TIMERGARA: Women teachers of Timergara and Talash have demanded of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Pervez Khattak, minister for education Atif Khan and director elementary and secondary education department Rafiq Khattak to immediately cancel transfer order of the sub-divisional officer Shaheen Begum, who has been replaced by a male officer.

In separate statements teachers of government primary schools from Timergara and Talash said a male sub-divisional officer would not be able to manage girls’ schools in the area. They said female teachers could better raise their issues with officers of their gender instead of male ones. The teachers said they would not like a male officer to visit their schools frequently and check their performance.

They said Shaheen Begum had been an active, honest and punctual officer in the area who had efficiently managed the subdivision. They said literacy rate also increased during her tenure as SDO Timergara while students and teachers’ attendance improved.

SDO Timergara Shaheen Begum was transferred and posted as SDO Adenzai. She was replaced by a male officer. It merits a mention here that the number of sub-divisions has been increased to five from two in Lower Dir and majority of female posts for SDO have been filled by male officers.

INDIAN ATROCITIES PROTESTED: Members of the Lower Dir district council staged a protest rally against the Indian government and its army’s atrocities against Kashmiris, here the other day.

District naib nazim Abdul Rashid, who is also the house convener, led the protesting members who marched on the road from district assembly hall to Kalony Bazaar. Carrying banners and placards they also chanted slogans against the Indian government and its army.

On the occasion, naib nazim Abdul Rashid, opposition leader Malik Mohammad Zeb, Maulana Mohammad Imran and others condemned Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s aggressive posturing against Pakistan and said Pakistanis would teach a lesson to India if it dared launch any adventure against Pakistan.

They said people from Dir and other tribal areas had fought bravely against the Indian army during 1948 and 1965 Pakistan-India wars and they would again fight side by side with the Pak Army if India violated international borders. Through a unanimously passed resolution on the occasion the district council members demanded of the UN to implement its resolutions on Kashmir issue.

Earlier, members of the district council during a session demanded of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government and Lower Dir administration to register all non-custom-paid vehicles.

Published in Dawn October 2nd, 2016