KHYBER: Hundreds of internally displaced families of Kukikhel tribe will return to their homes in the bordering region of Rajgal in Tirah valley today (Friday).

Officials said that a cash grant of Rs20,000 would be given to every returning family along with provision of necessary non-food items. They said that cheques would also be distributed among the families whose houses were damaged due to acts of militancy some 12 years ago.

They said that development projects would also be initiated in the area once the return of the displaced families was completed. “Schools, health units, roads and bridges would be constructed while local residents would be provided with monetary and technical assistance in restarting agricultural and trading activities,” they said.

The local people had to vacate their houses and took refuge in Jamrud, Peshawar and other cities of the country when Taliban insurgents forcibly occupied the Rajgal heights and surrounding areas in 2010.

A military operation was launched to flush out all the militants from the bordering areas of Tirah while the displaced families had to impatiently wait for 12 years to go back to their homes and resume normal life.

PROTEST: Scores of civil society and political activists held a protest demonstration in Landi Kotal on Thursday against district administration’s refusal to allow them to participate in a consultation meeting about Accelerated Implementation Programme.

Addressing the protesters, local leaders Zar Noor Afridi and Mirajuddin accused the district administration of concealing their weaknesses in regard to execution of development projects and anomalies in allocation of funds.

They said that only a handful of the local elders were invited to the consultative meeting while members of the civil society and representatives of political parties were denied entry to the jirga hall where the meeting was held.

The protesters said that political parties had struggled hard for years to get rid of the notorious Frontier Crimes Regulation, which had curbed political and human rights of the tribal people. They alleged that the present administration reverted back to the black era of FCR by ignoring political leaders in their consultation for the development of the region.

Published in Dawn, March 4th, 2022