Wet blanket: Swabi admin bans annual water cross event

Decision invites criticism from organisers, off-roading enthusiasts.

PESHAWAR:

District administration Swabi banned the annual 4x4 water cross event – scheduled to be held at the Indus River in Swabi on Sunday – over security concerns, inviting wide spread criticism from jeep enthusiasts in the province.

The decision was made by the district administration, and conveyed to the Frontier 4x4 Club and Sarhad Tourism Corporation, who were collaborating to organise the event along with various jeep clubs from across the country. The move invited widespread criticism from the off road enthusiasts across the province.



Talking to The Express Tribune, DC Swabi Kamran Khan said they had not been approached for a no-objection certificate (NOC) and provision of security for such a mega event.

“As a rule an NOC should be obtained and the district administration should be informed in advance - in writing - about an event of such magnitude, so that we could arrange for security. We are constantly receiving intelligence reports that terrorists could strike at public places anywhere in the district,” he said.

“We have imposed section 144 which prohibits gathering of more than five people in a single place,” he added.

Frontier 4x4 Club President Babar Khan, however, lashed out at the decision, saying it would not portray a good message to the guests who were about to arrive in the city from across the country.



“The event was going to take place away from public places in a far-flung area on the bank of River Indus where you can’t reach without an off-road vehicle. One needs to cross the water three times in a vehicle to reach the spot so it is not a public place at all. We had selected a challenging terrain for the off-road vehicles and there was no chance of terror attacks,” he said. Babar added they had been organising the event silently since the past four years when the security situation in the province and country was far worse.

“Our mission is to provide a day without the worries of routine life for the people of Peshawar and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, who are already stressed over the law and order situation in the country. That is why we think more events like this should be organised in the face of lawlessness,” he said.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 22^nd, 2013.