South Waziristan Agency (SWA) Political Agent Zafar-ul-Islam Khattak has placed a dozen junior clerks behind bars for staging a peaceful protest for the regularisation of their services.
The PA of the trouble-laden region is being called oppressive for his actions.
The protesting junior clerks, locally known as Political Moharirs, were put in political lockup in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa’s (KP) District Tank City. They were later transferred to Dera Ismail Khan’s central jail on Thursday.
Asghar Mehsud, a junior clerk, while talking to Pakistan Today said that they have 18 to 20 years of service under their belts as junior clerks, but they were denied their legitimate right to be regularised.
He said that the junior clerks have been discharging their duties at a time when Federally Administered Tribal Area (FATA) in general and South Waziristan in particular, was passing through the most critical time of its history owing to the on-going war against terrorism.
Asghar said that they were working by putting their life at stake, whereas the Political Agent was sitting in his well-guarded offices, so he had little idea of the hardships they were faced with during this time.
He lamented that instead of regularising their services, the FATA Secretariat had introduced a new system a few months ago, under which fresh people were to be hired on the junior clerk posts through National Testing Service (NTS). He vowed to never let this happen come what may.
He said that most of the protesting junior clerks are now overage and are not eligible to appear in the NTS test. He asked what they should do if they are replaced with fresh candidates.
Asghar said that the incumbent PA Khattak had held out assurances to the junior clerks repeatedly that no new recruitment would be allowed as long as he holds his post.
“We will continue our protest demonstrations until we are regularised,” he said, warning, “we will not let the political agent and other officials work if our genuine demands are not met.”
He demanded of the president, prime minister, army chief and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa governor to take notice of the issue and regularise their services.
A team of senior officials from the FATA Secretariat arrived in Tank to interview of fresh candidates; however, owing to the protest the whole process has been scuttled.
A senior official from the FATA Secretariat in Peshawar on the condition of the anonymity told this scribe that the political agent of South Waziristan is known for his inefficiency and ineptness. He has no ability to settle issues in a peaceful manner, which is why such problems surface often.
Despite repeated attempts, neither the PA nor any other concerned officials could be reached for their comments in the matter.
