Cancellation of fresh appointments demanded

CHITRAL: Member National Assembly Shahzada Iftikharuddin has appealed to the chief minister to cancel all fresh appointments in Broghil National Park to end discrimination.

“I call upon the KP chief minister to take notice of the massive discrimination in appointments made in Broghil National Park by the KP Wildlife Department,” he said in a statement.

He maintained that of the 14 jobs where fresh appointments were made not a single Wakhi speaker from the native Wakhi tribe was recruited to the dismay of many highly qualified local job-seekers.

He said the chief minister must take note of the massive irregularities in the discriminatory treatment meted out to Wakhi speakers.

“It has increased sense of alienation among Wakhi tribe who live in the 100 kilometre long Broghil valley where the national park is located,” he added.

“The irony is that there is rampant poverty and unemployment in Broghil border area and only source of income is livestock but when it comes to new jobs the locals were totally disregarded making a mockery and joke in the name of conservation,” he added.

The lawmaker said that any conservation measure that meted out inhuman treatment to native Wakhi speakers would backfire as it would be devoid of an inbuilt sense of ownership and the fresh appointment already rejected as a cruel joke by local village council chairman Amin Jan Tajik and the native Wakhi tribe is also unacceptable to the people of Chitral.

Given local sensitivities involved, he asked the CM to take note of this discrimination and direct the Wildlife Department that all qualified locals were given an equal opportunity in the skilled jobs and all class-IV should be given local Wakhi people.

“The government needs to take practical steps so that the Wakhi people start believing that the government is there to safeguard and advance their interests side by side with the conservation of the nature i.e flora, fauna and above all does not mete out inhuman treatment to the Wakhi people who had willingly asked the government to initiate conservation measures in the Broghil National Park,” he added.