MANSEHRA: Transporters observed a wheel-jam strike across the Hazara division on Monday after the tehsil municipal administration took control of the central bus terminal in Abbottabad the other day.

All Transport Union Hazara gave call for the strike.

Hundreds of passengers remained stuck at the Mansehra bus terminal, the largest in the region, as well as in other towns of Hazara.

Attendance in educational institutions and public and private offices also dropped sharply due to a lack of transport.

“My family and I have been stranded at the bus terminal here since morning due to the wheel-jam strike,” said an Islamabad-bound passenger.

Another commuter from Kohistan said he spent the night at a hotel and was scheduled to travel to Peshawar but could not do so due to the strike.

However, a meeting later in the day chaired by deputy commissioner Mian Behzad Adil and attended by the president, general secretary and other office-bearers of the transport union, succeeded in persuading the transporters to end the strike ‘in the public interest’.

Jan-i-Alam, the transport union’s president, told reporters that the wheel-jam strike had been announced only for Monday and was now being called off.

“As the deputy commissioner convinced us why people of Mansehra and other parts of Hazara should suffer for an issue that solely concerns the Abbottabad administration, so we ended the strike across the division,” he said.

JIRGA: A jirga of the Yusufzai tribe attended by elders from across Khyber Pakhtunkhwa on Monday reiterated its commitment to working for national cohesion.

“We will continue serving the country as our predecessors did. We will not allow a handful of miscreants to weaken our ranks,” Malik Jehan Alam Khan Yusufzai, chairman of the Yusufzai tribe in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, told the jirga held in Judbah, the district headquarters of Torghar.

Elders from Torghar, Mansehra, Mardan, Buner, Swabi and other districts participated.

Mr Yusufzai criticised former Khyber Pakhtunkhwa chief minister Mahmood Khan for failing to work for welfare of the Yusufzai tribe during his tenure.

He added being one of the oldest and largest Pakhtun tribes the Yusufzais had always raised voice for the resolution of civic and administrative issues in the province.

“Despite being declared a settled district in 2011, Torghar still lacks basic infrastructure, including health, education and road facilities,” he said.

Addressing the jirga, Gul Mohammad Akazai urged the government to focus on development of Torghar.

The jirga also formed a new Yusufzai representative body for Torghar.

Published in Dawn, December 2nd, 2025