Chitralis seek review of mineral policy

CHITRAL: A group of politicians here on Friday asked the provincial government to review its mines and mineral policy by considering the interests of the local population.

Speaking at a press conference, Maulana Jamshed Ahamd of Jamaat-e-Islami, former district nazim Maghfirat Shah, Wajihuddin, Gulabdin and others said that the speakers at the concluding ceremony of the Shandur Polo Festival made no mention of the problems facing the people of Chitral particularly the abolition of the wheat subsidy, which had caused great resentment among the local people.

Condemning the ‘step-motherly’ attitude, they said the people of Chitral would join hands against the injustice being meted out to them if the government did not take steps to take care of their interests.

They said that the members of all the political parties irrespective of their political considerations would join hands to protect the rights of the Chitrali people.

They also saw a conspiracy behind the mines and mineral policy and said that the resources of Chitral were being surrendered to national and international companies at the expense of the local people, vowing that they would not allow anybody to deprive them of their natural resources.

“We are holding discussion to unite all the political forces on a single platform to wage a struggle for the rights of the Chitrali people,” a speaker said.