PESHAWAR, Aug 1: The federal government has decided to organize an exhibition of, and a day-long seminar on, hand-made weapons of Dara Adamkhel.

The Small and Medium Enterprise Development Authority (Smeda) is the organizer of this rare event.

The two-century-old gun-manufacturing market of Dara Adamkhel houses 900 small and medium-sized factories, all of them illegal, and some 150 arms and ammunition shops. It is Asia’s biggest market of illicit arms.

The exhibition will showcase the potential of this local industry in defence-related exports such as sporting/hunting arms and replicas of vintage weapons.

The exhibition would be followed by a seminar which would highlight the need to strengthen links between the local arms sellers and defence manufacturing organizations.

In 2001, the military government launched a countrywide anti-arms drive in a bid to curb the “Kalashinikov culture” that provides easy access to illegal weapons.

The Peshawar police reportedly seized 3,390 weapons which included Kalashinikovs, rifles, shotguns, pistols, cartridges and rocket launchers.

Dara Adam Khail town, sandwiched between Peshawar and Kohat, is considered the biggest manufacturer and supplier of low-cost arms. The arms manufacturers and dealers of Dara are reputed worldwide for fine imitation of vintage weapons.

The anti-arms drive hit the arms industry, which had become almost a cottage industry in Dara and a source of pride for the arms artisans. Almost 70 per cent of the industry closed down.

Due to the de-weaponization drive and a ban on display of arms, the arms market faced a slump and many artisans had to work as labourers during the construction of the Kohat tunnel.

The Smeda, in collaboration with the Defence Export Promotion Organisation (DEPO), is trying to regularize the defence equipment manufacturing potential in Dara Adamkhel.

Mohammad Tariq, one of the seminar organizers, told Dawn that they had exposed the arms-making talent of Dara to the defence equipment manufacturing organizations and foreign market.

The Smeda does the networking of artisans with DEPO and other organizations, introduces the arms-dealers and artisans with foreign buyers. Two arms artisans of Dara took part in an exhibition in Germany and Saudi Arabia and displayed their talent.