PESHAWAR, Jan 22: A jirga from the Swat district has called upon the government and security forces to ensure protection of life and property of the people of the troubled valley and make the military operation target focused.

A press release said the Swat Qaumi Aman Jirga, comprising elders and representatives of mainstream political parties, met in Peshawar on Thursday and discussed in detail the prevailing situation in the district.

The jirga through a unanimous resolution asked the federal and provincial governments to take effective and practical measures in the light of the National Assembly’s resolution to eliminate militancy in the region.

It said thousands of children were facing bleak future because a large number of schools in Swat, especially those for girls, had been blown up by militants.

The jirga participants also expressed concern over what they called the government’s apathy towards the situation and said Swat was going completely out of government’s hands.

The killings of civilians during military operations and by militants had sent a chill down the spines of the people, they said, adding the government was doing nothing to stem the tide of the soaring militancy and as result the dwellers of Swat were suffering. The same situation, they said, existed in the tribal areas.

The killing of civilians, including women, elderly people and children, should be stopped immediately, the participants demanded.

They also expressed surprise over the silence of national and international non-governmental organisations over the massive scale human rights violation in Swat and other militancy-riddled settled as well as the tribal areas. The jirga said the problem of terrorism needed expert handling and only a political solution be sought to solve it on durable basis.

The government, they said, should make arrangements for education of displaced students of Swat. Thousands of students, particularly girls, were at the risk of being completely left of education while the government looked the other way, they maintained.

The jirga members said it was the responsibility of the government to protect people against terrorism.

“Military action should be targeted, instead of indiscriminate shelling,” said the jirga resolution. The participants asked political parties to show responsibility to stop the human tragedy in Swat. Political leadership, they said, should understand the ground realities in Swat and act upon the unanimous resolution of the National Assembly.

Names of the participants were not disclosed to the media for security reasons. An organiser said the jirga would expedite its campaign and was likely to hold rallies in the country and abroad.

The press release said human rights organisations should “end their criminal silence” over atrocities in Swat and play their role to rid innocent people of terrorists. The jirga accused human rights bodies of ignoring the killings in Swat.