Tight security for Lowari Tunnel staff ordered

ISLAMABAD: National Assembly Standing Committee on Communications here on Monday recommended “proper security” for foreign consultants and engineers working on the Lowari Tunnel project.

The committee meeting held in the Parliament House under the chairmanship of Saeed Ahmed Zafar expressed serious concern over the activities of criminal elements and militants against foreign technical experts in the country.

The meeting was informed that many engineers and experts belonging to China and other countries had been kidnapped and killed in Balochistan and the NWFP.

The committee called upon the authorities to ensure safety to the foreign workers at the Lowari Tunnel.



Taliban flexing muscles for Chitral?

Report Zulfiqar Ahmad

ISLAMABAD: After completely ruining the peace of Swat, Buner and
Dir, now the next destination of Taliban seems to be Chitral, the
largest district of Malakand Division.
Sources told this reporter that the next target of Taliban is definitely
Chitral, where they could not reach due to the closure of the Lowari
Pass for the last over five months due to snow.
They are flexing their muscles to show dominance in the valley as quite
a large number of their like-minded hardliners are already there, said the
sources. According to these sources, Taliban access to Chitral will
damage the peace of the valley to the point of no return as the population
of the district consists of three communities - Sunni, Ismaili and Kalash.
Expressing grave concern and fear over the possible shift of Taliban
to Chitral after opening of the Lowari Pass, Chitralis living in twin
cities of Rawalpindi-Islamabad have demanded of the government to
deploy troops replacing the handful of paramilitary personnel on Lowari
top.
They said if the government did not take precautionary measures
to stop the Taliban from entering Chitral, soon the already backward
valley would present the view of Stone Age with no education and
other basic amenities of life.
They said Taliban will easily enter Chitral through Lowari Pass as
hardly five to six police personnel that too with meager arms
ammunition deployed on the way was no big threat to them.
The recent killing of nine personnel of Chitral Scouts in Dir by the
Taliban has sparked anger throughout the serene valley.
In Chitral, they said, everybody is Afzal Khan Lala. The people of
Chitral are the most peace-loving in the whole country and any
conspiracy to sabotage the peace of teh valley would be retaliated
with full force of the local people, they added.


Chilim Jusht festival from next week

By Our Correspondent

CHITRAL: Chilim Jusht, the spring festival of Kalash people living in the three valleys of Bumburate, Rumbur and Birir, will commence in the second week of May and continue for five days, activists of Kalash development said.

Preparations for the festival have been started and the Kalash people, both male and female, are seen in city markets busy in shopping for the occasion. They have gotten many suits of traditional clothes stitched, renovated their houses and replaced the old utensils.

The festival usually attracts a large number of tourists to the valleys, but the Kalash activists said the turnout this year might be low because of the security situation in the Malakand division.

They said that during the festival, the number of tourists to the valleys reached its peak and all the hotels and rest houses were occupied to their capacities by the visitors.--Dawn


Four SHO s awarded
CHITRAL: Four station house officers of Chitral were awarded cash prizes and commendation certificates for their outstanding performance in curbing the menace of drugs in their respective areas, by DPO Mohammad Saleem Khan Marwat here on Monday.

Those who received the rewards were Mohammad Khalid of Drosh, Ali Murad of Arandu, Zafar Ahmed of Ayun and Inayatullah of the Chitral city.--Zahiruddin

Man seeks protection against elder brother in Chitral

CHITRAL: Mujahidur Rahman, a resident of Jughoor village, demanded of the government to provide him justice and safety against his elder brother, who ‘attempted to murder’ him on Saturday evening.

Addressing a press conference in the general ward of DHQ hospital here on Sunday, he alleged that the District Nazim, Maghfirat Shah, was using his influence to save his brother.

Mujahidur Rahman said he had a land dispute with his brother Jamshedur Rahman, who called him at his home on Saturday evening for a compromise, but allegedly fired at him, injuring him critically.

He said that although the police registered a case against the accused Jamshed and his accomplices, but no arrest had been made due to the ‘interference of the district nazim’. He alleged that some months ago, the local police had implicated him in a false case of forgery to pressurise him to withdraw from his claim on the land.

Mujahidur Rahman feared that the accused would go scot free due to the explicit support of Maghfirat Shah. He said the police did not bother to provide him security at the hospital, while the accused was free and could attack him again.

He claimed that due to his implication in the false case, he lost his job in Saudi Arabia. Mujahidur Rahman demanded of the chief minister, chief secretary and the IG police to help him. --Zahiruddin

Suspension of PIA's Saturday flight to Chitral slammed

CHITRAL: The residents of Chitral have condemned the PIA management for diverting its Peshawar-Chitral flight on each Saturday to Kabul.

Talking to this correspondent, they said that it was a great injustice with the people of Chitral, who greatly depended on such flights.

They said that due to closure of the Lowari Top road the postal system also greatly depended on the PIA flights.

They said that the management of the national airline should make some alternate arrangement for the Peshawar-Kabul route instead of diverting the Chitral flight.--Zahiruddin

More economic powers to Chitrali women promised

By Zahiruddin



CHITRAL: Chairman of Biyar Local Support Organisation (BLSO) Syed Sardar Hussain Shah has said that the organisation is working on an extended programme to give economic emancipation to the womenfolk.
Talking to Dawn here on Saturday, he said that the BLSO was established three years ago with the help of the Aga Khan Rural Support Programme (AKRSP).
He said that the organisation gave top priority to the women development from the day of its establishment in its area of activity in union council Charun.
Giving details of the programme, Mr Shah said that initially 140 women were imparted training in small enterprises in the leading institutions of Islamabad and Lahore who further trained the educated as well as the illiterate housewives.
He said that micro-credit scheme was then introduced which enabled the women to launch their own business on small-scale while guidance and counseling was provided to them on each step.
Mr Shah said that utilising their training in different trades, the women started manufacturing different articles like shampoo, organic jam, tomato paste apart from embroidery and raising household poultry and honeybees. He said that the women were also trained and helped to grow vegetables on commercial scale to supplement their income.
Describing the story of success, he said that the embroidery articles produced by the women were of superb quality and were put to exhibition in Islamabad on national level and the BLSO received demand of the articles from different countries including India and UAE. He said that the women also made carpets from pure wool, which were also in great demand.
The BLSO chairman said to discourage the middlemen, the organisation established a display centre at Booni to pool the produce of the women for onward marketing.
He said that according to a recently held survey, the women associated with BLSO earned more than Rs20,000 a month which helped them lead a respectable life while the number of suicide cases in the area had also declined.
Mr Shah said that the BLSO had also set up a maternity home at Charun Oveer which was a remote area and it had greatly helped to reduce the number of maternal and neonatal deaths.--Dawn

Call to ensure women rights

Report GH Farooqui

CHITRAL: A one-day workshop on women rights was held at Mulkho, some 98 KM from here. The programme was jointly organized by Khow Local Support Organization (KLSO) and Mulkhoh Cultural and Historical Society (MCHS) supported by Legal Awareness Program for Human Rights (LAPH).
Bashirullah, Manager KLSO, pointed out the main problems faced by women of the area like lack of health acre and education facilities. He said there is only one high school for 18,990 population which is not sufficient. He said women are being empowered by imparting them training in different skills like honey bee keeping, handicrafts etc. He said no society can develop until they involved women in the decision-making process because they are important component of the community.
Niaz Ali Shah, Chairman Board of Director of LAPH, highlighted women's rights on legal point of view. He said the main cause of women frustration was our attitude and denying women property rights and ignoring them in decision making. He said women are half of our total population and we should bring them forward for sustainable development. He said some are depriving women of their basic rights through wrong and traditional practices.
The speakers said due to discriminations we treated sons and daughters unequally which created frustration amomg females.
Ms Gulshad, Monitoring and Evaluation Officer, highlighted women's rights on Islamic point of view as well as according to UN human rights charter.
Ghulam Muhayuddin lamented that due to our traditional practices women reamined undeveloped.
Chairman KLSO Mukarram Shah said women are deliberately being neglected and they are not given their rights. He said a nation can never develop until their women did not work shoulder to shoulder with their men.

Encroachments on state lands in Chitral

By Islamuddin

Chitral is the biggest district of NWFP covering an area of about 15,000 square kilometers. Only 3% of this land is either under cultivation or built up and the remaining 97% land, comprising mountains, glaciers, forests, pastures, barren land and riverbed has traditionally been held by the people in common (shamilat). The entire population in the catchment areas have historically enjoyed user rights on these categories of lands.
In 1975 the Govt. of NWFP issued a notification to regulate use of the common land (shamilat). Under this notification control over the 97% land, comprising shamilat was given to the state, while the people were allowed user rights subject to state regulations. However, either owing to connivance or political pressure the Govt. machinery was unable to control and regulate the state land.
In 1977 when the PPP Govt. was overthrown, the landed aristocracy shifted its loyalty and became camp follower of Ziaul Haq in return for his support to subvert Bhutto’s Land Reforms. With the active patronage of Ziaul Haq, the judicial process was also manipulated to give legal cover to the encroachments of state land. Official custodians of state property opted to stay on side lines, while landed aristocracy fought out their cases in the courts. With the Govt. keeping out of the legal battles, the Notification of 1975 was not pressed into service until 2005, when the Chitral Dost Alliance made it an election issue. Again in the 2007 general elections the Notification of 1975 was made an election issue by the PPP candidate for the provincial seat. Soon after the election, in march 2007, the provincial Govt. of NWFP issued a circular to the settlement staff of Chitral not to transfer state lands to private individuals.
The people of Chitral have pined great hopes with the coalition Govt. of NWFP. Both PPP and ANP are perceived to be pro-poor parties. Their intention to implement 1975 Notification is a testimony of their commitment. But, as the saying goes, the taste of the pudding is in the eating. The people of Chitral want to see action on the ground. So far no drive has been launched to remove encroachments and reclaim state lands. We have yet to see the state impleading itself in cases involving state property. In fact it is still the other way round. State lands continue to be encroached. Land mafia is again trying to close ranks with the new ruling parties to protect their vested interests and defeat the laws of the land. Any further delay to establish writ of the Government may push it to evacuating state lands through military action.
On the one hand state is being deprived of its property and on the other hand reckless use of the land is pushing Chitral towards environmental catastrophy. Forests and glaciers are disappearing, roads and river leads are shrinking causing floods due to overflow. Land erosion, windstorms and floods have become order of the day. The people of Chitral are looking towards the Govt with expectancy. They are demanding of the Govt. to assert its authority. Encroachments should be removed and closed cases, where the Govt. failed to implead itself in land disputes, should be reopened. In case there are legal impediments, these should be removed through legislation.
The existing situation is simply untenable. How can 99% people survive on 2% land, while 98% land remains out of bound for them due to official apathy? The Govt must establish its writ and restore public confidence in its ability to do justice. It is time to act before it is too late and the suggested action should not confine itself to the reclaiming of the encroached state land but it must also include action against officials and elected representatives who failed to protect Govt. interests.
Chitral offers the promise of becoming the richest district, if it can reclaim its control over the 97% state land, which it can lease out to the local people. At present it is paying hefty amounts to land grabbers for buying sand, concrete and stones from the illegal occupants of river beds for its different development projects in the construction sector. It reflects poorly on the state and the people of Chitral, that a few land grabbers are fleecing them. Before the people of Chitral are pushed to the wall, the state must come to their rescue as well as to establish its own writ.

Kaghlasht Festival draws crowds

Report GH Farooqui

CHITRAL: Chairman National Assembly Standing Committee on Kashmir Affairs and Northern Areas Shahzada Mohiuddin said some 130 million rupees have been approved by the federal government for different uplift schemes in Chitral. He was speaking as chief guest at the concluding ceremony of Qaghlast Festival on Thursday. The MNA assured the participants of blacktopping the Mulkhow and Qaghlasht roads. He also announced Rs30,000 for the management committee of the festival. He said the young generation should participate in healthy activities to save themselves from social evils. He also presented the winner and runner-up trophies to different teams. Thousands of people participated in the final where the management committee had arranged for traditional plays with cultural shows and folk dance to enthrall the spectators. Other speakers on the occasion demanded water supply to this ground to irrigate it and for construction of a road. In the final of polo, Kosht defated the team of Booni by 3 to 2 goals. Sardar Ahmad was captain of the winner team while Shahzada Sikandarul Mulk led the runner-up team. Sardar Ahmad was also declared as man of the match. As many as six polo teams participated in the tournament.10 football teams participated in the festival. During the semi final Morder football tams versus Reshun team and Kushum versus Mastum contested in which Morder and Kushum football teams qualified for final match. In football, Morder defeated Kushum with a penalty as the match remained equal till the end. Muhammad Qadir was captain of winner team and Zulfiqar Ali of runner-up team. The Morder team captain was also declared man of the match. As many as 16 teams participated in cricket tournament. The cup went to the Booni team which defeated Medical Star with seven wickets. Inamullah of Booni white teams was declared man of the match while M. Zakeer of medical rep team was announced man of the tournament. In Tug of War, Mastuj Tehsil won the trophy by defeating Mulkhow. A total of 40 persons participated in race competition. Zahurul Hassan of Koragh scored 1st position, Shamsud Rehmat of Morder 2nd position and Amir Ali of Kosht remained third. 10 teams participated in volleyball tournament and the final match was played between Chitral Scouts and Booni in which Chitral Scouts defeated Booni by two to zero. A local traditional match called Ghaluchun Ghal was played between Booni and Mulkhow team in which Booni defeated Mulkhow. A competition of musical chair was also held among special people.