KHAR: Pakistan Muslim League-N, Fata information secretary Abdul Manan Janbaz on Sunday resigned from the party office in protest against the federal government’s ‘wrong’ policies on the tribal region.

He made the announcement at a press conference here. “I’m resigning from my post as PML-N Fata information secretary in protest against the federal government for not fulfilling the promises it made with the tribal people during the general elections,” he added.

He said he remained committed to the party, but its ‘wrong’ policies towards the tribal areas had forced him to quit the party office.

Mr Janbaz said scores of activists and senior leaders were likely to resign from the party in coming days as they were not happy with the government’s policies towards Fata.

Responding to a question, Mr Janbaz said though he didn’t yet decide to join any party, he would do so after consultations with his colleagues.

ILLEGAL LAND OCCUPATION: The people of Barang tehsil here have expressed concern over the ‘illegal’ occupation of their lands by an influential elder, and demanded of the local administration to stop him from doing so.

Addressing a press conference here the other day, they alleged a senior pro-administration tribal elder, Malik Haji Bahdar Shah, was forcing people to vacate their lands with the support of some officials of local administration. They alleged the elder had got prepared fake documents of their lands. They said the tribal elder, himself a former political administration official, had gotten an NOC from the mines department to start excavation of minerals on the lands.

They criticised the local administration for not taking action against the elder despite repeated complaints. They said the silence of the officials over the issue proved that someone in the local administration was supporting the elder. They threatened to turn violent if their concerns were not addressed.

They also demanded of the KP governor to take notice of the matter.

When contacted, a senior official of the local administration told Dawn they had formed a committee to solve the matter through peaceful means. He said the NOC issued to the elder for excavation of minerals had been cancelled.

Published in Dawn, January 25th, 2016