MANSEHRA: The residents of various parts of Kolai-Palas on Sunday blocked the Karakoram Highway to traffic, demanding of the government to annul the recently-notified decision about headquarters of the district.

The protesters blocked the KKH in Pattan, the district headquarters of lower Kohistan, for over eight hours.

“Former chief minister Pervez Khattak had notified Batera as the district headquarters of Kolai-Palas, but now Chief Minister Mahmood Khan annulled it and notified Palas as the new headquarters, which is not acceptable to us,” Mufti Qazi Saifullah told the protesters.

He said that the people of Batera and its adjoining villages would never accept the recent decision.

PML-N READY FOR agitation: Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz activists said here on Sunday that they were ready to start agitation against what they called political victimisation of former prime minister Nawaz Sharif and his family members in the name of accountability, but were waiting for a call from party chief Shahbaz Sharif in this regard.

“We are ready to start protests against the arrest of our party leader, Nawaz Sharif, but waiting for a call by the partly leadership,” MNA Sajjad Ahmad Awan told a meeting here. It was also attended by district nazim Said Ghulam and party’s district president Zafar Mehmood, who demanded of the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf-led federal government to release the former prime minister for treatment abroad.

Mr Ghulam said that his party should give a call to its workers to come on to the streets as Pakistan Peoples Party did recently when their leadership appeared before the accountability court in the federal capital.

UNDERAGE DRIVING: The Oghi police have decided to take action against underage drivers in the city and its suburbs.

“Many people have lost their lives on roads because of the rash driving by teenagers and henceforth they would not only seize their motorcycles, but also register FIRs against elders of the violators,” Oghi DSP Ibrar Khan told a meeting attended by representatives of traders and members of civil society.

President of local traders’ body Sarbuland Khan also backed the decision. The DSP said that the police would also launch an awareness campaign in this regard.

Published in Dawn, March 25th, 2019