LOWER DIR: Gujjar Qaumi Movement (GQM) chief Haji Zarin Khan Gujjar has alleged the Malakand district administration wants to dislocate his clan from their lands in the garb of the land settlement process.

Talking to journalists in Chakdara on Saturday, he expressed strong reservations over the ongoing land settlement process in the district.

The movement’s central general secretary Mohammad Ishaq Gujjar and the GQM-nominated candidate for PK-14, Adenzai, Imran Khan Advocate were also present.

Haji Zarin claimed the Malakand administration, on the dictation of local landlords and Khans, had been trying to dislocate the Gujjars from their lands under the land settlement procedure, which he said would be resisted at all costs.

The GQM chief said the Gujjar clan living in parts of Malakand division owned their properties and lands for centuries, and no one could dislocate them.

He complained that educated Gujjar youth had been ignored in government jobs, while local Khans and landlords wanted to grab the lands owned by Gujjars.

He demanded of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa caretaker government and commissioner Malakand division to take notice of the matter.

The GQM leaders threatened to launch a countrywide protest if their demand was not accepted.

ROAD ACCIDENT: A passerby identified as Mohammad Ajab, 20, was killed and three others were injured when a car hit them in Walai Kandao area in the jurisdiction of Balambat police station here on Saturday, residents and police said.

They said a Rescue 1122 team shifted the injured to the District Headquarters Hospital, Timergara. The injured included Numan, 20, Ahmad Jan, 34, and Najibullah, 26.

The Balambat police registered a case and started further investigations.

Published in Dawn, August 20th, 2023