HARIPUR: Tanawal residents have demanded district status for their tehsil and warned if the current assembly members didn’t fulfil the promise for the purpose, they won’t get votes in the next elections.

“The Tanoli tribesmen in three districts of Hazara division will punish their elected members by subjecting them a historic defeat in the next elections if they don’t keep their election promise about Tanwal district notification,” Tehreek District Tanawal chief Dr Abdul Rauf Tanoli told reporters here on Friday.

Dr Tanoli said all princely states were given the status of districts at the time of their merger with Pakistan but unfortunately, the largest state of Amb in Hazara division was divided into Mansehra, Abbottabad and Haripur districts under a conspiracy.

He said hundreds of families from the tribe were forced to relocate from native villages, while the construction of Tarbela dam shattered the family bonds and cultural heritage of Tanolis.

Dr Tanoli said the tribesmen living in three districts had long been demanding the separate Tanawal district, but to no avail.

He said all governments had made false promises to Tanolis and therefore, the latter had decided to fight for their rights under the banner of the Tehreek District Tanawal.

“We urge all elected MNAs and MPAs from Tanawal belt of Hazara division to fulfil their promise on Tanawal district notification otherwise we won’t vote for them in the next elections,” he said.

Dr Tanoli said he wasn’t opposed to the upgradation of Alai tehsil as a district but it was unfair to ignore the longstanding demand of district status for Tanawal.

Published in Dawn, December 4th, 2021