PESHAWAR, June 9: Chief of his own faction of Pakistan People’s Party Aftab Ahmed Khan Sherpao has said that any new operation in Federally Administered Tribal Areas (Fata) will complicate the already disturbed situation in the country, as the government has failed to take concrete steps for healing the wounds of tribesmen caused due to multiple operations in the region.

Mr Sherapo was speaking at a press conference here on Saturday. He said that allocation of Rs27 billion for the Fata in federal budget was insufficient, as owing to repeated operations innocent people were killed and wounded while thousands of houses, shops, schools, hospitals etc were destroyed, but neither the government provided compensation to the people nor rebuilt the infrastructure.

The PPP-S leader also criticised President Asif Ali Zardari and said that being the chief executive of the Fata he failed to pay a single visit to the region during his tenure. He said that Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani had also adopted the same policy and avoiding alleviating miseries of Pakhtuns.

He said that the best way for reconciliation was a dialogue with all the stakeholders. “The government should prioritise the problems of its own people and stop serving the interests of United States,” he said.

Mr Sherpao said that people of tribal regions were continuously subjected to torture by carrying out operations in each tribal region and every time success was claimed against the militants, but the operations were still going on. As a result, millions of people are forced to become internally displaced persons, who remain in dire need of food and other daily-use items, he added.

Mr Sherpao said that instead of solving problems the government had multiplied them for tribesmen by promulgating two new ordinances. He said that the Action in Aid of Civil Power Ordinance, 2011 was the worst piece of legislation than the Frontier Crime Regulation.

Referring to problems being faced by Pakhtuns in Karachi, Quetta and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, he said that they were always neglected. He said that 50 per cent of electricity was generated in Pakhtun areas, but they were subjected to prolonged loadshedding.

He said that they would run special campaigns to educate people to raise voice for their rights.

He said that the government was unable to announce mega projects for Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, which is clear from allocation of paltry Rs1.2 billion for Lowari tunnel project. He said that this amount was insufficient even to clear the outstanding bills. He said that allocations for dam projects at Kurram Tangi and Munda were also very small.

He said that the centre had paid only Rs1.6 billion of the Rs25 billion electricity dues, as the provincial government could not plead its case. He said this money could be used for rehabilitation of people displaced due to militancy and floods.

During the press conference many elders of Bajuar Agency, led by Malik Hayat Jamali, Malik Fazal Manan, Malik Maroof Jan, resigned from different parties and joined the PPP-S.