Palas tehsil paralysed as Pattan continues blockade

KOHISTAN:

Tension between Palas and Pattan tribes of Kohistan continued for the fifth day in a row on Thursday, paralysing 13 union councils of Palas tehsil as armed individuals have yet to end their blockade.

The conflict started between Pattan and Palas tribes in 2014 over which tehsil would hold the headquarters if Kohistan was to be bifurcated. Both groups demanded their respective areas be declared the headquarters of the region.  In January 2016, the Peshawar High Court declared the provincial government’s notification to bifurcate Kohistan into two districts as null and void.

Dozens of armed villagers from Pattan blocked the Palas-Pattan Road on February 21. They stopped residents of Palas from entering Pattan, but later agreed to allow women and school-going children through. However, patients and students were reportedly not allowed to use the road in the initial stages of the blockade.

“They forcibly stopped vehicles carrying passengers from Palas which led to death of a minor girl named Gul Bibi who was being taken to Pattan hospital,” said Shan Wali, a member of the Palas Kolai Action Committee. He said tribes from Pattan started pelting stones at passing vehicles to scare the drivers and even resorted to aerial firing.

Maulana Karim Dad, a senior cleric from Kohistan, denied that the Pattan tribes stopped school children, and patients from visiting the area. He added Palas tribespeople were their real brothers [and sisters].

He accused Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl MPA Maulana Asmatullah, who heads Palas Kolai Action Committee, of creating tension in the area.  Asmatullah told The Express Tribune in 2014 the people of Palas tehsil opposed Pattan as the headquarters because Pattan has 94 villages, 10 UCs and a population of nearly 100,000, while Palas has 16 UCs, 500 villages and a population of over 175,000.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 26^th, 2016.