Govt employees from Buner reluctant to return

SWABI: Despite repeated announcements by the government asking the displaced public sector employees from Buner district to return to their hometowns and resume duty, majority of them are still reluctant to return.

The NWFP government declared on Sunday that all government employees should reach their respective departments and resume duty as peace has been restored to the Buner district.During a visit to the IDPs camp here, a number of government employees told The News that some of their colleagues had gone to Buner but soon returned to camps because of unpredictable situation there.

Ameer Zada, a primary schoolteacher, said: “I went to my village on Sunday to assess the situation, but it will be very difficult for us to leave for homes and resume our duty.”Sardar Ali, an employee of the Health Department, said that those belonging to Daggar and Chamla areas had returned and resumed their duties but dwellers of Pir Baba region were yet to decide about their repatriation. He also said that his colleagues had advised him not to come there in the existing situation.

Besides government servants, common displaced persons were also not ready to return to home because of uncertainty and volatile situation in the area. Some displaced persons also said that their womenfolk were not ready to go back due to Taliban phobia. They said that there was a tremendous psychological pressure on them and they were being haunted by the fear of militants’ terror. It was, however, witnessed that some of the dislocated residents of Buner, where peace has been restored, were on their way homes.

Sher Zamin Khan, a resident of Palodhand area, which connects the Buner and Swabi districts, said he had seen a few trucks, pickup vehicles and tractor-trolleys carrying Buner IDPs and their belongings on way to their villages.