EDITORIAL: It’s about time the government and the security establishment put their heads together and did something about repatriating displaced Tirah valley residents who have been living away from their homes since the military operation of 2011. Their predicament, and frustration, is understandable.
First they were told that they’d be allowed back once their area was cleared, quite naturally. Then everybody was told, some years later, that successive military operations were successful and the old Fata area, now part of KP, was indeed cleansed of all militants.
Yet a lot of residents of Tirah were still kept well away from their lands; on the pretext that their homes were too close to the border.
Now, once again, the few that had returned have been asked to pack up and leave, giving the impression of an impending operation of some sort which, given the rising wave of terrorism over the last year, seems to make sense. But that once again begs the question of how long people must stay away from their homes. Most families have not seen their lands for 13-14 years, and there’s still no telling when they’d be allowed back.
That has led to protests, particularly blocking of the Torkham highway, which is causing discomfort to residents, travellers and businesses alike, and costing traders on either side of the border something like Rs100-200 million every day. Surely, such an arrangement cannot last indefinitely.
And there’s only so much for the people to do in the uncomfortable and indefinite interregnum as they hop from place to place, some staking out with relatives here and there, others forced to still make camp in the open when they run out of places to turn to.
Now, with Torkham highway blocked for most of the day, stationary trucks and angry drivers are also adding to everybody’s misery. The last thing that the state should do in such circumstances is stay silent, and that is precisely what it has been doing for almost a decade-and-a-half now.
This is as unacceptable and unforgivable as this situation is untenable. Let’s not forget that this part is among the poorest in the country, which means truck drivers, also struggling to make ends meet, are often the lone breadwinners for their families. And leaving them stuck in no man’s land with no end in sight naturally risks pushing a good lot of them towards more unscrupulous ways of making a living.
Granted, the state has its hands full with the resurgent insurgency. But its first and foremost responsibility is still to the people of the country. It must immediately engage with the Tirah tribesmen and address their concerns. The people know that the road ahead is anything but easy.
Already fierce clashes between security forces and TTP (Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan) militias, in and around Tirah, have killed a number of civilians, including children. And since it is so close to the border, Tirah is likely to remain shut for a while to come, especially if another operation, which seems all but inevitable, starts in that area.
These are fragile times. The ex-Fata area is where Pakistan’s many pressing problems — economic collapse, poverty, terrorism — come together, which ought to make the government put a lot more time in addressing its problems than it cares to.
Winning over the civilian population on the ground is central to crushing insurgencies. The state has had considerable experience in this business over the last two decades. Yet it seems to let an open wound fester for no good reason.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2024
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