Protest camp staged for Khassadars, Levies men restoration

BARA: The political leaders and social workers on Sunday asked Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Inspector General Police Sanaullah Abbasi to restore Levies and Khassadar forces personnel suspended during militancy in the Bara tehsil of the Khyber tribal district.

Speaking at the protest camp outside the Bara Press Club, Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) ameer for Khyber district Shah Faisal Afridi, Awami National Party (ANP) head for the Bara chapter Sadeeq Chiragh, chairman, Pakistan Awami Inqilabi League, Attuallah Afridi, and others said that the government had disappointed the people of the merged districts.

They said these people had rendered matchless sacrifices during long militancy when they were serving in the Khassadar and in Levies forces. “Some influential Khassadar and Levies personnel who had been suspended during militancy were restored several years ago but those without connections were yet to be restored,” Shah Faisal said, terming it is an injustice as their families had been living a miserable life.

“We have met the officials of the relevant department multiple times but they could not restore these cops despite assurances to the contrary,” said one of the speakers, adding the government should restore these suspended cops forthwith. They said chief minister during his visit to Bara had promised to restore the suspended cops but that promise was never honoured. Later, Arbab Khan Afridi, a suspended cop, said they had turned to various forums for restoration but in vain.