LANDI KOTAL: Bara Council, an apolitical local organisation, demanded on Saturday that Bara subdivision of the Khyber tribal district should be declared a separate district.

The demand was made at a meeting held at the Bara Press Club. Members of the council, which comprises local parliamentarians, activists of political and civil society organisations and elders, in their charter of demands said Bara being the largest and most-populated subdivision fulfilled the legal and constitutional requirements to be made a separate tribal district.

They said Bara suffered a lot during the decade-long militancy and only the district status could ensure speedy reconstruction and rehabilitation of the battered infrastructure along with compensating the local residents for their monetary and material losses.

The council members also demanded establishment of the industrial zone announced by then Khyber Pakhtunkhwa governor Sardar Mahtab Ahmad Khan during his visit to Bara in 2015.

The council members contended that with provision of district status to Bara and establishment of the industrial zone, additional employment opportunities could be created for local educated youth.

Published in Dawn, December 15th, 2019