Land dispute : Jirga fails to resolve Dahani-Sadhayo tribal feud

Six-year-old conflict has left over 40 dead, several injured from both sides

SUKKUR: A jirga has failed to resolve the six-year-old land dispute between Sadhayo and Dahani tribes which has claimed the lives of at least 41 people from both the sides.

The jirga, held in Tarai village near Madeji, Shikarpur on Sunday night, was headed by Sardar Himmat Ali Kamario, and was attended by several influential persons of the area, including Agha Ali Nawaz Jalbani, Abdul Nabi Thaheem, Behram Buledi, Aamir Sadhayo, Ali Nawaz Ghanghro, Azhar Kamario and Agha Dahani, besides a number of tribesmen from both the sides.

According to a tribesman privy to the matter, the jirga heard accounts of eyewitnesses from both the tribes and recorded their statements.

Later, a four-hour-long discussion took place behind closed doors after which a verdict was announced. Before slapping a fine on either side over the deaths and injuries on both sides, Kamario announced the jirga's verdict regarding the land dispute. He said the land occupied by Sadhayo and Dahani tribesmen will remain with the respective tribe till the matter is decided [later].

Hearing this, the Sadhayo tribesmen objected to the verdict and left.

As a result, Agha Dahani, an elder of the tribe, said if the Sadhayos are not ready to accept the verdict then they do not care about it as well.

Ghulam Rasool Sadhayo suggested that the land dispute be settled once and for all so the conflict can end. Kamario said he is hopeful that the dispute will be resolved soon.

Previously, a jirga to resolve the bloody dispute was held in March 2014 at the residence of Sindh Assembly speaker Agha Siraj Durrani. At the time, according to the verdict of the jirga, the killing of 31 persons in total was proved for which both the sides were fined Rs21.5 million.

Both tribes had accepted the verdict and promised to pay the fine in three equal installments, but the decision proved short lived as after a while the clashes resumed, taking the lives of 10 more people.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 29^th,  2016.