LOWER DIR: Pakhtuns have been urged to forge unity as internal divisions have left them mired in a host of challenges.

Addressing a news conference at the Chakdara Press Club during his visit to Lower Dir district on Saturday, Mazloom Awami Tehreek Pakistan chairman Sadiq Khan Achakzai said his party’s manifesto centred on restoring peace across the country, ensuring a dignified life for citizens and standing by oppressed communities.

Mr Achakzai said the unity demonstrated by Pakhtuns in the recent effort to recover a girl in Peshawar was remarkable. He noted that Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, including the Malakand division, was rich in mineral resources, but those assets had failed to benefit local communities because of a lack of collective resolve and ownership.

He said many young people were forced to leave their homeland and seek employment elsewhere despite the region’s abundant natural wealth.

Mr Achakzai said the region’s vast mineral resources had the potential to transform residents’ lives, but regretted that local communities had little control over these resources.

He criticised the imposition of taxes in the merged districts and Malakand division, describing the move as unjust given the socioeconomic difficulties already faced by residents.

Later, he left for the Wari area in Upper Dir along with his associates.

PREVENTABLE DISEASES: Speakers at an awareness seminar in Timergara the other day said that HIV and hepatitis B and C were silent but preventable diseases, stressing that timely awareness and precautionary measures could significantly reduce their spread.

A private hospital organised the seminar.

The speakers highlighted unsafe blood transfusion, contaminated syringes, unsterilised surgical instruments and other unsafe medical practices as major causes of transmission.

They urged healthcare professionals and beauty salon workers to strictly follow hygiene and sterilisation protocols, and advised the public to ensure blood screening before transfusions and receive hepatitis B vaccinations.

They noted that the number of registered HIV-positive patients in Lower Dir had exceeded 400, while registered HIV cases across Pakistan

had surpassed 84,000, underscoring the need for greater public awareness and early diagnosis.

They said awareness remained the most effective tool in preventing the spread of these diseases.

Published in Dawn, June 14th, 2026