By Hamid Khan Wazir
WANA: The residents of Ahmedzai Wazir tribe of district South Waziristan continued to hold protest sit-in on the 14th consecutive days on Wednesday in front of the Frontier Corps (FC) Camp in Wana under the banner ‘One-Wazir’ against not-inclusion in the list of temporarily displaced persons (TDPs) and non-payment of compensation.
The Ahmedzai Wazir set up a protest camp here in front of FC Camp demanding due compensation for the damages caused during militancy and military operations.
A huge number of people present in the protest camp, who pressed the government for the acceptance of what they called due demands, as the area has badly affected by the decade-long war against terrorism.
The participants of protests demanded of the government to set up teams for a survey of damages in their areas during militancy and military operations. They said they are peacefully protesting for their long-denied compensation; however, they vowed that the protest would be continued till acceptance of their demands.
The protesters said different operations were launched in their areas after 9/11 in which people from Ahmedzai Wazir tribes suffered the most. They said the government has not included the people from the Ahmedzai Wazir tribe into the list of TDPs and never paid them any compensation. They said the most perturbing fact is that the government doesn’t even consider them to be the affected people and they are not entitled to any compensation from the government side.
They faced all the hardship for the safety and security of the country; hence they should be included in the TDPs list and due compensation should be given to the residents of the war-affected area.
The participants were of the view that the government didn’t hammer out a comprehensive policy to assess the damages as bazaars and markets had been blown up, gardens had been destroyed, besides financial loss mainly caused by the closure of the shops during all these troublesome period.
They said that the government should give serious consideration to their demands and formulate a comprehensive and clear policy not only to assess the damages but to ensure speedy and true compensation as well, as the people of the area faced great hardship.
Local leaders of the Awami National Party (ANP), Pakhtunkhwa Milli Awami Party (PkMAP), Jamaat-e-Islami (JI), Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) and Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) also announced full support to Ahmedzai Wazir tribe in its demand for payment of compensation for damages.
They lamented that Ahmedzai Wazir tribesmen have offered countless sacrifices for the country and they will never hesitate if more sacrifices are needed in the future; however, the government has not awarded the tribesmen for their sacrifices and they are even being denied compensation for their damages.
