Jirga to overcome violence in Kurram Agency: Aurakzai
PESHAWAR: The NWFP Governor, Lt Gen (retd) Ali Muhammad Jan Aurakzai, on Tuesday said that 60 persons, including the security forces personnel, had been killed in Parachinar fighting and the ongoing Jirga would hopefully overcome the situation.
Addressing a function jointly organised by the provincial law, parliamentary affairs and human rights department and the Unicef in connection with the Universal Children’s Day here and later talking to reporters, he said the casualties could even be more than what he had mentioned and the information he had received so far.
He said the government was trying to overcome the situation and hoped that a tribal Jirga would succeed in restoring peace.
The government, he said, was also trying to take measures for stopping innocent children from joining extremist organisations but it was not the responsibility of the government alone. It was also the responsibility of the parents and civil society to stop their children from moving towards extremism, he added.
“We are trying to eliminate corporal punishment in schools. The NWFP is the first province to have stopped punishing students in schools and now the law will be extended to schools in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (Fata) so as to encourage students to attend schools instead of moving towards extremism,” the governor said.
The participants highly appreciated a skit presented by children highlighting the problems of children in schools, homes and society.
Aurakzai said that all segments of the society must focus on proper upbringing of children to make them useful citizens. “We have to reach the remote areas of the province as well as Fata, especially to provide better health coverage to our young generation and to ensure congenial educational atmosphere in institutions,” he said.
The NWFP Caretaker Minister for Law, Parliamentary Affairs and Human Rights Justice (retd) Mian Muhammad Ajmal, Secretary Law Shahid Nasim Khan Chamkani, Unicef Country Representative Mortan Mawajan and CPO in Pakistan Ershad Karim also addressed the gathering.
The governor underlined the importance of sensitizing people about their positive role in this respect and mentioned his personal experiences of extending help to the deserving.
“To help in making someone a useful citizen is really a great source of personal satisfaction. In fact, there exist a large number of physically handicapped as well as poor children wandering here and there because of lack of financial resources and a great number of amongst them are highly talented. There is a dire need for focusing on them not only to make them useful citizens but also to protect them against negative trends,” he said.
Source: The News
Date:11/21/2007
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