KOHAT A landmark peace agreement was reached between two religious sects after 14 years of hostilities at a government-sponsored jirga held in Hangu on Thursday.
Elders and clerics from the Shia side also sacrificed 30 sheep at the local Eidgah as a token of repent over the 2006 riots in which Sunnis suffered huge losses. Prominent people from both the sides were present on the occasion. The jirga was presided over by Kohat division commissioner Khalid Khan Umerzai and attended by Kohat region DIG Abdullah Khan, Orakzai Agency political agent Riaz Khan Mehsud, DCO and DPO of Hangu and elders and ulema from two the sides.
The jirga members were Hussain Al Hussaini, Raziq Ali, Zahid Hussain, Malik Irfan, Shah Hussain, Maulana Irshad Ali of Pass Kalay, Said Hussain of Raisan and Sajjad Hussain of Ganjiano Kalay and Tilawat Hussain from the Orakzai Agency.The Sunni sect was represented by Maulana Akhunzada, Maulana Siddique, Maulana Rafique, Mufti Din Asghar, Maulana Wakeel, Maulana Rafique, Faizullah and Shabbir Ahmed Khan.
The jirga through three unanimous resolutions demanded that the government should release innocent people arrested during Muharram and raids should be conducted only with permission of local elders to avoid fear and tension.
Another demand made by the jirga members was that the government should immediately compensate the remaining victims of the 2006 riots and also ensure that payments made to businessmen were according to their actual losses.
They claimed that it had been noticed that influential people had got more money as compared to their losses whereas the poor were paid much less by government agencies.
The jirga members congratulated each other after the peace agreement and thanked the commissioner and NWFP Chief Minister Ameer Khan Hoti for playing an important role in persuading the two sides to resolve their issues through negotiations.
An important member of jirga, Shah Hussain, when asked about the role of militants in flaring up sectarian violence in the region, said it was the responsibility of the government to control them.
He told Dawn that the commissioner had given an assurance that in this regard a jirga of the elders and ulema right from Kohat up to Kurram Agency would be held to address the issue that had paralysed normal life and forced many people to flee the area.
