• PTM claims 2.3m people still displaced, over 76,000 martyred
• KP governor calls for unity among Pashtuns to defeat ‘nefarious designs of enemy’

KHYBER: The Pashtun jirga organised in Jamrud by the recently proscribed Pashtun Tahaffuz Movement (PTM) with the government support concluded on Sunday with delegates deploring the impact of militancy and subsequent anti-terrorism operations over the last two decades that had displaced millions.

The delegates, from different political parties and professional organisations, held discussions at 60 separate enclosures to present their recommendations for the final declaration at a relatively larger forum. The final declaration was not issued till 8pm on Sunday, and is likely to be issued following deliberations among the stakeholders on its contents.

The mobile phone network remained suspended for the fourth consecutive day in the area.

During the three-day assembly, the organisers displayed data on human and financial losses on large screens, which also featured details of militant attacks in the province as well as statistics on natural resources in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan.

According to data collected by the PTM, military operations during the last two decades displaced 5.7 million people, out of which at least 2.3m people are still homeless.

Participants were informed that as many as 76,584 people, including 1,375 tribal elders and 3,000 religious figures, were martyred in bomb blasts and targeted killings during the past two decades and at least 6,700 people went ‘missing’. Similarly, 370,000 houses and mosques were either completely or partially destroyed as a result of terrorism and anti-terror operations, it claimed.

The statistics also focused on natural resources and a sense of deprivation among locals who availed “very little or no benefits” from their extraction.

The PTM urged the delegates to ponder over the damages and natural wealth of the region and come up with recommendations for a future line of action.

PTM leader Manzoor Pashteen asked the delegates to also include in their proposals the demand for the security forces and the outlawed Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan to vacate the tribal belt within 60 days.

He claimed that peace would naturally return to the area. He chided political parties for failing to mobilise even 3,000 each of their supporters for the jirga.

Final day

On the last day of jirga, a large number of people continued to arrive in Jamrud, leading to long queues near Karkhano Market where people remained stuck for hours. The security of the main compound was managed by volunteers while police were deployed on the routes leading to the venue, both from Jamrud and Peshawar.

Besides parking, the organisers had made elaborate arrangements to facilitate the visitors and delegates, with food and drinks available at dedicated stalls.

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A sizeable number of women’s rights activists and students from different educational institutions in Peshawar were also in attendance on the final day. There were rumours of a day-long extension but the organisers clarified that the final declaration would be issued on Sunday evening.

Meanwhile, KP Governor Faisal Karim Kundi, who also visited the Pashtun Qaumi Jirga, told the participants that the province’s key issue was militancy.

He said police and the armed forces were fighting against militants and offering sacrifices for the past 24 years, adding that these sacrifices were not hidden.

“We will have to unite for the province’s rights and resolve its issues,” the governor urged in an official statement issued by his office.

He appreciated the jirga and said that the enemy’s nefarious designs could be thwarted with unity. He claimed that the PPP offered the largest number of sacrifices to ensure law and order in the country.

Published in Dawn, October 14th, 2024