PESHAWAR: The internally displaced persons from Bara tehsil of Khyber Agency continued to stay put outside the Peshawar Press Club for the fourth day on Saturday to protest lack of facilities and food items at Jalozai camp.

Carrying placards and shouting slogans against the government, the protesters threatened to camp outside the Governor’s House to press for their demands.

According to them, not only the food distributed at Jalozai camp was extremely substandard but also there was a shortage of drinking water to the misery of IDPs.

Tribal elders, including Shah Jehan, Murad Khan, Iqbal Afridi, and Gulab Khan, told reporters that the Bara people had to flee homes five years ago due to military operation against militants but the operation was still continuing.

“Most Bara areas is under curfew and movement of the people has been restricted completely and that is why the residents are not allowed to return to their homes,” he said, adding that IDPs had done nothing wrong but vacated their houses on directives of the government to restore peace.

Bara displaced persons complain about lack of facilities at Jalozai camp

Iqbal Afridi said facilities like toilets and water tanks were almost non-existent at the camp, while living conditions were unhygienic to the misery of IDPs.

He said there were no arrangements for cleanliness at the camp, so staying there was becoming very difficult but the officials concerned disregarded complaints in this respect.

Iqbal Afridi said IDPs had held several demonstrations and requested the relevant officials to clean the camp’s surroundings but to no avail.

He said the last government had fully supported IDPs from Malakand, particularly those of Swat, but the current one was completely indifferent towards Bara IDPs.

“The government has provided facilities, including cash, to IDPs of North Waziristan Agency, which is good move because they are our people. But at the same time, those from Bara tehsil should also cared for,” he said.

Elders Shah Jehan, Murad Khan and Gulab Khan said the Bara people wanted to return home to resume life but the government was not allowing them.

They said around 8,000 shops had been closed in Bara Bazaar for five years, where valuable merchandise got destroyed in the closed shops and the people were not allowed to shift them to safer places which caused huge financial losses to them.

The elders said in some areas of Bara tehsil, the situation had become normal where the villagers had returned homes but the facilities were not available to them.

They said schools and hospitals had been closed and there was no arrangement to educate the children.

Meanwhile, the Fata Students Organisation on Saturday demanded scholarships for displaced students to help them pursue education.

“In the past, the government offered scholarships to all Fata students but now, it has stopped doing so in an unfair move adversely affecting the studies of poor children,” the FSO said in a statement issued here.

The FSO said students of Landi Kotal were denied scholarships on the plea that their area was safe compared to other areas.

Published in Dawn, August 31, 2014