BAJAUR: The Utmankhel tribe on Friday demanded of the provincial government to give the subdivision status to the region inhabited by its members.

The demand was made at a jirga held in Ghani Ada area.

Chief of Utmankhel tribe Malik Bahadar Shah, Jamaat-i-Islami leader Sardar Khan, Khar traders’ association president Bahadar Khan, Khar tehsil council chairman and JUI-F deputy district chief Said Badshah and others spoke and pointed out that Utmankhel was the second major tribe of Bajaur after the Tharkani tribe. However, they said the area lacked development.

They said there was no hospital, a postgraduate collage, both for boys and girls, a sports stadium and park in the region, which had caused a sense of deprivation among the tribesmen.

The participants regretted that the areas, where the Utmankhel tribe lived, were neglected in development projects.

They expressed concern over the prolonged delay in launching classes in the government degree college, Barang, despite its completion in 2021.

They demanded restoring the tehsil status to Mandal area and giving the same status to Gar Shamoozo area.

The jirga slammed PTI MNA Gul Dad Khan and his brother, MPA Ajmal Khan for neglecting Utmankhel tribe in development projects.

The jirga decided to launch a protest movement to draw the attention of the government towards the tribe’s issues.

PML-N REORGANISATION: The local leaders of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) have announced to reorganise the party in Bajur district.

The decision was made in a meeting of the party’s district cabinet presided over by its district president Gul Kareem Khan the other day.

The participants expressed concerns over the weak position of PML-N in the district. They said PML-N was not only amongst the top political parties of the district in the past but its candidates too won one of the National Assembly seats in two elections.

Published in Dawn, November 12th, 2022