No newspapers were sold across North Waziristan on Wednesday because of a two-day ban on the sale of newspapers by militants after an erroneous news report on Monday claimed that four militants were killed in a clash with security forces near Mir Ali town. “No newspaper was distributed or sold anywhere in (North) Waziristan today,” Haji Pazir, the sole distributor of most Urdu and English newspapers in Miranshah, told Daily Times by phone. “I am abiding by the ban. I have received some bundles of newspapers but did not open them. I don’t want to annoy these people (militants),” Pazir said. | “Literally, we are ruled by people who only understand the language of force. There is nothing like government in Miranshah.” |
An administration official in Miranshah said he received no newspaper on Wednesday. Asked what the administration was doing to enforce the state writ, he laughed and said: “President Pervez Musharraf says in Islamabad ‘Pakistan first’, but we in Miranshah say ‘our skin first’.”
The incident exposed the government claims that the September 5 accord did not help the militants grow in size and influence. “Literally, we are ruled by people who only understand the language of force. There is nothing like government in Miranshah,” said a lecturer of a college who did not wish to be named.