A message by Tahira Abdullah concerning IDPs ........Dear all, As many of you may recall, in summer 2009, during the Swat/Malakand army operation against the TTP/Swat, we got together as a small, informal, volunteer group, working with our Swat-based friends and trusted partners, to help the lakhs of IDPs streaming down to the KP plains, and going further to the heat of the Punjab plains too - those in the official camps, and also those lodged with local host families or in public buildings. Subsequently, some of us continued our volunteer help to resettle and rehabilitate the IDP families on their return home in autumn 2009. We continued our volunteer work when the monsoon floods struck Swat/Malakand area with such unprecedented severity in summer 2010. Now, it is summer 2014, and we are in the midst of another military operation - this time in North Waziristan (NW). Within a week, over 3.5 lakhs (350,000) IDPs have left their cool mountain homes and are in dire straits in camps and makeshift arrangements with local hosts and in public school buildings, in the boiling heat of D.I.Khan, FR Bannu, Karak, Lakki Marwat, etc. In addition, many have simply crossed the invisible & porous & theoretical Border/Durand Line into various Afghan provinces/districts, where they have tribal affiliations, e.g. Khost. The unbelievable bad news is that the so-called progressive/liberal/nationalist NP Govt of Balochistan has decided to CLOSE its border with KP & FATA to prevent any IDPs from entering Balochistan. Similar news comes from the similar Govt. of PPP in Sindh, esp. re. banning the IDPs entry into Karachi. Such a decision is inhuman AND illegal too. It will have long-term negative effects on our so-called national pluralist identity and our national image..... So much for the love of ones compatriots & fellow citizens and for human beings.... What happened to our concept of humanity & humanitarian concern??? Why do the Baloch/Pakhtuns/ Brahvis/Settlers - all the residents of Balochistan - remain silent at this atrocity? And also, why is there a deafening silence from the multi-ethnic residents of Sindh?? Do they and their Govt erroneously consider all ethnic Pakhtuns to be terrorists/militants (sic)??? This is the worst form of racism, communalism, and ethnocentrism. Why have we not had any offers of residential accommodation, relief & help from the Big Wealthy Brother Punjab Govt - towards the D.G. Khan areas adjoining D.I.Khan? And, as usual, there is also a deafening silence from the Islamist religio-political parties and the self-styled religious leaders.... So now, very obviously, KP, FATA, FRs & PATA will yet AGAIN be left alone to bear the brunt of the influx..... We understand there will be over 700,000 IDPs within this week, and the final figure may rise further - but neither has the Federal Govt of PML(N) & FDMA, which directly administers FATA, nor the KP provincial Govt of PTI, made adequate arrangements for the IDPs, other than announcing a one-time lump sum amount of Rs.12,000 for family transportation and the forthcoming Ramazan food rations (again, one-time only). We learn that, as usual, public transport is simply not available, while the private transporters are once again fleecing the IDPs - making an easy killing by increasing their rates manifold (remember the transporters during EQ/2005, IDPs/2009 & floods/2010???). Where is the Govt monitoring mechanism to check and stop such open exploitation and highway robbery by private transporters?? Where is the public transport system??? We have learnt that the Taliban are escorting their NW host families (a number of whom are their relatives by blood or by marriage), to the south of KP, FATA and FRs, and are simply breaking down the locks of many private homes and public buildings (e.g. schools) for their lodging. The Taliban are also quietly dissolving or submerging into the IDP families, just as many of the TTP/Swat did in 2009.... We learn that the Army is working to screen & register the IDPs along with the FATA/FDMA, NADRA, & the KP & Federal Govts. We wonder at the doability, credibility, accuracy and efficacy of the screening mechanisms, based on our past experiences of TTP tactics. FYI: Scores of children are dying of dehydration and heatstroke en route from the cool areas of NW to the heat of the south and east. Hundreds of pregnant women ARE RIGHT NOW in childbirth - either dying or giving birth to their babies unattended, out in the open - on roads, pathways, in trucks, tractor-trolleys, buses, wagons, pickups, etc. We ask: where is our much-vaunted/flaunted so-called cultural respect for womens dignity and privacy??? Where are the public reproductive health care services??? Where are the Emergency Obstetric Care providers/facilities??? Where are womens basic human rights to life and dignity??? Where are the NDMA/PDMA/FDMA? Why have the IFRC/ICRCs & the UNs emergency humanitarian mechanisms (UN/HC office) not yet been activated, seeing as how we are unable or unwilling to deal with the IDPs crisis at the national level?? Or even to just acknowledge it??? Or have the current pygmy issues of political priorities yet again overshadowed and trumped the REAL CRISIS - i.e. the WAR of Zarb-e-Azb and the IDPs??? Are we blind to our brave soldiers in NW, fighting and dying for our very existence as a Constitutional State? And are we also blind to the ever-increasing miseries of the IDPs of NW??? Meanwhile YOUR help is needed once again. This time, we in Islamabad are too far away to purchase and truck the needed health/RH supplies, tents, food, water, and other NFI relief items to the IDPs. So we did some homework and found an excellent, renowned and highly credible, reliable and trustworthy NGO, through which we can channel our help. The registered (and independently audited) NGO is Khwendo Kor (KK), with HQs in Peshawar, working all over FATA and KP for over 2 decades now. It is run by Ms. Maryam Bibi, who is herself a Wazir tribeswoman from FATA, and they have operational offices in all the districts & towns where the NW IDPs are now entering & setting up their temporary lodgings, including a regional hub in Bannu and an office in Karak. Khwendo Kor is a Pashto word meaning Sisters Home. For more on KK, please visit their website: khwendokor.org.pk/. Some of us, who are discussing the dire situation (which is getting worse every hour), believe we could not do any better than to link up with KKs ongoing efforts. Those who wish to go and personally do volunteer work alongside KK staff in the current IDP areas of KP, FRs & FATA, are very welcome. Those who cannot undertake the journey are invited to help by raising and donating funds to KK for the North Waziristan IDPs - soon coming to half a million women, men and children - and counting. We look forward to your generous response for our very own fellow Pakistanis from NW/FATA. They have been suffering under the FCR law since 1901. They have continued to suffer deprivation, poverty and political exclusion even after Independence/1947. They have never had the same Constitutional rights and privileges that you & we have. They have been in a state of war since 9/11/2001 - and even before. But they are NOT the children of a lesser god. They are OUR OWN sisters, brothers & children. They could have been you or me.... Please help. With thanks and best regards, Tahira Abdullah, on behalf of Ghazala Minallah, Fauzia Minallah, Humaira Masihuddin, Madiha Syed, Falak Naz, Yusuf Karim, Maham Ali
Posted on: Tue, 24 Jun 2014 06:36:54 +0000
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