MQM seeks relief for Kurram violence victims

By By Mumtaz Alvi  9/20/2008

ISLAMABAD: Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) legislator Abbas Komaili on Friday called for emergency relief measures for hundreds of thousands of people stranded in the restive Kurram Agency, affected by the violence that started last year. Talking to The News, Senator Komaili, who, on several occasions, had raised the burning issue on the floor of the Senate, was concerned about the plight of traumatised women and children and the injured, as there was severe shortage of food items and medicines since long. He complained that the government was either facing pressure from within or had failed to comprehend the enormity of the human sufferings in Parachinar, where an element, enjoying foreign support, was targeting the local population, consisting of both Sunnis and Shias. The MQM parliamentarian pointed out that the PML-Q government and then the caretakers, and now the PPP-led ruling coalition had been describing the volatile situation in Parachinar differently.  Some time, it was termed as a result of infighting, violence between Sunnis and Shias and even a feud between two tribes ie Turi and Bangash.Komaili, who claims to have been in constant touch with some prominent people in Parachinar, said that Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani had promised on the floor of the Senate recently that medicines would be supplied there by helicopters, but, according to his information, there had been no significant progress so far on this count. He said a well-organised and well-coordinated effort was crucial to alleviate sufferings of the violence-hit population.Parachinar, spread over 1,305 square miles, is the capital of Kurram Agency. It is facing violence for the last 18 months, which has claimed hundreds of lives. "I just wonder, what really are the causes, which have barred the government from intervening and restoring peace in Kurram Agency. The nation wants to know why no effective corrective measures have been taken," he maintained. Asked why the incumbent government had so far not been able to restore normalcy, he said that the rulers were primarily engaged in political matters, having hardly any time to address this particular issue.