TIMERGARA: The Utmankhel tribe has announced to field its own candidates on the four provincial and one National Assembly seats in Lower Dir in the next general election.

The announcement was made in a meeting of the Utmankhel Qaumi Movement (UQM), Lower Dir, held at Bandagai Talash with its district president and former ANP leader Bahadar Khan in the chair.

Elders of the tribe belonging to Jandol, Maidan, Balambat, Timergara, Talash and Adenzai attended the meeting, which was addressed by Mr Bahadar, Mohammad Umar and other tribal leaders.

They complained that successive governments and their representatives had kept the people of Utmankhel areas deprived of their rights.

"None of the MPAs or MNAs has launched a development project in the Utmankhel area," Mr Bahadar said, adding that the party politics had divided the tribes into small groups.

He said that the UQM had been formed to struggle for the rights of Uthmankhel tribesmen. He said that majority of Utmankhels had been living in rural and backward hilly areas of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

"Lawmakers from our area are continuously ignoring the tribe after their election," he said. The meeting announced to field candidates from the platform of the UQM in the next general election.

A 15-member committee, headed by Mr Bahadar, was also formed to nominate suitable candidates for the provincial and National Assembly seats in Lower Dir. The meeting also authorised Mr Bahadar to decide seat-to-seat adjustment with other political parties, if necessary.

Through a unanimous resolution the participants demanded of the federal government to complete supply of Sui gas to Lower Dir. JI MEETING:

Jamaat-i-Islami, Lower Dir, on Saturday claimed that about 20,000 of its workers would participate in its public meeting at Zafar Park, Batkhela, on Feb 23.

In this regard a meeting was held in Balambat with Lower Dir JI amir and former MNA Maulana Asadullah in the chair. Nominated candidates for the next general election Sultanat Yar, Saeed Gul and Yaqub Khan, and tehsil presidents attended the meeting.

The meeting was informed that 48 committees had been formed in the district to mobilise people for the public gathering. Speaking on the occasion, Mr Asadullah asked the party workers to convey the message of the party to every citizen and prepare them to attend the Batkhela meeting.