KHAR: Residents of Lowi Sam area of Bajaur Agency on Saturday staged a protest against a longstanding ban on reconstruction of their damaged houses and other commercial properties and demanded of the authorities to lift the bar immediately.

Scores of people holding black flags participated in the protest led by Mohammad Hasham and Mian Zahir Shah. The protesters started marching from different areas of the region and gathered on the main Khar-Peshawar highway and staged a sit-in there.

The protesters expressed anger over the ban and said the people of Lowi Sam area had always supported the administration in its efforts to establish peace in the region, and suffered extensive damage to their houses and commercial properties during militancy.

They pointed out a majority of the inhabitants of Lowi Sam had been living outside the region since 2008 following their houses were destroyed in the fight against militancy. The protesters lamented that the authorities were not allowing the residents to reconstruct their damaged houses despite peace had been restored in the region.

They said that the ban on reconstruction of their houses was a matter of serious concern for the locals as they had been living in squalid IDP camps for last 10 years. They appealed to the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa governor, Crop Commander Peshawar, Bajaur Agency political agent and other civil and military officials to withdraw the ban so they could launch construction works on their damaged houses.

Published in Dawn, December 31st, 2017