Never Ending Ordeal Of South Waziristan IDP`s
More than 434,000 people remain displaced from South Waziristan, more than six years after a military operation was launched in the area to clear it of militants, officials and displaced families have told Tanqeed.
Interviews with the internally displaced people (IDPs), state officials and political leaders from the area, which is part of the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA), reveal that thousands of the displaced continue to live in miserable conditions, hoping to one day be able to return to their homes.
But the ISPR- the propangandu unit of the Paki Fauj paints a rosy picture of the situation !Most of the IDPs live in areas adjoining South Waziristan, including Tank and Dera Ismail Khan, but others have gone as far afield as Quetta, Rawalpindi, Peshawar and even Karachi. So far, authorities say that 2,800 families – or about 19,600 people – have been repatriated to the areas of Chagmalai, Sararogha, Sarwakai Shahoor, Mandana, Siplatoi, Spinkai Raghzai and Kotkai.
The Rah-e-Nijat military offensive began in October 2009, triggering a mass exodus from South Waziristan, the birthplace of the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan and home to several other militias.
After the initial flood of IDPs first left the tribal area, the FDMA had promised they would return within two weeks. Today, six years on, the vast majority remain displaced.
In those six years, IDPs say, they have lost everything: their businesses, livestock, access to education, and even their homes, many of which have either been washed away in flooding, or destroyed by shelling.
Moreover, many told Tanqeed that they were regularly discriminated against by law enforcement and state officials, who alleged that they had links to militant organisations, in their areas of relocation.
Slowly and surely, they are alienating all non-Pakjabi sections of their society In those six years, IDPs say, they have lost everything: their businesses, livestock, access to education, and even their homes, many of which have either been washed away in flooding, or destroyed by shelling.
Moreover, many told Tanqeed that they were regularly discriminated against by law enforcement and state officials, who alleged that they had links to militant organisations, in their areas of relocation.
According to the FDMA, around 28,000 families (or 196,000 people) are currently living in Tank and Dera Ismail Khan districts without access to a regular source of income. Many have established their own small businesses to make ends meet, including tea stalls and kiosks. Others drive rickshaws or work as daily wage labourers.
“We have sacrificed our today for a prosperous tomorrow of the country. But we are shocked to see the behavior of our officials toward us. We have sacrificed everything but in return we are facing with only humiliation,” said Awal Khan Mahsud, who runs a tea-stall in Dera Ismail Khan.
Life was difficult for him, Awal Khan said, stressing that between paying Rs10,000 rent and his household expenses, he was barely able to make ends meet.
“We are leading refugee lives in our own country,” said Rehman Gul, another IDP. “Why have the authorities concerned left our area neglected for years and why did they not develop the region at a time when it is part of Pakistan?”
Kherullah Mehsud, from the village of Dwatoi, drives home that point.
He said that if the people from his area were not rehabilitated, both mentally and physically, then the inevitable result would be “a state of extreme hatred and rage.”
In other words, the pakhtun code - Pushtunwali- with its attendant tenet of Badal ie revenge will be fully implemented !
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