KOHAT: A jirga held at Jawaki in Darra Adamkhel has decided to go with the alliance of Qabail Qaumi Tehreek, which has yet to accept the Fata-KP merger.

The jirga led by a local leader Nain Khan had announced to boycott the elections in erstwhile Fata.

Speaking at the jirga on Saturday, he asked the people to raise funds so that they could go to the court against the merger which, he said, would snatch their freedom from them.

He said that as the bill for increasing the seats had been passed by the National Assembly, they would stage demonstrations for bringing another bill against the earlier one. He termed jirga system the best compared to the police system and courts which had failed to provide justice to the people.

However, talking to this correspondent another elder Shafarish Khan said that majority of the tribesmen had rejected opposition to the prevailing system and were on the government’s side.

He hoped that after the merger and distribution of billions of rupees fund the tribal areas would get better health, education and other facilities.

Meanwhile, Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf candidate from PK-115, Haji Abidur Rehman from Darra Adamkhel, said that if elected he would work for legalising and modernising the local weapon manufacturing industry by bringing it into the ambit of law to boost the country’s economy and address unemployment.

Addressing a public meeting in Jawaki on Saturday, he said that it was the only tribal tehsil which generated income from its own natural resources and gun manufacturing by thousands of artisans.

He said that if provided with the latest equipment the weapon industry of Darra Adamkhel could manufacture high standard arms and ammunition which could be exported to other countries. He said that shotguns were already being exported under a licence.

Published in Dawn, June 9th, 2019