MINGORA, April 15: The people of Malakand division have attached many expectations with the proposed visit of President Gen Pervez Musharraf, thinking a substantial developmental package for the division might be in store.
In the past, the division was a compound of three different states and two tribal agencies, but now it has been divided into seven districts of Swat, Shangla, Buner, Dir (upper), Dir (lower), Malakand agency (protected area) and Chitral.
The Bajuar agency is no more a part of the division and has been adjoined with the Peshawar district after the bloody clashes took place between the paramilitary forces and workers of the disbanded Tanzim Nefaz-i-Shariah Muhammadi in 1994-95.
The states were Dir, Swat and Chitral, which were ruled by different heads of the states almost till 1969.
Among these states, only the Swat had a better ruler (Wali-i-Swat), who worked for his people sincerely and undertook development during his era, while the rest of two did nothing for their peoples. The Nawab of Dir was more cruel to his people, who did not even allow his people to get education. The position of the ruler (Mehtar) of Chitral was hardly any different from that of Nawab of Dir.
The people of the division are very poor and eke out a living with difficulty. The successive governments did not fulfil their responsibilities to bring the backward areas at par with the developed ones. The elected members only indulged in loot and plunder and used the government resources for their personal gain.
The main problem of the people is unemployment. The socio-economic condition of the people is very weak, who have no other option but to seek jobs in the coal mines of Quetta, factories in Karachi or buy visas to move to the Arab countries. In Swat and Chitral, about fifty per cent people depend on the tourism industry. But it too is in the throes of a recession.
The government has suspended the air services to Swat for the last many months, which has caused a huge financial loss to the local people. The taxi drivers, hoteliers and other businessmen, who benefit from the air service, are nowadays jobless. The air traffic suspension has also hit the tourists badly.
