CHITRAL: The alleged inclusion of the mother of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly Deputy Speaker Suraya Bibi in the list of beneficiaries of compensation for the rain-hit people has sparked widespread criticism on social media platforms and public protests.

Under the Prime Minister’s Relief Package for rain-hit people, a total of 17 people were given compensation for their destroyed or damaged houses, and the mother of the deputy speaker was one of them.

The people criticised Suraya Bibi, who got elected from PK-1, Upper Chitral, for influencing the district administration to include the residents of her Awi village in the list as out of the 17 beneficiaries, five have been chosen from her village, including her mother.

Most critics were the PTI activists, who termed it the ‘worst’ form of nepotism on the part of an elected representative from the area.

Suraya Bibi claims she was unaware of the move

Shahzada Sikandarul Mulk, PTI president for Upper Chitral, also expressed his displeasure over the matter and said it should not have happened in such a way and the matter should be probed.

He said as staunch supporter of Imran Khan, the PTI founding chairman, he had fully supported Suraya Bibi during her election campaign, but flayed her for compromising transparency in the process of assessment of damage for compensation.

Mr Mulk insisted PTI was a democratic party and believed in a ruthless system of accountability as envisioned by Imran Khan. He said Bibi’s own party workers were criticising her because she was public office holder and indulged in a corrupt practice.

Suraya Bibi dashed to Booni, the headquarters of Upper Chitral, to allay the rage of party workers by holding a meeting with them in which she reportedly tried to plead not guilty.

After the meeting, as emerged from the social media, the workers were not fully satisfied with her explanation in which she insisted that the inclusion of her mother in the list of beneficiaries was a conspiracy to dent her political popularity.

She told the workers that she was not aware of the inclusion of her mother’s name in the list till the distribution of compensation cheques.

Despite repeated efforts, Suraya Bibi could not be contacted on telephone to take her version about the allegation.

Published in Dawn, March 27th, 2024