Information Minister Attaullah Tarar speaks with Interior Minister Talal Chaudhry during a press conference at the Press Information Department on Saturday. Photo: PID/ File
The federal government on Saturday called the Khyber National Jirga an “indictment” against the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa government, alleging poor governance and calling on the provincial authorities to apologize for what it described as “the construction of a false narrative”.
A jirga (tribal assembly) was convened at Bara Bazaar in Khyber district today under the aegis of Khyber National Jirga.
The jirga leaders said the Tirah Valley had been abandoned on the orders of the provincial and federal governments and called for immediate relief for the affected residents. They also urged the federal government to come up with a plan for the return and rehabilitation of the displaced population.
Speaking to a private TV channel, Information Minister Ataullah Tarar said the jirga had not only demanded restoration of peace but had also leveled serious allegations against the KP government. He said the jirga had concluded that the provincial authorities were guilty of mismanagement and corruption and had failed to deliver for the people.
“This is a huge indictment of the KP provincial government – the Rs 4 billion allocated for people’s relief, displacement, registration and assistance has no accountability,” he said.
Read: Political parties, tribal elders demand relief for displaced Tirah families
Tarar criticized the provincial government as well as Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf ministers and senior leaders, saying their representatives often appeared on television and engaged in what he called verbal attacks and theatrics, but were absent on the ground in the Tirah Valley.
“After all, Tirah is within KP. It is a provincial subject and falls under provincial administration. Their performance is nil. Rs4b allocated to the people – the nation will demand an account of every penny and ask where that money went,” he said.
The minister said the provincial government had tried to shape a narrative, but the jirga had questioned what tangible steps had actually been taken for the people of the area.
Citing allocations under the National Finance Commission, he said the entire nation had sacrificed and provided the province with billions of rupees for counter-terrorism, yet no counter-terrorism department was set up, no Safe City cameras installed and there were no schools, colleges, hospitals or universities in Tirah.
Tarar questioned whether there were any check posts, check houses or police stations in the area, adding that the performance remained negligible despite extensive rhetoric.
Also read: Security official dismisses reports of Tirah Valley military operation as ‘propaganda’
He said that in matters of law and order, the people of Tirah looked to the Pakistan Army for protection against terrorists and to curb militant activity, adding that the jirga had also expressed confidence in the armed forces.
Demanding an apology from the KP government, Tarar said the manner in which the situation in Tirah was exploited and the narrative built around it warranted an apology to the entire nation.
“They should fold their hands and apologize to the people of Tirah and admit that they were wrong, that they failed to do anything for them and remained preoccupied with hollow political rhetoric,” he said, adding that they remain engaged in statements and trolling while performance and delivery were completely lacking.
Jirga findings expose ‘false narrative’: Talal Chaudhry
Interior Minister Talal Chaudhry also demanded an apology from the KP government, saying a jirga convened by a major political alliance had supported the federal government’s position and exposed what he called a false narrative built by the provincial authorities.
Speaking to a private TV channel, Chaudhry said the jirga’s findings “gave no room” to the version presented by the KP government.
He said it had been established that decisions regarding Tirah were made by the residents after assessing the actual conditions on the ground and that they left the area according to an agreement reached between the people of Tirah and the provincial government.
“These people (the jirga) have explained in a very clear way all the things that the federal government was somehow trying to convey to the public,” he said.
Chaudhry criticized the provincial government, claiming that instead of fulfilling its responsibilities, it resorted to what he described as false propaganda to hide poor performance and incompetence, exacerbating the suffering of the people.
“Today’s jirga has sealed that a large chunk of Rs4b fell victim to corruption and embezzlement – money meant for the people of Tirah,” he added.
Also read: PHC told that neither federal nor KP government approved Tirah operation
He further said that the jirga had found that none of the promises made to the people of Tirah regarding the construction of hospitals, schools and police stations had been fulfilled. According to him, despite eight to nine years since 2017, not a single hospital has been built in the area.
Chaudhry said the residents were forced to migrate due to the lack of basic facilities and the absence of the government order. He added that when federal forces were deployed to restore peace, they were met with recriminations instead of cooperation.
He said the forces engaged in restoring peace, fighting militancy and ensuring security were being subjected to what he called baseless accusations rather than the provincial government acknowledging its own shortcomings.
“Instead of admitting their own mistakes, lies and false allegations were concocted against the same army which became a savior of the people who are fighting there, driving out and killing the Khwarij and restoring peace to them,” Chaudhry said.
Chaudhry reiterated his demand, saying that in light of the jirga’s findings, there was no justification for the KP government to remain silent, insisting that it must apologise, as the allegations, he said, had been made deliberately for political purposes.
