LANDI KOTAL: Traffic on Peshawar-Torkham highway remained suspended for two hours on Monday owing to a demonstration by the students from various government schools in Jamrud to protest suspension of their scholarships by the political administration.

Activists of various political parties also expressed their solidarity with the protesting students who had organised the demonstration on the call of the student wing of Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf.

The protesters called off their agitation and agreed to reopen the road after an assurance by the local elders and officials of the political administration that their concern would be addressed.

Meanwhile, the journalist community of Khyber Agency also held a demonstration at Jamrud Press Club to protest ‘use of abusive language’ by MNA Nasir Khan Afridi against a local journalist.

The protesters warned of a similar demonstration at the Bab-i-Khyber on coming Sunday if the MNA did not tender an unconditional apology to the reporter.

ROAD ACCIDENT: At least 10 persons were injured when two speeding vehicles collided near Teddi Bazaar in Jamrud on Monday.

Doctors at local hospital said a critically injured person was shifted to Peshawar while the rest were discharged after provision of first aid.

AMMUNITION, FERTILISER SEIZED: The Khasadar force on Monday seized 5,000 cartridges and an AK-47 rifle from a van near Charbagh in Landi Kotal. The driver of the vehicle was also arrested.

Officials said an attempt to smuggle urea fertiliser to Afghanistan was foiled by Khasadars who recovered at least 300 bags of urea from a truck at the Torkham border.

FATA CRICKETERS DISPLEASED: Cricket enthusiasts across Fata have expressed their displeasure over non-inclusion of a team from tribal areas in the ongoing Pakistan Super League in UAE.

They also lambasted the selection criteria for five competing teams in PSL and insisted that talented cricketers were denied an opportunity to perform in the event.

They also complained of long hours of loadshedding due to which they could not watch live matches on television.

Mohammadullah, a cricketer from Khyber Agency, said players from Punjab, Sindh, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and even Islamabad were provided all the required facilities to show their talent and participate in such international events but the same was ‘intentionally’ denied to players from tribal areas.

Imran Khan, a sports journalist, believed that tribal areas had a large pool of talented cricket players and a number of them were already representing different departments at the national level.

He said almost all the agency cricket associations were affiliated with the PCB and Fata players had shown exemplary performance in domestic cricket but even then they were not considered for PSL.

Published in Dawn, February 14th, 2017