Pakistan: Federal Govt should shed ego, accept foreign help for IDPs

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Former president and Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Co-Chairman Asif Ali Zardari has called upon the government to give up its “callous attitude” towards the internally displaced persons (IDPs) of North Waziristan who are stranded in camps in Bannu and gear up the relief efforts on war footing.

In a statement on Monday, PPP spokesman Senator Farhatullah Babar quoted the former president, saying, “The IDPs are our national heroes in the war against terror and neglecting them in this hour of trial is a criminal and callous act that will not be condoned under any circumstances.

According to the statement, Zardari said that the government’s “neglect” of the IDPs and reports that defunct militant groups are secretly engaged in indoctrinating the displaced people under the cover of philanthropy is a sure recipe to turn the IDPs into sympathisers of militants and extremists.

The former president recalled that the IDP crisis faced by the PPP-led coalition government in 2009, as a result of military action against anti-state elements in Swat, was resolved within a few months.

He added that there was no reason why the challenge posed by the displacement of people from NWA cannot be handled.

The PPP co-chairman that in the wake of floods and huge displacements caused by it in 2010, the PPP government had invited UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon who had launched a global appeal to help the flood victims. He said that the war against terror is a global fight and the international community should not be barred from rehabilitating the IDPs in accordance with the recognised principles of such assistance.

“The government should shed its ego and mobilize the entire nation to assist in the relief and rehabilitation of the IDPs,” he said.