PESHAWAR, Sept 28: Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Governor Masood Kausar has said that the government has legitimate concerns about security of the planned march of Pakistan Tehrik-i-Insaaf (PTI) to South Waziristan Agency.

He was speaking at the closing ceremony of second Fata Girls Sports Gala held here at Governor’s House on Friday.

He said that the government was taking cautious steps to create a political culture in tribal areas by announcing local government system and extending Political Parties Act to Federally Administered Tribal Areas (Fata). He said that it was duty of the state to protect lives of the people and establish peace in the tribal areas.

The governor said that he had got feedback from the agencies concerned that the proposed march of PTI could create disturbance in the tribal area. There are security risks and alarm bells have been rung, Mr Kausar warned.

He said that peace in Fata had been established through great efforts and sacrifices by tribal people and security forces. He said that though the government believed in political and democratic governance, it had reservations about this planned march, which could create disturbance in the tribal region.

The governor announced that the doors of Governor’s House would remain open to public not only to share their problems, but also to hold such functions to encourage healthy activities among people of Fata and various parts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. He also enumerated the development projects the government had initiated in Fata.

Girl students from government schools and colleges of Mohmand and Khyber agencies and Frontier Regions of Kohat and Peshawar took part in the colorful sports gala. The governor on this occasion praised the spirit and talent of tribal girls.

Maryam Qazi, a player from FR Kohat, said that such sports activities should be held at least once a year to give students from tribal areas an opportunity to meet others, show their talent and dispel the negative image about girls’ taking part in sports.

“Once the girls prove their mettle in sports the people of tribal areas would allow their daughters to take part in such activities,” she said.

Sheeba, a table tennis player from FR Kohat, said that Fata Sports Directorate should set up auditoriums in tribal areas for female players so that they could go there for practice.

Students of a government school from Subhan Khwarh of Mohmand Agency said that they loved sports and there should be more such events for them.

Speaking at the ceremony, secretary social sector (Fata) Aftab Akbar Durrani said that Fata Sports Directorate set up recently had invited all the seven tribal agencies to participate in the sports gala, but due to cultural constraints female players could not come to Peshawar to participate.

The children of Al-Ghazali Public School, Jamrud, entertained the participants with a colorful cultural fashion show and a welcome song.

The FR Kohat emerged as overall winner of the sports gala, but players of Mohmand Agency also took top honours in a few sports. The governor distributed trophies and cash prizes among the winners of different sports, cultural and songs competitions.