SWAT: A massive demonstration was staged at Kanju Chowk here on Friday under the banner of the Swat Olasi Pasoon to demand durable peace in Swat, Dir, Bajaur and other districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

Thousands of people attended the gathering, carrying white flags with peace slogans.

The speakers, including Swat Olasi Pasoon leaders Aftab Khan and Sultan Ali Khan, MNAs Dr Amjad Ali Khan and Saleemur Rahman, city mayor Shahid Ali Khan, tehsil council chairman Kabal Saeed Khan, leading lawyer Ashfaq Ahmad and elders Adalat Khan and Maulana Nasrullah, said the people of Swat would never allow terrorists to return to their region under any circumstances.

They demanded that the provincial government ensure durable peace in Dir, Bajaur and southern districts, and act against the small number of terrorists present in the Swat-Dir border mountains.

The speakers warned that if police failed to act against terrorists, the people of Swat would rise up against them.

They also condemned the recent killings of children, women and men in Tirah and demanded an independent inquiry into them.

The speakers said the government should go away if it could not maintain peace in the province.

They condemned the registration of FIRs against elders Bahadur Sher Afghan, Ghairat Khan Yousafzai and Ajab Khan for delivering speeches during a Matta Aman Pasoon gathering.

ATTACK PROTESTED: The royal family of Swat staged a demonstration at the royal residence in Saidu Sharif here on Friday, complaining about an attack on the palace and verbal abuse by minister Fazal Hakim Khan and his family members.

Princess Zaibun Nisa, Prince Mian Gul Shehryar Amir Zeb and local elders said that the provincial minister and his relatives had attacked the palace a day ago and insulted members of the royal family by using abusive language.

They criticised the Swat police over failure to act against the attackers despite repeated complaints.

The speakers pointed out that a jirga had directed the royal family to pay Rs170 million to the minister, so the latter accepted the orders out of respect for religious scholars and neutral members of the jirga.

Published in Dawn, September 27th, 2025