Lakki Marwat power riots: Jirga demands compensation for loss

DPO says the tribesmen had assured of peaceful demos.

LAKKI MARWAT:

A jirga has demanded elders of Abakhel and Dalokhel tribes to compensate for the damage to property caused during riots against power outages in Lakki Marwat.

The Marwat Qaumi Jirga was convened at the Mena Khel Fort on Wednesday and participated by Member of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) Assembly Munawar Khan Marwat, President All Shopkeepers Union Haji Abdur Rahim and local elders.

The jirga’s chief, Akhtar Mena Khel, condemned the damage caused to public property and to the house of MPA Marwat by members of Abakhel and Dalokhel tribes. He also lashed out at the district police for failing to keep the protesters under control. “Had the district government and police officials done their duty, most of the properties would have been saved,” he said.

Khel maintained that as the two tribes are responsible for bringing hundreds of people onto the city to protest and damaging property, it is their duty under the Pakhtun code to apologise and compensate for the loss. He warned that if the tribes do not comply with the jirga’s recommendations till August 4, their businesses would be locked down.

The jirga also barred four elders of the tribes from entering the city.

Meanwhile, members of the jirga held a meeting with District Police Officer (DPO) Umer Riaz at the office of the district coordination officer. The DPO apologised for the security lapse and claimed that he was “tricked” by the tribesmen to allow them to take to the streets. “[The tribesmen] had assured that they would not damage any property during the demonstrations,” he added.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 2^nd, 2012.