Jirga held in Kohat

Source Dawn

A jirga was held to persuade the heirs of three victims, who were killed during riots in Muharram last year here, for settlement of the case with the four accused, who are presently in Dera Ismail Khan jail.

The jirga, held at the residence of former MNA Javed Ibrahim Paracha, was led from the side of the accused by former provincial minister Qalbe Hassan. The victims included police constable Noor Mohammad, pedestrian Khairur Rehman, a resident of Kurram Agency, and Arshad of Jhandi Pathak.

On the persuasion of jirga, the heirs of the policeman and pedestrian agreed to take compensation money and drop the murder charges against the four accused. However, relatives of the third victim, who was the activist of banned Sipah-i-Sahaba Pakistan (SSP), said they wanted the law to take its course.

Currently, four members of Said Habib Imambargah are in DI Khan central prison since November last year. They include the imambargah’s caretaker Muharram Ali Shah, Ghazanfar Hussain, Abid Ali Shah and Haider Ali Shah.

Meanwhile, the family of the caretaker of Qaumi Imambargah Sher Mohammad Tori, who was killed on Feb 21 in Kohat, has withdrawn the case registered against three SSP members.

The relatives withdrew the case against Obaidullah Haideri, Shakeel and an unknown person after it emerged during investigations that Mr Tori was killed by his nephew for refusing to give him the hand of his daughter.

The police have registered a new FIR against the nephew of Mr Tori.

Ex-MNA offered conditional release in Kohat

Source: Dawn

Kohat Commissioner Kahlid Khan Umerzai has asked the detained former MNA, Shah Abdul Aziz, through a jirga to stop campaign against the foreign and national oil companies and submit sureties in this regard for his early release.




He was talking to a 20-member jirga led by MPA Malik Qasim Khan which called on at him at his office.



The participants of the jirga appealed to the commissioner to order release of former MNA. The meeting also discussed the role of the former MNA in many other controversial issues like that of Jamia Hafsa, the murder a foreign geologist by Taliban in which he was on bail and recently hurling threats to the foreign companies working in his home district.



The MNA was arrested few days ago near Bannu under 18 MPO for disturbing peace and creating law and order situation in Karak district where he had been threatening the Hungarian MOL and national OGDCL companies to give rights to local people otherwise he would launch an armed protest movement against them.



Later, two persons were assigned the task to meet Mr Aziz in jail and know about his response to the conditional release offered by the Kohat commissioner.

Jirga agrees to make travelling safe on Kohat-Hangu road

posted in dawn



KOHAT, June 29: A combined jirga of Shia and Sunni elders has agreed to ensure the safety of passengers on Kohat-Hangu highway and identify sinister elements among both the sects, who are causing unrest in the region.

Elders of both the sects said that sectarian tension in Dera Ismail Khan, Kurram Agency and Orakzai Agency even in Baghdad directly affected the people in the region emotionally where armed to teeth tribes became infuriated and started settling scores.

“So there is an immediate and dire need to spread awareness among the people that they should not react in this way which fulfils the objectives of the enemies of the country who portray it as a weak and failed state in the international community,” they said during the jirga, held at Kohat Police Club on Monday.

District Coordination Officer Siraj Ahmed, District Police Officer Dilawar Hussain Bangash and other police officials were also present on the occasion. The two sects were represented by Maulana Reham Din, Risaldar Aslam, Saleem Afridi and Mian Shah Raza, who vowed to work for peace with sincerity by keeping aside their personal interests.

They said that there was no serious issue between the Shia and Sunni communities living in the region. They blamed foreign hand for fanning differences and clashes in the region from Kohat up to Parachinar to destabilise the state.

Mr Siraj told the jirga said that law and order situation in Kohat was relatively better as compared to other parts of the province because of the regular meetings between both the communities for removal of misunderstandings.

He said that elders from both the sides should suggest ways and means to find a permanent solution to the sectarian violence.

The elders assured the administration of their complete cooperation in stopping kidnappings and killings on Kohat-Hangu highway and maintaining peace with mutual efforts.