Second phase of compensation for S. Waziristan tribals begins today

[Kabira]

PESHAWAR: The second phase of the payment of compensation for damaged houses in South Waziristan Agency will begin today (Friday).

A total of 4,700 militancy affected families of Mehsud tribe will be paid cash during the phase.

The Reconstruction and Rehabilitation Unit of the Civil Secretariat Fata under the federal government-funded Citizen Loss Compensation Programme had paid compensation money to 5,445 of the 5,575 families in the first phase.

An official told Dawn that the steering committee consisting of officials of the relevant departments, army officers and local elders had verified the cases of 4,700 families for compensation and that they would be paid cash assistance.

4,700 militancy-hit families of Mehsud tribe will get payments for damaged houses
He said 40 families would get cash compensation during a ceremony to be held in Chagmali area of South Waziristan today (Friday).

The disproportionate use of force by security forces against militants in tribal areas, especially South Waziristan Agency, had caused widespread damages to houses, commercial properties and other infrastructure.

In addition, weather was another factor that caused severe damage to houses in the last few years.

After the completion of military operations, the government announced the payment of compensation for damaged houses. The RRU is paying Rs400,000 for a fully damaged and Rs160,000 for a partially damaged house in the militancy-hit tribal area to the affected families.

The official said the survey teams had identified around 6,000 damaged houses in third phase in South Waziristan and that owners would be paid compensation once the government released funds.

“The survey of damaged houses in Mehsud area is likely to be completed in five phases,” he said.

The official said the army units had begun immediate reconstruction of drinking water, health and educational facilities in the area.

Payment of compensation in North Waziristan Agency is also in progress.

Around 2,000 houses damaged in the Zarb-i-Azb military operation have been surveyed in North Waziristan.

The authorities had paid compensation to 397 affected families in North Waziristan so far, while the next phase of payment of compensation will start very soon.

The official sources said teams had completed survey of 4,100 damaged houses in Khyber Agency, too.

Another official said delay in the release of funds from the centre had caused delay in payment of compensation to militancy-stricken families.

He said the civil secretariat had asked the federal government to release Rs1.2 billion to be paid to the families in Khyber Agency.

The official said the survey of damaged houses had been completed in different areas of Khyber Agency.

Also, the payment of compensation for damaged houses in Kurram and Orakzai agencies hangs in balance.

The civil secretariat had released Rs193 million and Rs150 million for Orakzai and Kurram agencies, respectively, but its payment has yet to begin.

Officials said the return of IDPs to their homes was going on very fast compared to the payment of compensation to the irritation of returnees.

The government has already announced the return of all IDPs to their homes in Fata by the end of December.

According to the Fata Disaster Management Authority, a total of 245,246 families has gone back to Fata while the rest will be repatriated by the end of the year.

The return of IDPs to Kurram, Orakzai and Khyber agencies is near completion, while that of IDPs to Orakzai Agency is likely to be completed by November 15.

Published in Dawn, November 4th, 2016
http://www.dawn.com/news/1294169/second-phase-of-compensation-for-s-waziristan-tribals-begins-today

 

[haviZsultan]

The Mehsuds are held in low regard among a lot of Pashtun liberals and Pakistani nationalists for their role in violence in Pakistan. Latifullah Mehsud and two top commanders of the TTP, Baitullah and Hakimullah were both from the Mahsud tribe. Of course this is reckless classification of people as terrorists as an entire tribe cannot be terrorist. But the very foundation of the FCR collective responsibilities act is based on this premise and holds entire tribes responsible for the mischief of a few select individuals. If we look at it in tribal terms Fazlullah is a Yousafzai and Asmatullah a Bhittani.

A lot is at fault here. Including the system that rules FATA. The FCR should go away and steps should be taken to integrate the tribes.

 

[Talwar e Pakistan]

The Mehsuds are held in low regard among a lot of Pashtun liberals and Pakistani nationalists for their role in violence in Pakistan. Latifullah Mehsud and two top commanders of the TTP, Baitullah and Hakimullah were both from the Mahsud tribe. Of course this is reckless classification of people as terrorists as an entire tribe cannot be terrorist. But the very foundation of the FCR collective responsibilities act is based on this premise and holds entire tribes responsible for the mischief of a few select individuals. If we look at it in tribal terms Fazlullah is a Yousafzai and Asmatullah a Bhittani.

A lot is at fault here. Including the system that rules FATA. The FCR should go away and steps should be taken to integrate the tribes.

That is why FATA is going to be merged into KPK

 

[haviZsultan]

That is why FATA is going to be merged into KPK

Most of FATIAN's want that. Or the status of FATA as a new province. It will end years of negligence on part of the administrative setup for FATA. Even then though peace will not immediately come in FATA like some magic wand.

 

[خره مينه لګته وي]

A lot of WORK needs to be done in FATA as a whole...

- as far as my village is concern which is in S.waziristan,most houses are destroyed bcz of Op and the ppl who didn't go back to their Homes from last 16 yrs, who are settled in main cities...In our village most of the ppl are settled in main cities and they used to spent 2,3 weeks or one month in a village i.e in summer vacations...
- no one went back since the invasion of Afg and afterwards the violence in afg and some crazy folks slipprf into FATA and the killing of Maliks !! and the terrorists imposed their life style on ppl of Fata...
- imagine what would happen to your house if it is made of the Mud,stone with mud to support the boundary wall,wood is also used to support the roof and u don't take care of it for 15+ years ?? no one is preventing erosion !! and u leave it on the mercy of 2,3 feet snow + rain for 16 years !! obviously it wont be in good condition after 16 years !! yes its also true that many houses are damaged bcz of shelling and bombardments !!
- 400k Rs is not enough to build your house, u have to pay 30k Rs to one labourer and bring him from
Far-flung areas i.e D.I.KHAN and then u have to move all the required stuff to build ur house, the cost of building one functional room shoots up many folds !!

Latifullah Mehsud and two top commanders of the TTP, Baitullah and Hakimullah were both from the Mahsud tribe

yep, i agree with you !! and a lot of Mehsuds were against these terrorists, they were torturing innocent ppl and based on suspicion they used to hang people or cut their throats !! No music,ban on Attans (traditional Pashtun dance) !!
- yep,these terrorist brought us a bad name but now i hope everything will move in the right direction !!

- i'm not in favor of merging FATA with kpk rather it will be better to make it a new province !! Those who play religious cards for politics or pashtun cards (ANP,JI) needs to be ignored !!

few pics which i took 2 weeks ago !! quality of pics is not good bcz of some reasons !!

Jandola Tunnel.

Girls primary school,Silthuna Ladha, South Waziristan.

langerKhail,SouthWaziristan

every year 2,3 feet of snow + rains and it's left unattended and not taken care of for
16 years !!

 

[خره مينه لګته وي]

overall its a very beautiful place and it's less than 1% of what i'm showing u sorry for posting these pics !! off topic!!

there is a waterfall just 1 Km away from here,next year i will share a lot of pics InshaAllah.

 

[haviZsultan]

A lot of WORK needs to be done in FATA as a whole...

- as far as my village is concern which is in S.waziristan,most houses are destroyed bcz of Op and the ppl who didn't go back to their Homes from last 16 yrs, who are settled in main cities...In our village most of the ppl are settled in main cities and they used to spent 2,3 weeks or one month in a village i.e in summer vacations...
- no one went back since the invasion of Afg and afterwards the violence in afg and some crazy folks slipprf into FATA and the killing of Maliks !! and the terrorists imposed their life style on ppl of Fata...
- imagine what would happen to your house if it is made of the Mud,stone with mud to support the boundary wall,wood is also used to support the roof and u don't take care of it for 15+ years ?? no one is preventing erosion !! and u leave it on the mercy of 2,3 feet snow + rain for 16 years !! obviously it wont be in good condition after 16 years !! yes its also true that many houses are damaged bcz of shelling and bombardments !!
- 400k Rs is not enough to build your house, u have to pay 30k Rs to one labourer and bring him from
Far-flung areas i.e D.I.KHAN and then u have to move all the required stuff to build ur house, the cost of building one functional room shoots up many folds !!



yep, i agree with you !! and a lot of Mehsuds were against these terrorists, they were torturing innocent ppl and based on suspicion they used to hang people or cut their throats !! No music,ban on Attans (traditional Pashtun dance) !!
- yep,these terrorist brought us a bad name but now i hope everything will move in the right direction !!

- i'm not in favor of merging FATA with kpk rather it will be better to make it a new province !! Those who play religious cards for politics or pashtun cards (ANP,JI) needs to be ignored !!

few pics which i took 2 weeks ago !! quality of pics is not good bcz of some reasons !!

Jandola Tunnel.

Girls primary school,Silthuna Ladha, South Waziristan.

langerKhail,SouthWaziristan

every year 2,3 feet of snow + rains and it's left unattended and not taken care of for
16 years !!

Wrora though I continue to hear negative about Masid's I take a step forward to feel sorry for you guys and understand the plight of the average Masid. Mehsuds have raised lashkars to defeat the taliban and many elders and people seen to be sympathetic to the nation have been killed by the Taliban.

Mahsuds are stuck between a rock and a hard place. The government views waziristanis as potential trouble makers (criminals or terrorists) while the Taliban have killed countless elders and banned basic cultural practices like Attan. People often don't know about the atrocities of the Taliban. Even Imran Khan's Burki side (mothers side) has lost people in Kaniguram, the main town of Burkis. Taliban have been very active in Ladha and Makeen. The army too has not acted smartly. You would know how many times the bazaar in Makeen has been destroyed by the army and that included shops of average Maseeds (Maseeds are active in Kaniguram, Sararogha and Ladha areas for those who don't know. Bhittanis control the east of South Waziristan and Wazirs are in Wana. Burkis are in Kaniguram though Maseeds have been coming there)

Yet the people of South Waziristan, including the Wazirs, Burkis and the Bhittanis here, have never raised their voice against Pakistan and have a patriotism unseen in other parts. Surprising given the circumstances that Waziristan and even FATA is so completely ignored by the government and treated as an outside part of the county-yet the loyalty of Waziristanis remains intact. This is one of the reasons, the patriotism of pashtuns that I readily call myself more a pashtun though my links are very weak and even those weak links unproven.

By the way if I knew you before I would have asked you for help gathering information for my book which is about Waziristan and Swat valley and TTP's attrocities there. Those pictures from those areas you posted I particularly needed at one time.

 

[haviZsultan]

overall its a very beautiful place and it's less than 1% of what i'm showing u sorry for posting these pics !! off topic!!

there is a waterfall just 1 Km away from here,next year i will share a lot of pics InshaAllah.

Beautiful pictures. Maybe you could show us pictures of the houses. Is your house built like a fort too? Waziristan has a special housing style.

 

[خره مينه لګته وي]

Wrora though I continue to hear negative about Masid's I take a step forward to feel sorry for you guys and understand the plight of the average Masid. Mehsuds have raised lashkars to defeat the taliban and many elders and people seen to be sympathetic to the nation have been killed by the Taliban.

Mahsuds are stuck between a rock and a hard place. The government views waziristanis as potential trouble makers (criminals or terrorists) while the Taliban have killed countless elders and banned basic cultural practices like Attan. People often don't know about the atrocities of the Taliban. Even Imran Khan's Burki side (mothers side) has lost people in Kaniguram, the main town of Burkis. Taliban have been very active in Ladha and Makeen. The army too has not acted smartly. You would know how many times the bazaar in Makeen has been destroyed by the army and that included shops of average Maseeds (Maseeds are active in Kaniguram, Sararogha and Ladha areas for those who don't know. Bhittanis control the east of South Waziristan and Wazirs are in Wana. Burkis are in Kaniguram though Maseeds have been coming there)

Yet the people of South Waziristan, including the Wazirs, Burkis and the Bhittanis here, have never raised their voice against Pakistan and have a patriotism unseen in other parts. Surprising given the circumstances that Waziristan and even FATA is so completely ignored by the government and treated as an outside part of the county-yet the loyalty of Waziristanis remains intact. This is one of the reasons, the patriotism of pashtuns that I readily call myself more a pashtun though my links are very weak and even those weak links unproven.

By the way if I knew you before I would have asked you for help gathering information for my book which is about Waziristan and Swat valley and TTP's attrocities there. Those pictures from those areas you posted I particularly needed at one time.

i went there unprepared bcz i heard from ppl that taking cameras with u are not allowed or take pics and bcz of that i left Camera at home !!
- every 5 km to 10Km you have to stop on checkpoint and prove your identity and then they ask you whether you're registered or not !! and there was not enough time to stay there and to take a lot of pics and enjoy for a few hours bcz u have to go there and return back before the daylight fades away !!

if u want to stay there for one day then they take ur pictures + make a video of you and then u can proceed but staying there for 24 hrs wasn't an option !! bcz the infrastructure is destroyed and it's possible to stay there at night without a roof and proper arrangements !! next year we are planning to go there and repair our house so we can go there and stay there for few weeks in next summer vacations in winter it's very difficult to go there if govt work on developing infrastructure and promote tourism then i'm sure a lot of ppl will prefer to go there and enjoy the scenery,waterfalls etc etc

- yes,you are right about the killings of pro-govt lashkar members + Maliks !! locals were not armed to defend themselves and there was no chance to defend against those who are armed to teeth with all kinds of weapons !! and most of the ppl left these places and moved toward Kpk,Sindh,Punjab !!

- still there are a lot of mehsuds serving in army and i know some relatives they are also serving in the army..

- when i went there ppl were sad bcz of their houses are pretty much damaged but at the same time they were happy and relived bcz there is no more fear among ppl that Talis will ever return again !!

- Uzbeks,chechens used to live in one the school which is about 300+ meters away from this house...have some more pics but will share it later

_________________________________________________________________________________________
and i know some folks who were picked up from some places bcz of their affiliation with the banned grps...and there is no doubt the army seriousness, ttp and other extremist grps are completely flushed out..the only thing they can do is to launch attacks on army i.e on border areas !!

I take a step forward to feel sorry for you guys and understand the plight of the average Masid.

Thank you for your sympathy

Waziristan and even FATA is so completely ignored by the government and treated as an outside part of the county-yet the loyalty of Waziristanis remains intact.

yes, you're right..South and North Waziristanis always played their part when it came down to defending Pakistan and they used to send lashkars on eastern border whenever there was a war btw Pak-Ind...
- but the sad part is that they are still extremely poor and backward and still live in an awful situation...i hopeee this time change will come,it seems army is only pushing for the reforms and as usual just like before govt is not serious this the least of concern for the govt !! much of the roads and infrastructure which is still there is bcz of the army..i dont have high hopes from the govt side, they are moving forward but the pace of work is very slow and it's infuriating the tribal ppl !!


___________________________________________________________________________

these pis are taken in a place where no one dared to come back and live there i.e post 9/11 or more precisely after 2003 !! main reason was the security situation and most of the ppl were already settled in main cities of Kpk,Punjab,Sindh (I'm talking abt only my village) and they had govt jobs there + businesses and then in summer vacations they used to go back to S.Waziristan with kids,families to spend some time there !!

 

[Signalian]

@Fawad Masīd

Thank you for a great insight. A few questions which i hope dont irritate you Please give information.

How many roads are paved in the area you live? The buildings look like mud-stone huts.
Electricity supply?
Water supply? including piping?
Telecommunication infrastructure?

Which political party is in power there?

the security which stops you at check point is Police or which force?

which para military and security forces are present for duty in your area?

whats the system of governance in your town/city/village?

 

[haviZsultan]

i went there unprepared bcz i heard from ppl that taking cameras with u are not allowed or take pics and bcz of that i left Camera at home !!
- every 5 km to 10Km you have to stop on checkpoint and prove your identity and then they ask you whether you're registered or not !! and there was not enough time to stay there and to take a lot of pics and enjoy for a few hours bcz u have to go there and return back before the daylight fades away !!

if u want to stay there for one day then they take ur pictures + make a video of you and then u can proceed but staying there for 24 hrs wasn't an option !! bcz the infrastructure is destroyed and it's possible to stay there at night without a roof and proper arrangements !! next year we are planning to go there and repair our house so we can go there and stay there for few weeks in next summer vacations in winter it's very difficult to go there if govt work on developing infrastructure and promote tourism then i'm sure a lot of ppl will prefer to go there and enjoy the scenery,waterfalls etc etc

- yes,you are right about the killings of pro-govt lashkar members + Maliks !! locals were not armed to defend themselves and there was no chance to defend against those who are armed to teeth with all kinds of weapons !! and most of the ppl left these places and moved toward Kpk,Sindh,Punjab !!

- still there are a lot of mehsuds serving in army and i know some relatives they are also serving in the army..

- when i went there ppl were sad bcz of their houses are pretty much damaged but at the same time they were happy and relived bcz there is no more fear among ppl that Talis will ever return again !!

- Uzbeks,chechens used to live in one the school which is about 300+ meters away from this house...have some more pics but will share it later

_________________________________________________________________________________________
and i know some folks who were picked up from some places bcz of their affiliation with the banned grps...and there is no doubt the army seriousness, ttp and other extremist grps are completely flushed out..the only thing they can do is to launch attacks on army i.e on border areas !!


Thank you for your sympathy


yes, you're right..South and North Waziristanis always played their part when it came down to defending Pakistan and they used to send lashkars on eastern border whenever there was a war btw Pak-Ind...
- but the sad part is that they are still extremely poor and backward and still live in an awful situation...i hopeee this time change will come,it seems army is only pushing for the reforms and as usual just like before govt is not serious this the least of concern for the govt !! much of the roads and infrastructure which is still there is bcz of the army..i dont have high hopes from the govt side, they are moving forward but the pace of work is very slow and it's infuriating the tribal ppl !!


___________________________________________________________________________

these pis are taken in a place where no one dared to come back and live there i.e post 9/11 or more precisely after 2003 !! main reason was the security situation and most of the ppl were already settled in main cities of Kpk,Punjab,Sindh (I'm talking abt only my village) and they had govt jobs there + businesses and then in summer vacations they used to go back to S.Waziristan with kids,families to spend some time there !!

Bro, just hang on in there. I know the difficulty of leaving your own area or residence because the security situation is not optimal. I hope everything improves.

Those pictures are very nice and a birds eye view into the life there. If FATA had been developed on par with the urban areas and not ignored completely then the situation would not be so bad. The literacy rate for FATA is 22% while unemployment is over 60%. Where will people go other than militants. Still it is remarkable how lashkars and maliks have stood up to the Taliban with no resources at all.

I hope there is a better day for you one day. I want to see all regions of Pakistan at peace. Thank you very much for the information.

 

[خره مينه لګته وي]

@Fawad Masīd

How many roads are paved in the area you live? The buildings look like mud-stone huts.
Electricity supply?
Water supply? including piping?
Telecommunication infrastructure?

Which political party is in power there?

the security which stops you at check point is Police or which force?

which para military and security forces are present for duty in your area?

whats the system of governance in your town/city/village?

Roads are perfect till now...bcz they are completed recently & the flow of traffic on these roads is almost non existent so for some time repair work wont be needed !!

- there's no political party, local elders play their role in form of Jirga !!

- Majority of the personals i have seen on the way to ladha are of the Army and the rest of them consist of the (Khassadars) An irregular tribal police officers which are recruited from local population..Army have posts on top of the mountains and it's easy for them to keep an eye on the surrounding areas...

These are the kinds of checkposts on the way to Ladha and on every checkpost you have to prove
that you are registered and you have all the required documents !! you have to repeat this process
again and again...you want to go to an area which is 60km away then you have to stop on 10 checkposts
and wait for 10,15mins on each checkpost !!

- you have to go to nearby stream,river to collect water for all purposes whether it's for drinking,cooking and for other things.
on average u have to walk about 6 km to fetch water from river, streams and those who can afford it they use animals !!

it's on the hill top of Silthuna and its enough for 6 households but not for a whole village but still i appreciate it, it's better than have nothing

- if you remember in early 2000s you have to go to PCO to make calls,u have to stand in lines and wait for your number to come and then go to a booth, that was a case in cities like (Rawalpindi,Islamabad) but in S.Waziristan there was only one telephone and a big line of people waiting for their number

- Electricity ?? was not available in our village Kot Langer Khail & Ladha i.e till 1998 and two weeks ago when i went there, still no poles no transformers, nothing !!

Burning Kerosene Lamp At Night

 

[Samurai_assassin]

Didn't the army recently set up millitary colleges in North and South Waziristan?