ISLAMABAD - Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Monday criticised the federal government for allegedly not allowing international agencies and non-government organizations (NGOs) to assist the KP government in relief efforts for the internally displaced persons (IDPs) of North Waziristan Agency (NWA).
At the same time, the federal government is allegedly refusing to aid the KP government in the ongoing IDP crisis where 900,000 displaced persons have now been registered in Bannu after fleeing the military operation in NWA, PTI chief Imran Khan said in a statement issued from the PTI’s Central Secretariat.
This had strained the resources of the KP government, which was providing assistance to the IDPs despite its limited capacity, Khan said in the statement. Hospitals are overstretched; doctors and medicines are in short supply and the threat of epidemics is looming large but the federal government is unmoved, said the PTI chief adding that the government’s focal person was nowhere to be found on the ground in Bannu.
Khan said it was regrettable how the federal government had failed to provide any assistance to the KP government and was instead creating hurdles in their way by excessive loadshedding. Even more shameful has been the federal government’s cutting off of electricity to 30 villages around Bannu. “We keep hearing of the federal government releasing money for the IDPs but where is it going? It is certainly not being given to the KP government which is bearing the brunt alone especially since international aid agencies and NGOs are not being permitted to assist the KP government in its relief efforts,” Khan asserted.
He added that the situation has turned KP into a calamity-hit area but the federal government is refusing to declare the province as such. The pleas of the chief minister (CM) KP have gone unheard by the centre at a time when KP is undergoing a severe humanitarian crisis. Now one hears that the PM is off for a week to Saudi Arabia at a time when he should be devoting his resources and time to steer the country out of the IDP crisis by giving visible leadership.
Khan said it was unacceptable to have a Sharif family oligarchy destroying the national fabric of Pakistan. Their lack of concern for the poor people of Pakistan has become only too evident in the IDP crisis.
Imran also questioned as to why the CM Punjab was being received by the governor Khyber Pukhtunkhwa against all protocol norms.
He pointed out that when the CM KP visited Punjab the Governor Punjab did not receive him. Khan said the Sharifs are creating an oligarchy in Pakistan, undermining democracy, by placing family and friends in official positions.
Khan added that the Sharifs were aggravating the feeling of deprivation in the smaller provinces by depriving them of their fair share of resources - many of which come from these provinces. Only recently Sharjeel Memon of the PPP had protested about the manner in which the Nawaz Sharif government was trying to intrude into the affairs of the Sindh government.