The senior leadership of the Opposition in the National Assembly voiced solidarity with the tribal elders and vowed to raise their concerns on the floor of the House. A delegation of the tribal elders from the South Waziristan comprising Wazir and Mehsud tribes called on the senior leadership of the Opposition bench including Omar Ayub Khan, Asad Qaiser, Mehmood Khan Achakzai and others at Parliament House on Monday.
The tribal elders apprised the Opposition leaders on the objectives of their demonstrations and highlighted the problems arising from lack of compensation for the damages by the Federal Government, ‘One Document Regime’ and the subsequent closure of Angoor Ada border.
The participants of the meeting jointly passed a resolution underlining the redress of grievances and joint effort to demonstrate for the constitutional rights of the people of ex-FATA. The Opposition Leader endorsed their demands and vowed to raise their grievances on the floor of the House and advocate for their rights outside the Assembly. The leadership of the Tehreek-e-Tahaffuz-e-Ayeen-e-Pakistan vowed to support the demonstration of the residents of Waziristan.
They collectively demanded for compensations to address the damages inflicted by military operations in the region and urged the Federal government to honour its commitments made to the people of the tribal areas. They highlighted the destruction of homes, displacement of families, loss of livelihoods, and the overall disruption of socio-economic infrastructure as key areas requiring compensations.
They urged the Federal government to approve Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Government’s demand for compensation and demanded allocation in this regard in the upcoming budget. It was regretted that despite promises, only tokens are issued to the residents of the region and no compensation has been made since last eight years.—NNI
