By Zulqernain Tahir
A vehicle with refugees passes along the main road of Kandar in the Swat Valley.—AP
LAHORE: The first batch of about 250 members of Sikh community left on Thursday for their native areas in Swat, Buner and other places of Malakand division from where they had been displaced because of clashes between militants and security forces.
Some 3,000 Sikhs, including women and children, had moved to Gurdwara Panja Sahib in Hassan Abdal and Rawalpindi in April and May.
‘We are happy that the return of Sikh IDPs to their homes has begun,’ Evacuee Trust Property Board Chairman Syed Asif Hashmi told Dawn.
He was not sure how long it would take for all the Sikh IDPs to return to their homes.
He said the IDPs had been looked after at the gurdwara and the board had made arrangement for education of their children. ‘We will continue to provide all the facilities till the return of the last IDP,’ he said.
On the other hand, former chairman of Pakistan Gurdwara Parbhandik Committee Dr Surang Singh who also looked after the interests of his community in Buner told Dawn that electricity in Pir Baba had not yet been restored.
He complained that despite the IDPs registration at Gurdwara Panja Sahib, only 300 of them had received the smart card through which an IDP got Rs25,000 to buy commodities.
Besides, he said, the government also did not fulfil its promise of issuing ration cards through which they could get free flour for six months.
He urged the authorities concerned to look into the problems. Surang Singh, however, praised the ETBP chairman for helping them at the gurdwara.
‘We are really happy to leave for home and we wish that peace lasts in our areas,’ he said.
It is also learnt that the Punjab government has approved a special relief package of Rs6 million for the Sikh IDPs to help them to return to their native areas.
DAWN: Friday, 17 Jul, 2009
