PESHAWAR: A grade 5th student from Dir Upper has sought help of government, political parties and civil society organisations to end a family feud that has claimed lives of his 13 relatives during the last one century.

Addressing a news conference at Peshawar Press Club on Monday, Ibadullah said that his family had an old dispute over a vast piece of land and forest with some people living in Saunai village of Dir Upper.

He said that several efforts were made to resolve the dispute but to no avail.

Flanked by some women of his family and relatives, the student said that scores of people from both sides were killed in the enmity that forced his family to leave their ancestral village.

He alleged that local police were supporting their rivals and discouraging efforts for resolution of the enmity.

“Some of our family members are still living in Dir but they cannot come out of their homes openly owing to fear of attacks. That’s why we (school students) have started efforts for resolution of the dispute,” said Ibadullah.

He said that the rival group had given share in the land property to some people to get their support against the real owners. “We are of the view that enmity is no solution to disputes. Such issues can be resolved through negotiations,” said the student.

He said that government, judiciary, security forces, civil society organisations and elders should come forward to resolve the 100-year long dispute and avert any further bloodshed.

Some of the relatives of the student including Mohammad Iqbal and Sher Wali said on the occasion that the only solution to the dispute was intervention by the government and law enforcement agencies.

They demanded of IGP Nasir Khan Durrani to play his role through the dispute resolution council and bring peace in Soor Kamar area where people were busy killing each other over ownership of a piece of land.

Published in Dawn January 17th, 2017