MANSEHRA: Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf provincial lawmaker from Kolai-Palas, Sardar Mohammad Riaz, has announced that he will hold a grand jirga of elders from all Kohistan districts on September 14 to evolve a future course of action after his convoy allegedly came under attack last week.
“I was attacked at the Kolai-Palas-Allai (Battagram) boundary, and the perpetrators fired around 500 gunshots at my convoy, but the police failed to arrest anyone,” he told reporters on Monday.
Flanked by elders from Kolai-Palas, Sardar Riaz said he had gone to attend a jirga on Saturday (September 5) and came under attack after crossing Sukergah at the Kolai-Palas-Allai boundary.
“Thanks to Allah Almighty, my people and I escaped unhurt. A police party reached the spot after an hour and fired shots into the air, but so far, nobody has been arrested,” he said.The lawmaker said elders from Upper Kohistan, Lower Kohistan and Kolai-Palas would attend the jirga in Pattan, Lower Kohistan. He added that, due to the prevailing tension over the disputed area, schoolchildren could not attend school and shortages of food items had adversely affected people’s lives.
He said he was sure that those who had fired at his convoy wanted to create a law and order situation by pitting people from different tribes in Kolai-Palas and his Allai area against each other.
“I am astonished that even my colleagues in the provincial assembly did not inquire about my health or the attack on me,” Sardar Riaz said.The lawmaker said he had remained completely neutral in the ownership dispute over Baleja Meadows between tribes from Kolai-Palas and Allai, but he was still dragged into the issue despite having played an important role in defusing tensions and restoring normalcy.
“The tribes from both sides reached an agreement with the commissioner of Hazara, which I also witnessed. They agreed to lay down their arms and not indulge in confrontation, but the firing on my convoy is an attempt to create a law and order situation,” Sardar Riaz said.
