Hit by earthquake, ignored by govt, Dizg villagers hold first ever protest
Other women, including councillor Mrs Alam Khan and wife of Feroz Khan, also complained that relief goods and monetary compensation were provided to those who had links with the officials concerned of the government as well as NGOs.
The protest gathering was arranged after repeated requests by the residents of the village of about 100 houses for monetary assistance to repair their damaged houses fell on deaf ears. The protest was attended by about 300 people, including women, from Dizg and Khruzg villages.
The protesters said Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif had announced to pay Rs100,000 for each partially damaged house but his announcement was being violated and followed only to favour selected owners. They said almost 70 to 80 per cent of houses in the village were partially damaged with huge cracks but the owners were not paid any compensation. They said the survey teams discriminated against the people of the village and visited only their relatives and those who had links in the government departments and NGOs.
The protesters said the federal government had announced to waive bank loans but officials of private banks were still harassing the farmers to return the loans which they were unable to pay back. They asked the government to clarify its position and issue a notification to waive the loans.
The speakers also criticized Focus Humanitarian Organization for ignoring the village in the distribution of relief goods. They said none of the representatives of the NGO visited the village to survey the damages.
They warned that if the residents were not paid compensation for their damaged houses, they would block the road and would not allow the supply of relief goods to other areas.
One of the speakers, Nadir Wali Khan, said Telenor has installed its tower in Khotan Lasht, a public pasture, without taking the people of the village into confidence. He said the company should inform the residents if it had any policy of paying compensation to the local residents or not?
Those who also spoke on the occasion included Dinar Muhammad, Taj Uddin, Nadir Wali Khan, Gul Wali Khan, Councillor Murad Drust, Zahir Shah and Wali Khan Sangal.]]>
telenor tower se mutaliq news mehz jhoot ghalat propaganda hai,company already village dizg se ek ek shakhs ko appoinment kia hai
govt and ngos never did any work for our area in yarkhun from brep to boroghil. we voted for ppp and pml and also lots of votes to pti. they come before elections and disappear after that.
it is very encouraging that people of dizg have launched protest against govt and private ngos. next time people of bang, birzoz, pashk, khruzg, marthing and istach will also join the protest.
it is very unfortunate that the whole area from istach to birzoz has no facilities including medical centre.
our mna and mpa should take the matter seriously and resolve all issues of the area.
if the people of Deizh block the road for the people of middle and upper Yahrkhoon they would be facing further shortage of wheat and other items of daily use because the areas of upper Yarkhoon are more backward than Deizgh and other areas of lower Yarkhoon.They have the right to protest but this protest should not further marginalise the already vulnerable people of Upper Yarkhoon and Boroghol valley,But their demands are genuine demands.The political leadership of upper chitral plus the administration should pay a heed to their genuine demands.The Prime minister has already announced and waived the small agriculture loans and the concerned MPAs and MNA should bring this to the notice of the prime minister and remind him of his announcement in Chitral.
Nizar Ali Shah
Harchin Chitral