Police deployment in tribal districts opposed

KHAR: A jirga on Monday rejected the deployment of police to tribal districts and demanded the government to establish courts in Khar, the district headquarters of Bajaur.

The jirga, held under the auspices of Bajaur Chamber of Commerce and Industry founder Lalishah Pakhtunyar and chief of Raghgan, Anwar Zeb Khan, was attended by elders and political leaders of Turkhani and Uthmankhel tribes, members of Youth Jirga and civil society.

Pakistan People’s Party leader Syed Akhunzada Chattan, Awami National Party leader Sheikh Jehanzada, Maulana Gul Waheed, Qari Abdul Majeed, Ahmad Zeb Khan Advocate, Dr Khalilur Rahman and others said that deployment of the police force to tribal districts would be resisted at all costs. They said Levies and Khassadar forces should be given the powers and perks of police to run the system according to the tribal customs and traditions.

The speakers demanded the government to set up courts at the district headquarters Khar to facilitate the local people and litigants.

They said Bajaur deputy commissioner had already made arrangements for the courts, stay of judges and the allied staff.

The speakers threatened to boycott the courts if these were not shifted to Khar from Timergara, the district headquarters of the Lower Dir. The regular courts started working in the erstwhile Fata on Monday after the abolition of the British-era Frontier Crimes Regulation. Cases were distributed among the courts and the judges had taken charge accordingly.

Our correspondent adds from Kalaya: The Levies and Khassadar forces vowed to resist the deployment of the police force to tribal districts and urged the government to delegate the powers and perks of the police.

Speaking at a jirga-cum-protest meeting here, Subedars Mahboob, Umar Zaman, Naib Subedars Naseem, Khurshid, Maliks Shaheed Khan, Fazal Muhammad and others said that they had finalised a 22-point agenda with the consent of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa former Inspector General of Police Salahuddin Mahsud, provincial Minister Shaukat Yousafzai and Advisor to Chief Minister Ajmal Khan Wazir for the new system in the tribal districts but now the government had dishonoured the pledge.

They said the Levies and Khassadar forces had rendered matchless sacrifices during the decade-long militancy and terrorism and now they were being sent home without any pension and perks. The speakers demanded Shaheed Package for the martyred personnel and pension for the retired men of the forces as was given to the police force. They vowed to resist the police system tooth and nail in the tribal districts.