our demands are very simple and easy to be fulfilled. We have always asked for collective needs and never requested for personal favours,” he said. He added that they were at loss as to how to assure the winning candidates that the community as a whole had voted for them.

Young Julious Masih alias Lucki is an ardent lover of cricket and is also member of a local private team. He said that Christian youth were mostly without sporting facilities while their living quarters were too congested and had no space for even indoor games like badminton and table tennis.

Charles Masih, 22, told Dawn that he and many other educated youth of the community, both boys and girls, were jobless as they had no separate quota in government jobs. He said that candidates in past made promises about provision of decent jobs to them on the basis of their educational qualification and allocation of job quota for minorities living in tribal areas, but they failed to uphold their promises.

Shahid Masih, however, said that all the registered minority voters would exercise their right to vote on July 25 but would be careful in making a final decision about supporting a candidate.

Published in Dawn, July 24th, 2018