‘Justice’ prevails: Jirga in Larkana manages to end four-year-long feud

Legal expert feels jirgas become popular when people lose faith in lower judiciary.

SUKKUR:

A four-year-long bloody feud between the Kalhoro and Lashari tribes of Larkana came to an end through a jirga intervention on Tuesday evening.

The forum to settle the dispute - which claimed more than 36 lives since 2009 - was chaired by former provincial minister, Mir Manzoor Panhwar, and was held at Moenjo Daro Rest House in Dokri district. The proceedings, which were attended by Dr Ibrahim Jatoi, MNA Ghous Bux Mahar, Sardar Dhani Bux Lashari, Haji Munawar Ali Abbasi and others, lasted several hours.

At first, the elders listened to arguments from both sides and recorded the statements of eyewitnesses. Later, Panhwar and other Sardars held a private meeting that lasted a couple of hours and then announced the decision to fine both the families. The jirga decided that the Kalhoro clansmen will pay a fine of Rs17.1 million while the Lashari clansmen will play Rs18.8 million.



This money will be paid as compensation to the families of the deceased men and women and those who were injured in the clashes. The jirga also ordered that whoever violates the settlement in the future will have to pay Rs2 million more.

According to the verdict, Lashari clansmen were found guilty of killing 19 members of the Kalhoro family, including, two women. The Kalhoro clansmen were found guilty of killing 17 members of the Lashari family, including, two women. For each man killed, the accused family will pay Rs800,000 while it will pay Rs1.6 million for each woman. The verdict was accepted by the two tribes, who later embraced each other and vowed never to fight again.



However, there is a piece of disputed land that the jirga has yet to pass verdict on.  A three-member committee, comprising Haji Abbasi, Dhani Lashari and Kareem Dino Badani, has been constituted to visit the land and make arrangements for its distribution among the two clans. Panhwar said the wheat has been sown over the land and its produce will be distributed evenly between the two tribes after harvest.

Where it all started

The bloody dispute between the Lasharis and Kalhoros started in the year 2009 over more than 1,000 acres land in the katcha area near Bedi Lashari village, which is on the bordering area of Larkana and Dadu districts. The first man to lose his life over the dispute was Ghulam Ali Kalhoro, who was allegedly killed by a Lashari man in October 2009. His murder sparked further clashes, which have claimed 36 lives since then.

Every time the clashes began, the whole region would become a no-go area for the police. All educational, agricultural and business activities would come to a grinding halt. According to elderly residents, the fight between the Lashari and the Kalhoro tribes is believed to be the biggest tribal feuds in the province.

Is jirga a solution?

It is a good thing the dispute between the two warring tribes has come to an end, Panhwar told The Express Tribune. “These tribal feuds are not only bringing a bad name to Sindh, which was known as the abode of love and peace, but also badly affecting its development.”

Meanwhile, not everyone agreed jirgas are the correct way to deal with grievances and to settle disputes. A former president of the Sindh High Court Bar Association and Larkana District Bar Association, Advocate Baboo Sarfaraz Jatoi, condemned holding jirgas completely.

“I see these jirgas as parallel judiciary, which is not acceptable under any circumstances,” said Jatoi, who is also the president of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz Larkana chapter. He admitted that people have lost faith in the lower judiciary, due to inordinate delays and that is why they opt for jirgas. “Delay in justice through courts does not make jirgas legal and, therefore, they must be discouraged.”

Published in The Express Tribune, December 19^th, 2013.