MOHMAND: Baizai tribesmen on Tuesday demanded of the deputy commissioner and the authorities of the minerals development department to get a dispute over the Tora Khwa marble mountain resolved through an ‘impartial’ jirga.

The tribesmen rejected the ‘unilateral decision’ regarding the marble mountain, arguing that head of a jirga had given a verdict without taking opinion of the member of the jirga they had appointed.

They were speaking at a joint jirga of Baizai and Halimzai tribesmen held at the hujra of an elder, Haji Nawab.

Elders of Baizai Tora Khwa, including Arshad Nawab and Idran Umar Khan of Haji Nawab group, saidthat the initial lease of the Tora Khwa mountain was given to Haji Umar Khan by local tribesmen years ago. They said Umar built a road to the mountain, and generated a source of employment for the tribesmen. However, they alleged an elder, Haji Syed Rehman of Tora Khwa, deceived the tribesmen and leased out the mountain to ‘outsiders’ in the name of his son, Shahid Rehman, which was a conspiracy to evict the original lease holder.

The elders said two jirgas held to resolve this dispute failed due to the stubbornness of the opposing party. Now, they said the head of the third jirga, Malik Shah Room Khan, had given a ‘unilateral’ decision without taking the opinion of their jirga member, former MPA Nisar Mohmand, contrary to local customs and traditions.

They said that the opposing party’s attempt to seize the mountain through intimidation, threats and hooliganism had created fear among the tribesmen.

Published in Dawn, February 5th, 2025