MARDAN: Aman Jirga Khyber Pakhtunkhwa has appealed to elders and residents of Mardan and other districts to join hands against the growing menace of ice drug trade, which is afflicting the young generation.

They made the call while addressing a public meeting held here on Sunday to pursue people to wage concerted efforts to root out the menace of drugs in the society.

Speaking on the occasion, jirga president Syed Kamal Shah Advocate said it was responsibility of the government to crack down on the dealers and sellers ice drug, but it had failed to perform its role.

A large number of people hailing from Mardan, Nowshera, Swabi and Charsadda districts attended the meeting.

“Some police officials are backing sellers and suppliers of ice drug and heroin,” he alleged.

Mr Shah warned that an aggressive agitation campaign would be launched if the authorities concerned didn’t take action against the black sheep in the police department.

He asked the police high-ups to launch an effective action to root out the menace of drug trade in order to protect youngsters. He said that the people had become fed up with the elected representatives’ performance. He said the Aman Jirga had been striving for finding solutions to people’s issues.

Other leaders of Aman Jirga urged people to forge unity in their ranks against the drug mafia to save the young generation from the menace.

The jirga members said that they were going to launch a decisive movement against the drug trade after the month of Ramazan.

Published in Dawn, February 24th, 2025