PESHAWAR, Jan 4: Over 50 chieftains of different sub-tribes of the Dawar and Mehsood tribes have urged the government to refrain from introducing police and local bodies systems in their tribal belt.

Speaking at a news conference at the Peshawar Press Club on Friday, Malik Qadir Khan, chief of North Waziristan tribe, said that Quaid-i-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah had assured their ancestors in July 1947, that the government would never interfere in the affairs of tribesmen.

If the government wanted to replace the present system in these agencies, it should introduce Shariat rather than imposing the corrupt local bodies system, he added.

He said it was a consensus decision of the tribesmen to keep their traditional system intact and oppose the new system. “We are opposed to the local bodies as our women don’t cast votes. It is a corrupt system and repugnant to our customs,” he added.

He said they were defendants of borders since 1947. “We have never sought any reward from the government and it must honour our tribal system,” he added.

Haji Malik Mohammad Sharif Dawar, Malik Haji Khan Zar, Malik Haji Jan Mohammad Toori Khel and Malik Haji Qudoos Jan also spoke on the occasion.

It may be recalled that the government had announced that it would introduce the local bodies system in the tribal agencies in order to bring them at par with other developed areas.

The government also wanted to bring structural changes to the agencies by changing their status from agencies to districts.