Demanding justice: Bara jirga presses ahead with talks to resolve deadlock
Plans to ask the political administration to widen scope of peace talks.
Three committees were formed to fight for compensation, to hold talks with the IG police over the harassment of Bara tribesmen in Peshawar. PHOTO: FILE
PESHAWAR:
A representative jirga of elders from Bara, Khyber Agency has asked the government to form a commission of well-reputed retired judges and bureaucrats to investigate civilian killings.
The tribal elders expressed their views on the deteriorating law and order in Khyber Agency in a jirga held at Hayatabad on Wednesday.
Three committees were formed to fight for compensation, to hold talks with the inspector general of police over the harassment of Bara tribesmen in Peshawar and to reopen Bara bazaar for business. The bazaar has been under curfew since the military operation started in November 2009.
The committees will be headed by Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf leader Imran Afridi, former senator Muhammad Shah Afridi and former state minister Malak Waris Khan Afridi.
The jirga had already presented a list of demands and the government had agreed to some, such as compensation for the families of ‘innocent’ people killed during military operations and an inquiry into civilian killings. Khyber Agency Political Agent Mutahir Zeb Khan had agreed to Rs0.7 million for each tribesman’s family. He also said he would form an independent inquiry into missing persons in the agency and that they would be released within 24 hours if found innocent.
But the other demands – the end to the curfew in Bara Bazaar and stray mortar shelling – had yet to be met, said jirga member Shah Jahan Afridi on Wednesday.
In order to tackle them, Malak Waris Khan will head a committee that will meet Political Agent Mutahir Zeb Khan on Thursday to negotiate the possibility of allowing Bara Bazaar to get back to business and to put an end to stray mortar shelling, which has led to scores of civilian deaths.
The jirga held a separate meeting of its own. According to a member, who preferred to remain unnamed given that the negotiations are ongoing, they plan to ask the political agent to hold talks with leaders of the banned militant faction, Lashkar-e-Islam, before Bara Bazaar is reopened, to ensure security of the area. This was not the only group of elders to consider talks. A jirga in Hayatabad on Tuesday also demanded the government negotiate with the militants to resolve the conflict in the agency. One elder pointed out that tribesmen had suffered great financial losses due to militancy, curfews and military operations. Members urged the government to reach a peaceful resolution through dialogue instead of military operations.
Published in The Express Tribune, January 24th, 2013.
A representative jirga of elders from Bara, Khyber Agency has asked the government to form a commission of well-reputed retired judges and bureaucrats to investigate civilian killings.
The tribal elders expressed their views on the deteriorating law and order in Khyber Agency in a jirga held at Hayatabad on Wednesday.
Three committees were formed to fight for compensation, to hold talks with the inspector general of police over the harassment of Bara tribesmen in Peshawar and to reopen Bara bazaar for business. The bazaar has been under curfew since the military operation started in November 2009.
The committees will be headed by Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf leader Imran Afridi, former senator Muhammad Shah Afridi and former state minister Malak Waris Khan Afridi.
The jirga had already presented a list of demands and the government had agreed to some, such as compensation for the families of ‘innocent’ people killed during military operations and an inquiry into civilian killings. Khyber Agency Political Agent Mutahir Zeb Khan had agreed to Rs0.7 million for each tribesman’s family. He also said he would form an independent inquiry into missing persons in the agency and that they would be released within 24 hours if found innocent.
But the other demands – the end to the curfew in Bara Bazaar and stray mortar shelling – had yet to be met, said jirga member Shah Jahan Afridi on Wednesday.
In order to tackle them, Malak Waris Khan will head a committee that will meet Political Agent Mutahir Zeb Khan on Thursday to negotiate the possibility of allowing Bara Bazaar to get back to business and to put an end to stray mortar shelling, which has led to scores of civilian deaths.
The jirga held a separate meeting of its own. According to a member, who preferred to remain unnamed given that the negotiations are ongoing, they plan to ask the political agent to hold talks with leaders of the banned militant faction, Lashkar-e-Islam, before Bara Bazaar is reopened, to ensure security of the area. This was not the only group of elders to consider talks. A jirga in Hayatabad on Tuesday also demanded the government negotiate with the militants to resolve the conflict in the agency. One elder pointed out that tribesmen had suffered great financial losses due to militancy, curfews and military operations. Members urged the government to reach a peaceful resolution through dialogue instead of military operations.
Published in The Express Tribune, January 24th, 2013.