In the heart of Peshawar, a grim story of exploitation and unchecked corruption is unfolding at the Afghan Commissionerate. Dozens of employees, hardworking and loyal, have been left without salaries for over a month—thrust into poverty, despair, and hunger.
Household kitchens have gone cold. School fees remain unpaid. Empty bags of groceries sit in corners like silent witnesses to a growing tragedy. Families are surviving on hope and little else. Yet no authority seems to care. On the other side of this suffering are the senior officers—living lavishly in DHA mansions, cruising in luxury cars, and dining like royalty, as if the cries of their subordinates never reach their ears.
At the center of this storm is Chief Financial Officer Ataullah, widely accused of large-scale corruption. Despite being dismissed and fined by the Federal Ombudsman for harassment, Ataullah astonishingly continues to sit comfortably in office, untouched by law or consequence. Then there’s Commissioner Shakeel Safi, a former WAPDA officer now residing in a one-kanal palace in DHA. This is the same man who once hesitated to approve minor office expenses. Today, his wealth is staggering and unexplained.
Sources allege that this wealth has been built brick by brick from the salaries and benefits stolen from innocent employees. Many were illegally terminated, their wages divided like spoils among corrupt officials. This office has ceased to be a center for public service. It has become a fortress of fraud, where accountability is a myth, and corruption rules unchallenged. The public and affected workers are left with haunting questions: Where is the government that once championed transparency? Where are the watchdogs of justice and equality? And why does justice only seem to favor the powerful
