Grand Jirga calls for peace in Tirah Valley

TIRAH: Political leaders, elders and civil society members of the Khyber tribal district on Tuesday asked the government to restore forthwith peace in the Maidan area of the Tirah valley of the district.

The demand was made at a grand peace jirga convened at the Maidan Lar Bagh Markaz.The organisers said an estimated 30,000 people attended the congregation which demanded restoration of peace. A good number of them reached the venue from Bara in scores of vehicles.

Bara Siyasi Ittehad President Shah Faisal Afridi, former federal minister Hameedullah Jan Afridi, Tehsil Chairman Mufti Kafeel, Khyber Union President Muraq Saqib, Jamaat-e- Islami district ameer Khan Wali Afridi, Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz) Khyber Coordinator Imran Afridi, Jamiat Ulemai- Islam_Fazl ameer for Khyber Maulana Shamsuddin Afridi, Pakistan Awami Inqilabi League President Attaullah Afridi, Awami National Party general secretary for Khyber Siddique Chiragh, tribal elders Malik Muhammad Hussain, Malik Zahir Shah Afridi and others spoke on occasion.

The speakers accused the government of playing double-games with the tribal people, particularly those of the merged districts.They expressed concern over the re-emergence of militancy in the Bara and Maidan area of the Tirah valley of the Khyber district.

The speakers lamented that kidnappings for ransom, extortion calls and killings have increased in the area despite the presence of the law-enforcement agencies.

They questioned how the militants could kill civilians, police and others when soldiers were deployed at the mountain tops.

The speakers said the tribal people would no longer accept terrorism as they wanted peace, job and development in the Khyber tribal district which had suffered in the past.

They said the state institutions had restored peace and tranquility in other parts of the country but that was not the case with the Khyber district.

The speakers said it was the responsibility of the state to provide security and other facilities to the masses.

They said local people had already suffered due to militancy and even were displaced from native areas in the past. The speakers said people from all Afridi tribes and political leaders would be taken into confidence and a plan chalked out for a sit-in in front of the Parliament House till the restoration of peace.Later, the Bara Siyasi Ittehad announced to convene a tribal jirga on the 13th of August in Bara.