KHAR: Tribesmen on Saturday complained about ban on motorcycle riding in Bajaur Agency saying it’s stressed them out, and demanded immediate end to it.

They also threatened agitation against the ban after one week.

Addressing a news conference here, local Jamaat-i-Islami leader Qari Abdul Majeed, Bajaur Motorcycle Dealers Association president Adil Hussain, Bajaur Motorcycle Mechanics Union president Rehmanuddin and representatives of other walks of life said the ban on motorcycle riding in the agency was unjustified, especially after the restoration of peace.

They said the riding of motorcycles posed no threat to peace in the agency and that motorcycles had never been used in terrorist activities, including targeted killings.

The speakers said the ban had affected the common man, who used motorcycle as a means of transportation.

They said at least 10,000 people in the agency, including mechanics and traders, were directly or indirectly affected by the ban.

The speakers criticised local lawmakers over indifference to their misery and demanded the relevant authorities, especially Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Governor Engineer Shaukatullah Khan, to ensure early withdrawal of the said ban.

They also warned that they would agitate in the agency against the administration and hold a demonstration in the front of the Governor’s House in Peshawar after one week against the ban.

MONEY DISTRIBUTED: PML-N MNA Shahabuddin Khan on Saturday distributed Rs1.9 million worth of compensation cheques to the families of the May 2012 suicide bombing in the Bajaur Agency headquarters.

The cheque distribution ceremony took place here.

A cheque of Rs300,000 was given to the family of a dead and that of Rs10,000 to each of the injured.

The MNA told participants that the federal government was committed to maintaining peace and its writ in the tribal areas and was taking every possible measures for it.

He said the government-Taliban peace talks had entered final stage and that the people would hear a good news soon.

Mr Shahabuddin said use of force couldn’t result in sustainable peace, so the government had opted for dialogue.

He said the government was proud of local tribesmen for rendering great sacrifices to restore peace.

The MNA said the government would continue offering financial support to the victims of militancy and their families in tribal areas.