PESHAWAR, July 13: The Mohmand tribal elders have welcomed the deployment of army troops along the Pakistan-Afghan border in the agency and termed it inevitable after the establishment of Indian consulates in Afghanistan.
Speaking at a joint news conference here at the Peshawar Press Club on Sunday, Haji Malik Ghulam Mohammad of Jarobi, Haji Mirza Khan Mohmand, Dilwar Khan Mohmand, Zarmash Khan and others flayed the attack on Pakistan embassy and anti-Pakistan demonstrations in Kabul, Mazar Sharif and Laghman.
The elders said they could organize protests against the Kabul administration, but it might lead to tension between the two friendly countries and caused problem for the Afghan refugees in Pakistan.
The government had sent the army troops in the upper Mohmand areas which were legal parts of Pakistan, and Kabul could not lay its claim on them, they added.
But the government, they said, had yet not deployed troops in the Tor Khel and Mama Khel areas of the border. The people of these remote villages were registered voters, they added.
The tribal elders said the deployment of troops in Khoizai and Bezai was aimed at stopping terrorists from entering into Pakistan. They said the local population welcomed it in the larger local and national interest. The army had begun work on development projects to bring the remote agency at par with the developed ones, they added.
The tribal elders said Mohmand Agency had been a historical and natural part of Pakistan since 1947, and Kabul had never laid any claim on those parts where Pakistani troops were stationed. “We are defenders of this land,” they added.
They demanded of the government to establish a tax-free small industrial estate in the agency and exploit the mineral resources of the area for the economic development. Industrialization was the only solution to the problems of this part of the world, they added.
They said the NWFP governor and corps commander had assured that the troops would not interfere into the tribal code of life. The tribesmen would be free to decide their local matters in accordance with their tribal customs, they said.
Replying to a question, they clarified that a minor incident at Anargi Ghakhey and Khwaga Khel were results of misunderstanding, but now the situation was normal.
COURAGEOUS ACT: The Awami National Party has lauded the resignation by Balochistan home minister Sardar Sanaullah Zehri after a tragic incident in Quetta, wherein over 50 people were killed.
In a statement here on Sunday, ANP central leader Haji Ghulam Bilour termed it a courageous and moral decision by the Balochistan minister and a good tradition in politics.
He urged all the political forces to condemn such acts of sectarian violence.
Recalling political traditions set by the ANP, Mr Bilour said the National Awami Party, an earlier replica of the ANP, had also resigned in 1973, when the popularly elected government of Ataullah Mengal was dismissed by the late Zulfikar Ali Bhutto in Balochistan.
Sardar Zehri followed the ANP traditions, he said, and added the ANP parliamentary group also resigned in the NWFP, when Nawaz Sharif government was dismissed by the then president Ghulam Ishaq Khan.
Extremism and religious fanaticism emerged when restrictions and bans were imposed on politics in society, he said.