Kohistan’s elders oppose merger with Upper Kohistan

Tribes from Kandiya, Shanaki, Jalkot and Seo threaten to stage protest if headquarters is shifted from Pattan.

KOHISTAN: Elders from three key towns of Kohistan on Wednesday rejected demands of merging Palas Tehsil with Upper Kohistan.

They also threatened to stage a protest if their areas were merged.

A grand jirga of elders from different tribes of Kandiya, Shanaki, Jalkot and Seo area of Kohistan was held in Dasu on Wednesday. The Jirga was also attended by former parliamentarians, nazims and councillors.

The elders Malik Sakhi, Haji Munawar Shah and Malik Sakhi out rightly rejected the demand of merging their towns with the Upper Kohistan, as demanded by the Palas Kolai Action Committee.

They said that those who were opposing the government’s decision of making Pattan the district headquarters of Lower Kohistan were in fact bent on dividing Kohistani tribes on ethnic grounds.

They said that the decision of Lower Kohistan had been upheld by the Supreme Court and it was incumbent on everyone to accept it without any opposition. They further accused the Palas Kolai Action Committee and Jamiat Ulema Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) MPA Maulana Asmatullah of committing contempt of court by not accepting the Supreme Court’s decision on the matter.

They threatened to launch a protest outside the provincial assembly if the government altered its decision on the matter.

Later, members of the grand jirga staged a sit-in outside the office of Kohistan deputy commissioner and presented him with a memorandum of their demands.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 16^th, 2017.