SHANGLA: Gul-i-Afshan Tariq, who has been on a motorbike ride across Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Gilgit-Baltistan for last 18 days, reached Bisham here on Tuesday from GB. The 24-year-old woman wants to secure her name in the Pakistan Book of Records by spreading a message across the world that Pakistan is a peaceful country.

Ms Tariq, who recently did software engineering from National University of Science and Technology (Nust), has already covered a distance of 4,000 kilometres across KP and GB, against her target of 3,000 kilometres.

“I started my journey on May 6, and have already travelled most parts of KP on the rugged roads of the province. My travels have taught me a lot about the rich culture of the province,” Ms Tariq from Sargodha told Dawn.

She added that it was her dream to travel on motorbike across the KP province and GB to promote soft image of Pakistan in the world.

“During my journey I met minor accidents because of the bad state of roads, but I’m grateful to God that there was no lasting harm,” she said.

She praised the hospitality of Pakhtuns, saying the people treated her with immense respect. She said her marathon bike ride would also give encouragement to women of Pakistan.

She said her next destination was Kohat. Then I will travel to Peshawar where I plan to hold a press conference to conclude my journey, maintained Ms Tariq, who started her trip from Islamabad.

She said she was inspired by her father, Major retired Tariq, who also travelled across the world, adding her travel expenditures were borne by a group of Swat youth.

“I also approached the government and other organisations for help, but they refused. However, I am thankful to Swati youth for supporting my journey,” she said.

COUNCIL SESSION ABRUPTLY ENDED: The Shangla district council meeting ended abruptly on Tuesday without taking up the agenda, after the councillors walked out over the alleged misbehaviour of the convener, Kamran Iqbal.

About 10 members were present in the meeting and remaining were on their way, but the convener suddenly announced postponement of the session till 10am on Wednesday, forcing the members to walk out and stage a demonstration outside the council hall.

Councillors Intikhab Alam, Hayat Khan, Sarfaraz Khan and others told mediapersons that the convener was unaware about the rules and regulations of the local government. They said no one had asked him to prorogue the session.

“The meeting was called to discuss the budget spending by the district council, but the convener postponed it without any reason. And in protest, we would not attend the next session,” said councillor Sher Ali.

Several attempts were made by this correspondent to contact the convener for his version on the matter, but he did not attend the calls.

Published in Dawn, May 24th, 2017