With peace, dreams of Buner students also shattered

SWABI: Like hundreds of other students uprooted from Swat, Buner and Lower Dir districts, the anti-Taliban military operation has also shattered the dreams of Omer Rahman, who wants to become an engineer to serve his beloved country.

Instead of holding books in his hands while studying at the lush green fields of Buner or attending classes at the Daggar Degree College, Omer was standing in a queue with hundreds of his village and town people at a governmental office in Colonel Sher Khan Killay of Swabi to register his name and those of his family members in the list of internally displaced persons (IDPs).

Wearing black shabby shalwar-qamees, with his black shoes covered with dust, Omer said his family arrived in Swabi a day earlier after covering miles of distance on foot to avoid being killed by the helicopter gunships or a stray artillery bullet, which have become a symbol of dread for Buneris.

“I missed to appear in a test for admission in NUST (National University of Science and Technology) because of the operation,” the teenager sobbed. He is a student of third year, but he was re-appearing in the FSc (pre-engg) examination to further improve his marks from the existing 775 and manage to get admission at a University of Engineering and Technology (UET).

“I narrowly missed the chance to reach an engineering university...only four points away in the entry test,” Omer said in a chocked voice while looking away to hide his grief. He said his FSc exam for improvement of marks was underway when the security forces personnel entered their college, ordered the students of ‘C’ Hall to hands up for body search and then the examiners announced that the examination had been cancelled.

The announcement dealt a severe blow to the dreams of the young man who, along with nine other classmates, have set the target of 800 marks and were determined to reach the UET this time. “We were midway when the examination was cancelled. Three papers were given and while attempting the fourth, the announcement of exam cancellation came upon us like a thunder from the sky,” he recalled.

Omer again burst into tears as he recalled his last night telephonic conversation with his nine colleagues, who were also appearing in the FSc examination to improve their position and made their way to an engineering university. “All of us ended up in a refugee camp instead,” said the aggrieved young man.

Omer said he and his colleagues continued attempting the examination despite twice fired upon from the nearby mountains while coming for papers. He said they used to come via other routes instead of using the main road to Daggar College to carry on with their papers.

“I was sure of cent percent results this time as my prep was excellent,” said Omer who was more concerned about his educational future than his family, farms, crops, cattle and a house in Daggar village, the main town of Buner district.

Like other IDPs, Omer’s family is living in a house offered by their benefactors from Colonel Sher Khan village. Many IDP families from Buner are presently living in houses with people from different villages, including Karnal Sher Khan Killay, Sherjana, Speen Kanee, Dagai, Yar Hussain, Tolandai, Shera Ghund, Shewa, Parmolo, Had Khan, Hamaza Dher and Kalo Dher of Swabi district.

Fifteen-year-old Ayub was another student standing in the same queue to register himself as a refugee for a few loaves of bread, a few kilograms of rice and some sugar from a government centre in the same area.

Like his senior partner, Ayub, a student of 8th class at a private school in Daggar, was also concerned about his education. He said his father was in Dubai and he (Ayub) was the only male member who led the family through Tor Sak, Jawar and Kalpanai areas to reach Swabi. Ayub’s family is also living in the house of a villager in Dagai village.

Shahenshah, another student from Kalpanai village, is living with his family at a camp set up by a local politician and philanthropist Liaqat Tarakai. Student of the Modern Public School in Kalpanai village, Shahenshah has just promoted to class 9. He said he had left his new books and could not bring them while in a hurry to save their lives.

The NWFP government, which seems to be more concerned about financial assistance nowadays, has not devised any strategy so far to address the problems of students like Omer Rahman.

Education Minister Sardar Hussain Babak hurriedly said they were doing something for the displaced students when he was told about the touching story of Omer Rahman during his visit to the Yar Hussain IDP camp the same day.

However, the minister delivered an untiring lecture to this scribe about highlighting the problems of IDPs and the financial problems of the provincial government to draw more aid and financial assistance from the international donors and the federal government.