MANSEHRA, Nov 15: Ulema, local bodies’ representatives and elders have urged induction of clean and honest people in the peace and reconciliatory committees to avert threat of Talabanisation in the district.

They expressed these remarks at a meeting held here on Saturday, organised by the district police in connection with establishment of such committees at union, tehsil and district level.

The participants warned, “If all the segments of the society, including ulema, did not play their due role, militants would slip into the district.”

The meeting was also attended by District Police Officer Akhtar Hayyat Khan, Assistant Coordination Officer Adnan Zafar, DSP Rasool Shah, SHOs of various police stations, and union council nazims. The speakers said that in past such committees were also constituted but could not deliver as ‘promoters of criminals’ were inducted into them.

The participants said honest people would cooperate with the law-enforcement agencies in thwarting designs of militants and other criminals in the district.

Ulema were urged to condemn in their sermons those people who had been using religion for their ulterior motives and targeting the innocent people and children.

The meeting suggested that to curb the increasing militancy in the province the government should end the local bodies’ ordinance 2002 and restore the magistracy system. It asked the residents to inform the police before renting their houses to any person, as the move would help restrict mobility of the militants in the district.

They stressed that if the police dispensed justice and culture of favoritism and party politics ended the district would remain off-limits for the anti-social elements.

The meeting called for immediate repatriation of the Afghan refugees to their homeland.

DPO Akhtar Hayyat Khan, speaking on the occasion, said that peace and reconciliatory committees were being set-up to curb imminent threat posed by miscreants in the district, adding honest people would be inducted into these bodies who would make sure that no alien person penetrated into their respective areas.

He resolved to keep peace committees away from the people with vested interests. Mr Khan said that following the October 8, 2005 earthquake thousands of alien families had migrated to urban areas of the district, which was another headache for the police.