MANSEHRA: People from different walks of life, including local government representatives, transporters and traders, on Monday threatened to demolish a toll plaza in the Khatain Da Galla area on Karakoram Highway if the National Highway Authority didn’t honour its commitment made before the Peshawar High Court to dismantle the same without delay.

“The traders, transporters and clerics had allowed NHA to reinstall the toll plaza only for one year in 2019 after protesters had dismantled it in 2015, but seven years on, the collection point has not been removed in breach of the court orders,” Israr Khan Phool, chairman of city’s neighbourhood council, told reporters.

He said the decision was taken during a meeting, where the participants also considered the option of forcefully pulling down the toll plaza if the NHA didn’t do so.

Mr Phool said NHA had submitted a written reply to the Abbottabad Bench of the Peshawar High Court in 2019, committing that the toll plaza would be dismantled and that the KKH passing through the Mansehra city would be expanded to ease traffic congestion.

“The NHA has failed to honour its pledges, causing immense trouble for residents of the Abbottabad and Mansehra districts,” he added.

Another neighbourhood council chairman, Abdul Waheed, said commuters were forced to pay toll tax twice within a short distance. “A person who pays toll on the Hazara Motorway in Qalandarabad is again required to pay the same on the KKH after just three kilometres travel,” he said, warning if the NHA did not dismantle the toll plaza, people would be forced to do so by themselves.

“Provincial Assembly Speaker Babar Saleem Swati and Federal Minister for Religious Affairs Sardar Mohammad Yusuf should play their due role in removing the toll plaza from KKH here,” another village chairman, Mohammad Arshad said.

CONFERENCE: Federal Minister for Religious Affairs Sardar Mohammad Yusuf on Sunday said life of Prophet Muhammad (Peace Be Upon Him) was a complete code of conduct and a true guide not only for Muslims but the humankind.

“Our Prophet eradicated the notions of superiority and inferiority that had existed since the advent of humanity, and declared truthfulness, morality and piety as the supreme standards of life,” he said while addressing a Seeratun Nabi Conference held at the press club here on Monday.

All the speakers spoke in Gojir (Gujjari) language, which has been declared as one of the official regional languages by the provincial assembly.

Religious figures, lawmakers and people from different walks of life attended the conference.

Mr Yusuf said Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) demonstrated such values throughout his life, even while living among pagan Arabs, proving that no one could claim superiority on the basis of language, ethnicity or financial status.

Published in Dawn, February 3rd, 2026