November 29, 2024
By Bilal Yasir
KHAR
A committee of tribal elders and political activists has imposed a ban on the unnecessary movement of residents after 9 pm across the Bajaur district, adding that it would help prevent targeted killings, thefts, and robberies at night.
The ban on movement came into force on November 28 after the Bajaur Peace Action Committee, which had met a day earlier in the district capital of Khar, announced its decision. The peace committee held a Grand Jirga at its headquarters in Khar Civil Colony. The head of the peace committee, Malik Gul Karim Khan, issued a statement banning the late-night movement of residents at the conclusion of Grand Jirga meeting.
‘No FIR to be lodged for anyone killed after 9pm’
“The jirga has unanimously decided that there will be a strict ban on the unnecessary movement of residents within and outside their towns and villages,” Malik Gul Karim Khan said, adding that the measure was necessary to prevent target killings, thefts, and robberies as well as improve the deteriorating law and order situation in Bajaur.
Wajid Ali Shah, a member of the peace committee, said the objective of the Grand Jirga was to restore normalcy in the district and prevent unidentified outsiders from disturbing peace. “The jirga decided that any unidentified non-resident has to contact the person from the village he is going to meet otherwise if this person is killed as an intruder no case would be lodged with police,” Shah explained.
‘Jirga measures illegal and unconstitutional’
The peace committee’s announcement further states that if an unidentified person is killed after 9 pm, his family members and clan would not pursue the murder or lodge a first information report with the police. However, Haya Khan, a local lawyer, said the superior courts have expressly forbidden tribal jirgas from making such decisions on behalf of their communities or clans, terming the measures unconstitutional. “The 2017 Supreme Court judgment has barred tribal jirgas from issuing announcements and proclamations,” Khan said.
In the light of the apex court verdict, jirgas have been declared defunct and void of any authority, he said. “The jirga’s announcement to ban movement of citizens after 9 pm goes against the fundamental right of freedom of movement enshrined in the Constitution that even the State cannot restrict movement of any citizen,” he pointed out. Secondly, the jirga could not force law enforcement agencies like police not to take cognizance of offences like murder which is a primary responsibility of the State and right of every citizen, he added.
On the other hand, the people in Bajaur have widely welcomed the jirga’s measures to improve peace and tranquility in the region. Previously, the local jirga had banned women from calling FM radios in Bajaur, restricting their participation in music programmes at wedding ceremonies, barring their entry into places of entertainment, and limiting their visits to the markets without an accompanying male member of their families.