KHYBER AGENCY - The strict formalities of locals at newly established checking post of Shaheed More Torkham have multiplied the miseries of the dwellers of the area.
The Frontier Corps (FC) soldiers at the post do not let local tribesmen of Bacha Mena, a bordering town in Torkham, are also not permitted to cross into Landi Kotal on the pretext of verification, which is injustice to them, local political leaders said, expressing their views in ‘Meet the Press’ at Landi Kotal Press Club yesterday.
The political elites, including Shah Hussain of ANP, Murad Hussain of JI, Abdur Raziq Shinwari of PTI, Hazrat Wali Afridi of PPP, Qari Rehmatullah of JUI-F and Amir Afridi of KYF, criticised the additional checking and verification procedure adopted by the forces and said it would intensify rift between the forces and the tribesmen.
They further said the tribesmen supported the border mechanism system imposed at the Torkham border aiming to curtain movement of unlawful elements across the border, but the authorities simultaneously applied the verification system to the local tribesmen living in Bacha Mena, Torkham, that practically declared them aliens.
Women and patients are suffering a lot. Students are also not permitted to cross the checkpoint and are required to show their identity cards, they lamented.
They also came down hard on the checking system in Torkham and said a comprehensive verification of pedestrians crossing into Pakistan was done by the authorities concerned at the Torkham border, but after a kilometre from the border, the FC troops at Shaheed Morre reinvestigate all the people passing through the post, which shows lack of coordination among different departments.
The political leaders held the authorities responsible for making thousands of local tribesmen jobless with implementation of restrictions at Torkham border as business activities are halted in Torkham. They urged the authorities to review the restriction policy in Torkham otherwise they would have no option but to initiate an agitation against them.