Divisions in Hazara: Haripur residents oppose merger of UCs into Mansehra

Say PTI-led K-P govt is orchestrating the move to gain political mileage

HARIPUR: Residents of the Nara Amazai and Bait Gali union councils in Haripur are up in arms over the PTI-led K-P government’s decision to merge their areas with the Mansehra district.

They threatened to protest if authorities failed to reverse the decision.

This was announced at a meeting of elders of the two union councils held on Monday. Briefing the media, Haji Muhammad Hayat Khan, a local Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader and deputy opposition leader in the Haripur district council, claimed that Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) was also considering changing the status of Darband area by converting it into a new tehsil or a full-fledged district.

Hayat said the only purpose the move would serve would be for “political gratification” for PTI supporters in Mansehra. Moreover, he accused PTI of using the people of the two UCs as scapegoats for their own ulterior motives.



He claimed that under this plan, the provincial government wanted to merge Bait Gali and Nara Amazai union councils of Haripur district with Mansehra even though the areas in question had been a part of Ghazi tehsil of district Haripur for decades with people tied by close social and cultural bonds.

Hayat said if any such decision was implemented, the people of both union councils would take to the streets.

He pointed out that such actions had been resisted in the past and his party would not allow the K-P government to take any decisions without due consent of the locals.

The PML-N leader said Mansehra was several kilometres from their areas and merging the two UCs into the district was unjust and impractical. He believed poor people would be exposed to further problems with this merger.

In this regard he pointed towards a resolution which he moved in the Haripur district council last month. The resolution opposed the merger of the two union councils with Mansehra district and was adopted by the legislative body.

“When a public forum has already opposed the idea, the government must respect the wishes of the district council and end the confusion,” he added.

Hayat, recalled that some politicians, through a similar move, had attempted to merge these two UCs with district Swabi. However, the action was strongly resisted and ultimately a court decided to maintain the status quo.

Shakir Khan, Malik Khan and Dilawar Khan were among those who spoke to the media on the occasion.

Nara Amazai and Bait Gali are remote UCs of Haripur where residents used to grow poppy before the Ziaul Haq era.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 4^th, 2016.