KOHAT: The Reforms Committee Parachinar (RCP), a mouthpiece of expelled tribesmen based in Kohat, has urged the Council of Islamic Ideology (CII) to play a role of mediator to resolve their resettlement problem lingering on after the 2008 Muree Accord since their expulsion in 2007.

In a statement, RCP secretary general Attaullah Ghilji regretted that even the scores of jirgas held under the patronage of senators, MNAs and army officials had failed to resolve the matter whereas the government had left them in the lurch. He said that CII was their last hope.

He stated that a jirga held by CII under the auspices of CAMP organisation and participated by Shia and Sunni ulema and leaders had expressed concern over delay in the implementation of 2008 Murree Accord for rehabilitation of families dislocated from Parachinar in 2007.

Qibla Ayaz from CII asked the government to solve the Parachinar issue as soon as possible and enforce its writ by including parliamentarians from both sides and leading ulema, as IDPs had been losing hope to settle back in their ancestral city.

He said that CII was playing its role for harmony of sects in Parachinar and urged the government to address the issues impeding the agreement.

Mr Ghilji stated that in the meeting five ulema each from Ahle Sunnat and Tehreek Nifaz Fiqah-i-Jafria and others from Peshawar, Mardan and Lahore participated.

He said that they agreed on one point that the Murree Accord had not been implemented due to lack of interest by the government.

He said that as the parliamentarians and influential people of the area had settled in big cities they were not aware of their miseries. He regretted that despite their helpless situation the government did not arrange jobs for them and majority of the 530 families had migrated to Peshawar, Hassan Abdal and Abbotabad because of high unemployment in Kohat.

Published in Dawn, November 25th, 2018