Jirga punishes men in Waziristan

Tribesmen’s houses set ablaze for selling land to ‘outsiders’

WANA:

A tribal army consisting of approximately 4,000 people torched and demolished two houses located in Azam Warsak, South Waziristan on Tuesday.

The move, termed as a traditional tribal practice, took place after two locals identified as Haji Khun Badshah Sarki Khel and Muhammad Khan Kary Khel had been declared guilty by tribal elders in a Jirga for selling their land to outsiders.

Despite the merger of tribal areas into the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, local customs are still practiced religiously even though they are in direct confrontation with the law and writ of the government.

Local sources told The Express Tribune that tribal elders had banned the sale of land to outsiders or other clans in their area and announced that strict action will be taken against the violators.

However, Sarki Khel and Kary Khel ignored the decision made by tribal elders and sold their land to a man hailing from the opposite Suliman Khel clan that is considered an outsider.

“The sale provoked the tribal elders as they considered it a direct challenge to their authority. They ordered their tribes to raise a strong army on an emergency basis and tasked it to torch the houses of the accused,” claimed a local, adding that police and local district administration had been informed of the development in advance but the tribal elders refused to bow to the pressure and destroyed the houses.

There was no loss of life reported as the houses were empty.

“Police had also reached the area but the tribal army was way too armed for the police ,” said another local, adding that the police was forced to flee the area in panic along with the district administration as the tribal army towards the houses.

While speaking to The Express Tribune, DPO South Waziristan Shaukat Ali said that the local tribal elders had challenged the writ of the government but he also made it clear that they did not receive any complaint from the victims.

“As you know these are tribal areas and sensitive too. They still practice their traditional ways like raising an army and torching the house of a guilty person based on a jirga decision. Police is still in the transition phase and we tried to avoid clashes with the locals that could lead to the loss of innocent lives,” argued Shaukat, adding that they avoided using force on this occasion in order to keep things under control.

“The victims also contacted us and told us not to involve police in order to avoid any untoward incident,” he claimed. “In the past, an ANP worker Ayaz Wazir had been punished in the same manner and a jirga had decided to demolish his house but he contacted police at the right time and managed to protect his house by seeking police help from other districts as well.”

The DPO also said, “One thing is clear that before the demolition took place, people residing in the house managed to shift their valuables. The police was trying its level best not to allow anyone to challenge the writ of the government but it will take time to bring a visible change and completely eliminate the tribal practices.”

On the other hand, the owners of the houses blamed that their houses were demolished and torched in the presence of the authorities which was unfortunate and spoke volumes of the government’s writ.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 30^th, 2020.