2 women, one child die cold in Tank ---Mehsud IDPs living in harsh environment demands govt help

Saleem Mehsud

TANK, Jan 25: Two women and a child, belonging to the Mehsud Internally Displaced Families (IDPs) fell prey to the chilly weather in their makeshift houses made of bushes in Gomal and adjoining areas here on Wednesday.

Sources said that few days back with snowfall on the nearby mountains, the mercury dropped while the Mehsud IDPs living in makeshift houses were not able to keep themselves warm in the intense weather due to lack of quilts and other necessary items which resulted in the death and spread of various diseases among the IDPs.

Dozens of IDPs families were living in Gomal, Narseries, Sinder, Ragzai, Manjai, New Abadi, Garnai and other Union Councils of Tank city which lies at the border of South Waziristan Agency (SWA) where operation against the militants loyal to slain Tehrek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) commander Baitullah Mehsud was launched in 2009. Since then the Mehsud families were forced to stay away from SWA and they were living in harsh and unfriendly environment and fell several times prey to various epidemics and other disasters.

With the coming of chilly weather due to snowfall, the IDPs lost one child identified as Usman who was three years old in Sinder area. Family of the deceased said that they were living in harsh environment long time ago, complaining that government and private organizations were extending help to the influential families while poor were left helpless and were forced to live in an environment where life is not possible.

Two other women belonging to separate IDPs families were first caught by fever due to intense prevailing cold and then lost their lives in Nurseries and Ruknai areas where IDPs were living in houses made up of bushes because they were not able to construct mud houses.

Meanwhile, it was also reported that two other women were caught by fever and then subsequently paralysed due to lack of proper medicine and other basic facilities. The families heads complained that they were not even able to feed their inmates and to provide medicine to the sick was not possible for them.

The IDPs complained that as Mehsud area has no Member of the National Assembly because election were not held in their constituency and Senator Saleh Shah has never turned his way towards them to listen to their miseries once in the last four years, adding that neither politicians from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa visited the poor Mehsud IDPs nor any head of the major political parties came to witness IDPs worsening condition.

The political administration and even the army officers were not coming to redress our grievances who were making tall claims that IDPs were living in better environment. IDPs complained that media also was not projecting and gathering news related to the miseries of the IDPs.

They demanded of the government to pay heed to the miseries of Mehsud tribe IDPs who are living in the terrible conditions for the last three years and initiate measures for their help on war footing basis.