PESHAWAR - A protest sit-in over demarcation issue between the tribals of Mohmand and Bajaur districts may turn violent any time and it may also create problems in terms of the coronavirus epidemic, as a Jirga of 50 elders – 25 representatives from each district – remained inconclusive on Friday.
Deputy Commissioner Mohmand district Iftikhar Alam told The Nation that the area had been disputed for the last several decades.
“It is not something new. After the turmoil erupted recently, we have been trying to resolve the issue but the tribes frrm both the districts are not agreeing on a point. But hopefully, the issue would be resolved soon,” he added.
He also said that the disputed area is the border area, neither owned by Mohmand, nor by Bajaur district.
To question, however, he admitted said that a cadets college set up in the dispute area is named Mohmand Cadets College, recently renamed as Mamadgat Cadets College.
Assistant Commissioner of Bajaur’s Subdivision Habibullah told The Nation that most of the disputed area had been under Bajaur administration in the past.
“We are trying to resolve it through jirgas. One Jirga daily meets to discuss the issue,” he added.
To query, he said that they cannot implement section-144 because there are thousands of people from both the tribes and they cannot arrest such a large number of people.
The tribes of both Mohmand and Bajaur tribal districts have staged a sit-in for the last seven days, with calls by local elders that the government must resolve the issue as soon as possible amid the ongoing coronavirus emergency.
The disputed land, comprise seven to eight villages, are located in the boundary area between the two districts and connects Safi subdivision of Mohmand district and Nawagai subdivision of Bajaur district.
A tribesman from Safi tehsil of Mohmand, Imam Shah, told The Nation by phone that the area houses Mohmand Cadet College, which is why they say it should be part of Mohmand district.
Similarly, Hasban from Bajaur district told this correspondent that majority of the disputed area’s residents are Bajaur tribesmen by race, this is why it should be part of Bajaur.
Eyewitnesses say that tribals of both sides also have arms and in case of clash, lives might also be lost. Also, the commuters, particularly patients, face problems due to the sit-ins on Bajaur-Peshawar road. The police writ in the tribal districts already is weak as their infrastructure is not yet built in the merged districts.
On the other hand, the district administrations have also failed to resolve the issue over the past one week.
Meanwhile, sources in Mohmand district told The Nation while requesting anonymity that Khans (landlords) of Bajaur wanted to occupy the [disputed] lands.
“The area remained under Mohmand district even as per the territorial responsibility of the FCR law in the past. A former KP governor, who happens to be from the family of Khans, tried to shift a cadet college from Mohmand district to their Bajaur district but the college was ultimately shifted to the area that is now called disputed area. This is why now they want to include it in Bajaur and also Bajaur Khans live close to the area and hence want to occupy it in the long run,” the official claimed.
Former MNA and PPP Provincial Senior Vice President Akhunzada Chittan also addressed a press conference at his residence on Friday and asked the respective district administrations of both districts to resolve the issue to avoid a conflict and also potential risk of coronavirus.