EDITORIAL: Too many precious lives have been lost in intermittent eruption of violence between warring tribes in Kurram district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) since November 21 when gunmen opened fire on a convoy of buses carrying Shia passengers from Parachinar to Peshawar, killing 43 people, including women and children.
Ensuing reprisal attacks left at least 118 people dead and countless others injured. Although a ceasefire agreement brokered by the district administration/Jirga holds, uneasy calm prevails in the troubled areas. About 300 families are reported to have fled the district to find safety in other parts of the province. This has been happening again and again for the last many months.
It is not a simple law and order situation as the ruling coalition at the Centre has been trying to portray it, accusing Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur of not paying serious attention to the problem. Fuelling the conflict is a lethal mix of land disputes, tribal rivalries, and sectarian tensions exploited by enemies of the state.
The major cause of trouble, though, is said to be land disputes that go back to pre-independence days. A while ago the government had appointed a land commission to resolve the issue. The commission members made several visits to the disputed areas but failed to take necessary action due to what was described as tribal sensitivities.
Kurram being the only district where a significant part of the population — 40 percent -– is Shia any quarrel tends to take a sectarian hue. It needs to be recalled that the TTP militants had seized control of Kurram, which borders Afghanistan, before they were ousted in a military operation.
They still seem to have supporters and facilitators in the district sparking sectarian tensions and attacking security forces. Just last Monday, two Frontier Corps soldiers were martyred in Char Khel area of Lower Kurram. The situation calls for a united, concerted response from both the provincial and federal governments. Instead, there has been an unseemly discord between the two sides.
Governor Faisal Karim Kundi announced a multi-party conference for December 5, to which CM Gandapur took umbrage. He rightly asserted that as elected chief executive of the province it was his mandate, not the Governor’s, to call such a conference.
Meanwhile on Saturday, the CM participated in a grand Jirga organised by his government in Kohat, asking the local elders and others to stay actively engaged till restoration of peace. Equally important, in a separate statement he has requested the federal government to deploy additional FC platoons with orders to treat anyone who takes up arms as a terrorist.
The state must do all it takes to resolve issues causing recurring violence in Kurram. The simmering land disputes should be resolved in a judicious manner. Local elders and religious leaders ought to play their role in promoting tribal and communal harmony. Bringing durable peace to that volatile district of KP must be the priority of federal and provincial governments as well as the security forces.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2024