LANDI KOTAL: A 15-member jirga of elders from Bara tribes other than Sipah has made a fresh move to patch up things between Khyber Agency political administration and Sipah elders for restoration of peace in the tehsil.

The effort is also meant to ensure early return of thousands of displaced Sipah families to their homes.

The jirga held two rounds of talks with both the administration officials and Sipah elders.

Member insists things inching towards amicable solution

Jirga member Malik Waris Khan told Dawn that progress had been made in the two rounds of talks and he was hopeful that the thorny issue of payment of Rs120 million fine by the Sipah tribe and formation of Qaumi Sareshtha would be resolved as both the sides had expressed readiness to show flexibility.

“We are cautiously inching towards an amicable solution of disputes while sticking to Afridi tribe’s customs and traditions,” he said.

The jirga member said efforts were underway to ensure lasting peace in Bara and bring all displaced Sipah families back to their homes in a dignified manner.

Few months ago, the administration had set four major conditions for the return of Sipah tribe, including payment of Rs120 million fine for attacking security convoy in Speen Qabar area of Sipah in Oct 2014, unconditional handing over of over 100 militants linked with banned Lashkar-i-Islam outfit, formation of a Qaumi Sareshtha, and public denial by Sipah tribe of links with outlawed groups.

Malik Waris Khan said all major tribes had announced they’d no link outlawed groups and that hopefully, the Sipah tribe, too, would follow suit.

He said the formation of Qaumi Sareshtha didn’t necessarily mean to pick up arms and fight against militants.

“The Qaumi Sareshtha is supposed to ensure close coordination between local tribes and political administration to foil bids of militant groups to regroup in cleared areas of Bara,” he said.

The elders of Sipah tribe have been showing reluctance to pay the huge amount of fine and track down hardened militants belonging to Lashkar-i-Islam.

They insist neither any such fine was imposed in any part of Fata during the military operations conducted during the last one decade nor had the return of IDPs linked to the payment of such a huge sum of money as penalty for attacks against security forces in tribal areas.

Sipah elder Haji Said Mar Jan dispelled the official version of his tribe’s commitment to providing security to security forces during the military operation and insisted that no such pledge was made by his tribe’s elders as the entire Sipah population was out of the region when the military operation was launched in October last year.

He asked how tribesmen could pledge the army’s security when they themselves were on the run to save their lives.

The Sipah elders assured jirga members of their full support in restoring peace in their area but said the immediate return of all displaced families should be ensured prior to the formation of Qaumi Sareshtha.

They said Qaumi Sareshtha or peace bodies could not be formed on alien soils as Sipah families were living in different parts of the country as IDPs and the formation of such bodies could be possible only once all Sipah residents returned home and settled down.

Shah Faisal, another Sipah elder, said his tribe was willing to accept all conditions under which displaced members of other Bara tribes were sent back to their homes.

Published in Dawn, November 26th, 2015