Ashrafuddin Pirzada
LANDIKOTAL
A grand Jirga of Sheikhmalkhel sub-tribe of Shinwsri held on Monday in Landikotal and collectively rejected the unauthorized mining contract and threatened that they would resist if the Shiekhmalkhel tribe owned minerals mining contract was leased without their consent.
A large number of local elders and youth from Mazikhel and Alamkhani tribes of Shiekhmalkhel attended the jirga.
The elders unanimously rejected the unauthorized lease agreement on the Sheikhmalkhel land and mountains. The elders including Haji Gohar Ali Shinwari,Malak Shakirullah,Malak Ihsanullah Shinwari,Malak Abdul Malik and Aman Ali Shinwari emphasized that all their tribesmen have the right on the common resources. They said that not only a person but all Shiekhmalkhel tribesmen were the owners of their common properties and assets.
They asserted that decisions regarding the collective land and mountains couldn’t be made by any single person, group or faction without comprehensive community involvement.
The elders said few persons from their tribe allwgedly had secretly held meetings with a contractors to sign a lease deal of the minerals.The elders said they would not allow anyone to plunder the poors tribesmen money.
Haji Gohar Ali said a company and fake contractors were trying to make a secret deal bypassing the Sheikhmalkhel tribe elders and influentials. He demanded of local authorities to take action against such fraudulent agreements and arrest those who want to missuse their tribe collective assets.He said a secrete deal would be opposed and would not allow the contractor to work in their mountais.
Malak Ihsanullah Shinwari vehemently rejected any unauthorized leasing agreements, condemning the actions of companies and contractors attempting to exploit their resources.
Ihsanullah said such possible deals, conducted without taking on broad the community elders would undermine the rights of the entire tribeThey asserted that decisions regarding the communal land and mountains couldn’t be made by any single person, group or faction without comprehensive community involvement. and equivalent to theft.
The elders demanded of the Khyber Deputy Commissioner and the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Mineral Department to intervene, stating that a few individuals had engaged in fraudulent papergoes against the tribe’s interests.
The tribal leaders expressed their intention to form a representative council or committee through mutual consultation, which would be empowered to make decisions on behalf of the tribe. They declared that any agreements made without the approval of their tribe council would be unacceptable to the community.
They threatened those start work in their mountains would be stopped by force.
