Delawar Jan
JALOZAI, Nowshera: Hamza rolled his beautiful eyes in sheer
innocence as he cuddled to his father’s leg. He wore a sweater and a winter cap
but his angelic face had turned rough due to biting cold. The little boy did
not understand what his helpless father, Musafar Khan, was discussing. “Hamza
was born here at the camp and now he has turned three years old,” his father
said, indicating years-long stay at Jalozai camp which was established to provide
temporary shelter to people displaced by military operations in Khyber
Pakhtunkhwa and Fata.
“Two other of my
children were born in this camp,” said the father of eight, worrying that the tented
village was turning into a permanent abode for them.
Hamza’s father might be
missing his native village and the old peaceful days, but the adorable child
had opened eyes in tent and played in the streets of this makeshift village. For
him, this is the world he knows. No nostalgia!
Musafar Khan was
displaced from Bajaur Agency’s Charmang area by fighting in August 2008. Others
returned but 1,340 individuals from Bajaur are still in the camp of 81,086
people. Data says that 311,540 IDPs are off-camp, mostly from Khyber Agency.
Musafar Khan braved
sweltering summers and chilly winters for five years in tents, yet he doesn't see life as IDP coming to an end any soon. It depresses him and others that
no-one in this country is concerned about their unending plight. He says
fighting and subsequent displacement has ruined his life, even turned him old
untimely. It drew laughter from people around him when the man with a long
white beard said he was 40.
“This card will prove I
have grown old prematurely,” he showed his national identity card. Unbelievably,
Musafar who was pictured for the card in 2009 had black hair and moustache and
was really 40 years old as indicated by his date of birth. “Life in this camp
has turned my hair and beard grey,” he said in harsh voice.
Musafar has not been alone
in the camp since 2008. A large number of people from Bajaur and the bordering
Mohmand Agency have been cooped up in tents at Jalozai camp for five years.
They did not expect they would live for so long in tents, and they do not want
to live here for years more. But probably the choice is not theirs.
Ajab Khan has probably
understood it. With mud mortar, he was erecting a wall of broken bricks to
protect his tent from chilly wind and to prepare for a longer stay. The
23-year-old young man said he had got married at the camp and had now a child.
“We are living here
because we are extremely impoverished,” said Ajab who lives with 30 other
family members. “My house in Loisam has been turned into a pile of rocks and now
the government disallows us to reconstruct it,” he alleged.
Statements of other
residents of Bajaur who were interviewed at the camp verified his claim. The
security forces have stopped them from rebuilding houses and growing crops on
their agriculture lands, they said. The IDPs said income means had been ruined
as the security forces had destroyed businesses and barred locals from
cultivating lands.
“I ran an electricity
hardware store in Loisam bazaar but that has been flattened now. So, I have no
business,” said Gul Badshah. “There is no electricity. No water. No facilities.
So, it’s pointless to go there,” he added.
Some families from
Mohmand Agency could also not return in the last five years. The security situation
in Mohmand is still unpredictable particularly in Safi, Khwaizai and Baizai
tehsils, said residents interviewed at the camp and in Mohmand Agency.
“Our house is undamaged
but Qandahari is still dangerous to live in,” said Farmanullah at the camp, though
official data claim ‘all Mohmand Agency IDPs’ have been repatriated. He was a
7th grader when his family left Mohmand but now he is a college student with a
light beard. His father’s general store was reduced to rubble in military
operation, and now he works at a kiln.
The overstayed IDPs
complain of being deprived of ration. The authorities have stopped giving them
ration despite knowing that they have no or irregular jobs, according to uprooted
people from Bajaur and Mohmand. “I used to work on my fields but have never
laboured for a wage. Today, I have the only option to labour for money,” Ajab
Khan said.
The displaced people
said they have run up huge debts in order to meet expenditures. “The camp life
deprived me of Rs50,000-60,000 savings and two tolas of gold. Now, I have
borrowed Rs80,000,” said Musafar Khan, who said he has currently no job. Ajab
Khan owes Rs56,005.
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