PESHAWAR: Qaumi Watan Party has expressed its concern over the problems being faced by the internally displaced persons (IDPs) of different tribal regions and urged the government to take pragmatic and immediate steps for their rehabilitation.

Speaking at the Fata workers convention on Saturday here at Watan Kor, the party`s central secretariat, QWP chairman Aftab Ahmed Khan Sherpao said that the prolonged stayout of their homes had made the lives of the displaced people ex tremely miserable.

He also asked the government to compensate IDPs as they had suffered heavily during displacement.

He said that these people had suffered the problems for the sake of the country and the nation and it was duty of the rulers to compensate them so that they could restart life with dignity.

Mr Sherpao said that the tribal people had been exposed to untold miseries over the last 30 years. `The IDPs have left behind all their belongings and shifted to safer places in a state of compulsion. They have been rendered homeless and jobless,` he said, urging the government to announce a comprehensive financial package for them.

Referring to the bloodshed in theArmy Public School, Peshawar, on Dec 16, he said that the whole nation shared the grief of the families that lost children in the barbaric attack.

He said that the school massacre pointed to the failure of the provincial government to maintain law and order and provide protection to the people.

`The government should scrap the policy of good and bad Taliban.

The time has come that indiscriminate action should be taken to eradicate the scourge of terrorism,` he maintained. The country, he said, could not make progress unless concrete steps were taken for the restoration of sustainable peace. He said that it was time that the government should take decisions to hit hard terrorists and all those challenging the writ of the government.

Mr Sherpao demanded the sepa-ration of the judicial and executive powers in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (Fata) and asked the government to ensure judicious distribution of funds for its development. He also called for extending jurisdiction of the superior courts to Fata so that the people could avail of the chances to get easy justice. He said that the job quota for the tribesmen should beincreased.

The QWP chief suggested that a fresh census should be conducted to determine the exact population of tribal areas so that funds could be earmarked for Fata`s development accordingly. Party`s senior vice-chairman Bakht Baidar, provincial chairman Sikandar Sherpao and general secretary Hashim Babar were also present on the occasion.ration of the judicial and executive powers in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (Fata) and asked the government to ensure judicious distribution of funds for its development. He also called for extending jurisdiction of the superior courts to Fata so that the people could avail of the chances to get easy justice. He said that the job quota for the tribesmen should beincreased.

The QWP chief suggested that a fresh census should be conducted to determine the exact population of tribal areas so that funds could be earmarked for Fata`s development accordingly. Party`s senior vice-chairman Bakht Baidar, provincial chairman Sikandar Sherpao and general secretary Hashim Babar were also present on the occasion.