TIMERGARA, April, 13 The Dir Qaumi Jirga on Monday announced that people of Lower and Upper Dir would ban all ministers and lawmakers, hailing from the area, from entering into both the districts if they remained absent from the all parties` conference to be held on Tuesday.
Addressing a news conference here, jirga members Malik Behram Khan, Malik Mohammad Zeb, Haji Mohammad Rasool Khan, Bacha Mohammad, Sultan Yousaf and Noor Mohammad said that invitation had been sent to all the lawmakers and ministers hailing from Lower and Upper Dir. Their parties had also asked them to attend the all parties` meeting, they added. They said that the meeting was very important because a future line of action and a strategy would be chalked out to deal with militants and criminals active in the area.
“The administration and police in both the districts have badly failed to over come the problem being faced by locals and now the time is quite ripe for the people to decide their fate,” Malik Behram, an influential tribal elder and former MPA remarked on the occasion.
The jirga leaders demanded of the government to sign the proposed Nizam-i-Adl Regulation in the best interest of the local people, appoint suitable qazis being fully empowered to decide disputes in the light of Islamic Sharia, take practical steps to recover all the kidnapped persons in the area and pay compensation to families of kidnapped persons.
“We strongly reject any possible military operation in the area as we think the use of force is not solution to the problem,” members of the jirga said, adding that military operations in Swat and Bajaur were clear examples of failure on the part of government.
They said that several important decisions would be taken in the meeting and if the authorities failed to meet their demands till that time, a big protest rally would be held at Timergara on April 16.
Our Correspondent from Upper Dir adds The district administration here on Monday extended deadline set for the people of Doog Darra for evicting militants from the area to April 15.
In this connection a meeting was held at Jamia Masjid police station in Sheringal. Malak Khan Mohammad, Mamur Jan, Malak Khan Zada, Khan Mohammad, Kishar Khan, Malak Rahmat Said and Malak Ghulam Saleh represented the local population and district police officer Ijaz Khan represented the administration.
Ijaz told the elders that they must come with a clear reply to the administration whether they were able to convince the militants on leaving the area or not.
Sources said Ijaz told the elders that he was under severe pressure from the government about presence of militants in Upper Dir. He asked the elders to flush out the militant by Tuesday morning. However, the people requested the district police chief to extend the deadline to Wednesday morning.