SUKKUR, Oct 26: Awami Tehrik chief Rasool Bux Palijo has demanded that the Sindh governor should impose a ban on jirga by promulgating an ordinance.

Talking to newsmen here on Tuesday, he said if the practice of jirga continued it would strengthen the Jagirdari system and feudal lords would resort to bloodshed. He said under the jirga system the killers had never been punished and they perpetuated crimes even after the settlement of disputes.

He said the judiciary should be strengthened further by increasing the number of judges.

Mr Palijo stressed the need for speedy and powerful verdicts and exemplary punishment for murderers.

He condemned the participation of Sindh government officials in a jirga which exonerated the killers and did not address the root cause of the clash.

Our Khairpur Correspondent adds: District Nazim Nafisa Shah, while commenting on the jirga held at Sukkur to resolve the Jagirani-Solangi tribal feud, has said that people are forced to choose such procedure because of the negligence and ineffective role of the police and other law enforcement agencies.

Talking to journalists here on Tuesday, Ms Shah said thatshe was and would always remain against the jirga system, she stressed.

The three-month-old Solangi-Jagirani clash had not only affected particular areas, but had paralysed the entire district, she said.

Referring to police attitude, Ms Shah alleged that the police, particularly in Sindh, were working for feudal lords and chieftains, and as such, appeared to be a private force introduced for the benefit and protection of influential individuals.