MANSEHRA: The Tehreek-i-Sooba Hazara (TSH) has decided to revitalise the movement for a separate province by contacting the likeminded political parties and civil society groups.

The decision was taken at a meeting here on Sunday chaired by the Tehreek’s convener Mushtaq Khan, where a five-member team was constituted for the purpose.

Speaking on the occasion, Mushtaq Khan said that members of the newly constituted committee, including Mushtaq Hussain, Mohammad Hanif, Iqbal Khan Swati, Ahmad Nawaz and Jamil Sadiq, would soon start contacts with political parties and civil society organisations to force the government to accept the demand of the people of Hazara division for a separate province.

Mr Khan said that a grand jirga of elders and political parties would also be convened to announce schedule of public meetings and rallies across the division. “We would also take traders, lawyers, transporters and other segments of society on board while taking forward the separate province movement,” said the TSH convener.

Tehreek-i-Sooba Hazara to hold public meetings, rallies

On the occasion, Iqbal Khan Swati threatened that people would take to the streets if the police didn’t register FIR of the April 12 incident. “People want a separate province and are ready to render every kind of sacrifice for the purpose,” he added.

DOCTORS APPOINTED: The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government has appointed 15 doctors to fill vacant posts in rural health centres and basic health units in the district.

District health officer, Dr Sardar Bashir told reporters in Balakot on Sunday that the newly appointed doctors would be posted to Balakot, Kawai in Kaghan valley, Gari Habibullah, Nawaz Abad, Chaterplan, Darband, Pulrah and Lassan Nawab. He said that posts of lady doctors and doctors had long been lying vacant in the health facilities of these areas. He said that remaining vacant posts would also be filled soon. 

Dr Bashir also visited the proposed site for the tehsil hospital and said that the provincial government had approved funds for the project, work on which would start soon.

He said that the government had been doing its best to ensure better healthcare to people.

PROUD SON OF THE SOIL: Major Mian Wasif Hussain Shah, who died in an attack at Dattakhel area of Miramshsh during the ongoing operation Zarb-i-Azb, belonged to Sheikh Abad village of Mansehra district.

Born in 1981, Wasif Shah got married some three years ago. The proud son of Mian Arshad Hussain Shah, a former director of Wapda and now professor at Hazara University, left behind a one-and-half-year-old daughter, Owrash.

The Sheikh Abad villagers, almost all of them belonging to the same Mian clan, would say goodbye to the proud son of the soil today (Monday) at 11am when his funeral prayers would be offered. The funeral prayers were scheduled to take place on Sunday night, but were later postponed because of unknown reasons.

Mian Abbas, paternal cousin of Wasif, said that the body was flown from Peshawar to Junior Leader Academy (JLA) in Shinkiari and then transported to his native village.

He said that his cousin who had also severed in Swat operation and performed duty at Siachin had himself opted to go to North Waziristan to take part in operation Zarb-i-Hazb.

“My cousin wanted to join army and achieved the goal through dedication and hard work,” said Mr Abbas.

He said that Mian Wasif was elder of four sisters and a brother.

Published in Dawn, November 17th, 2014