MANSEHRA: A jirga jointly formed by the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Gilgit-Baltistan governments to settle the bilateral boundary dispute began work on Tuesday.

The jirga members, including elders from Kohistan (KP) and Diamer (GB), met deputy commissioner of Upper Kohistan district Arif Khan Yusufzai and met the affected families in Bhasha area.

They informed the DC about their assignment and plan of action.

The 24-strong jirga, whose members were named by the chief secretaries of KP and GB, will submit its findings to the district administrations of Kohistan (KP) and Diamer (GB) after meeting the affected families of Bhasha, the disputed territory.

Meets Kohistan DC, Bhasha families

DC Arif Yusufzai told reporters that the jirga would win the confidence of the affected families before taking a decision based on its interaction with them.

He said the jirga would later convey its decision to the Diamer and Upper Kohistan administrations.

The DC said the families in disputed territory could get compensation for their land acquired for Diamer-Bhasha and Dasu dams after the issue was settled amicably.

APPOINTMENTS ISSUE: Tribesmen in Akazai area of Torghar district have demanded the appointment of custodians to the local forests in accordance with the 2011 agreement between the government and local tribes.

“Completely ignoring the local tribes, the forest department appointed outsiders as forest muhafiz in breach of an agreement between the government and locals.

This is unacceptable to us,” elder Gulroz Khan Akazai told reporters in Oghi tehsil on Tuesday.

Leading a group of local tribesmen, Mr Akazai warned that the people would stage street protests if those appointments were not withdrawn.

He said the locals were the lawful owners of forests, which could be protected only by them.

Elder Nazmeen Khan Akazai said the forests were jointly owned by four local tribes and according to the agreement, whenever the forest department intended to make appointments for them, members of those tribes would be hired.

He, however, said the DFO and range officer of Akazai breached the agreement.

Meanwhile, employees of lower grades have elected Adil Ghani and Adur Rauf as the president and general secretary of their association, respectively.

MURDER PROBE: District police officer Sadiq Baloch on Tuesday formed a special team to look into the murder of a youngster on the Karakoram Highway here.

The team headed by the superintendent of police and comprising the deputy superintendent of police, an assistant superintendent of police and station house officer of the city police station will formally update the higher authorities on the probe progress daily.

Akram Hakim Khan was gunned down by two motorcyclists at a car wash centre.

Published in Dawn, December 30th, 2020