In the war on polio, tribesmen lose on all fronts

The Express Tribune

Tribesmen in North and South Waziristan have become collateral damage in the war on polio. While Taliban commanders have banned immunisation drives in both agencies, the political administration has refused to give residents government documents, including national identity cards (CNIC) and passports, if any child in their family is found unvaccinated. Criticising the new policy, chief of the Uthmanzai tribe in North Waziristan, Malik Qadar Khan, said that despite the fact that polio workers were killed in Karachi and Peshawar, the government did not impose such restrictions there. “We are Pakistanis too, so why has the government resorted to this?” Qadir said, adding that they have held jirgas with political officials to look into their concerns, but no progress has been made so far. South Waziristan Political Agent (PA) Shahidullah Khan, however, insisted that documents will only be issued after a person shows an authentication paper signed by a doctor verifying that his children have been administered polio drops. “The restriction is only for those people who intend to apply for fresh domiciles, CNIC and passports,” he added. All efforts to persuade people to administer polio drops to their children have failed, he said, adding that polio cases are rising in the tribal areas. On June 15 last year, Taliban commander in North Waziristan, Hafiz Gul Bahadur, banned anti-polio drives in the agency “unless drone strikes ended.” He also said that anyone who disobeyed these orders would be “held responsible for their actions.” Following this decision, the Mullah Nazir group in South Waziristan also banned anti-polio vaccination in its agency on June 25. After several unsuccessful negotiations with tribal elders, the political administration on directions of the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (Fata) Secretariat on December 17, 2012 banned issuance of official documents to Wazir and Dawar tribes across the agencies. Meanwhile, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf has said it will set up a protest in Islamabad if a ban on issuing official documents by the North and South Waziristan administrations is not lifted. PTI Chief Organiser Dr Bashir Ahmad Khan said the party will hold a hunger strike camp outside the Supreme Court of Pakistan and also hold rallies against the decision of linking the provision of obtaining CNICs and passports with polio vaccination. The issue has been taken up with the Election Commission of Pakistan, which has requested the Fata additional chief secretary to explain the matter, Bashir said. No response has been given as yet, however. “If the issue remains unresolved, our only option is to approach the Supreme Court against this injustice,” he said, adding “If the tribesmen are unable to get CNICs, how are they supposed to cast their vote?”