The standoff between political administration of South Waziristan Agency (SWA) and junior clerks took an ugly turn as the Mehsud tribe decided to hold a protest at the political compound in Tank district on Monday (today) against what they called oppressive tactics of Political Agent Zafarul-Islam Khattak.
A few days ago, Political Agent Zafarul-Islam Khattak sent a dozen junior clerks – locally known as Political Moharirs – behind bars for holding a peaceful protest to ask for the regularisation of their services.
The junior clerks were put in political lockup in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP)’s Tank district, but they were shifted to Dera Ismail Khan’s central jail on last Thursday.
Since the arrest of the junior clerks, the whole administrative work has stopped and the tribal people have no option but to wait out the standoff.
Mehsud tribe constituted a 17-member jirga to iron out the issue between political administration of SWA and the junior clerks peacefully.
However, the jirga has yet to find out an amicable and mutually agreed solution to the issue despite holding several rounds of talks with the local administration.
Mehsud tribe’s grand jirga will be held in political compound in Tank district, where strong protest will be held to press the political administration to resolve the issue.
Tribal elder Sherpao Khan told this scribe said that a result-oriented dialogue is only possible if the political administration releases the detained junior clerks first.
He said that junior clerks were arrested unlawfully, because they were protesting for acceptance of their due demands, and committed no crime.
Talking to Pakistan Today, Jamiat Ulama-e-Islam-Fazal (JUI-F) MNA from South Waziristan Muhammad Jamalud-Din asked the political administration to stop their coercive measures and resolve the issue through talks forthwith.
He said that the junior clerks had discharged their duties for 18 to 20 years at a time when no one was even ready to visit the trouble-hit area.
The MNA said that they put their life at risk to work in the militancy-ridden area. He said that, ironically, instead of rewarding the good work the junior clerks have done, they are being deprived of their jobs as normalcy returns to tribal areas, after the start of the military operation.
The junior clerks held a protest demonstration against the new system introduced by the FATA Secretariat a few months ago under which fresh people will be hired on the junior clerk positions through the National Testing Service (NTS).
The junior clerks are of the view that the system has been introduced merely to deprive them of their services, as most of them are now over-age and are not eligible to appear in the NTS test.
The political administration’s officials were not available to comment on the issue despite repeated attempts.
