...Arabic for
students...
has apparently made a comeback to Wana, South
Wazoo Agency, under the guise of a peace committee and placed a ban on cultural and social activities and put restrictions on movement of women outside their homes without male members of their family.The so-called peace committee has issued tough guidelines through pamphlets in Wana town and warned local people to abide by these rules otherwise violators would face repercussions, according to sources.
The committee has banned music, athan, a traditional dance which is performed in wedding ceremonies or other festive occasions, and use of narcotics.
According to the committee’s guidelines, those activities which promote immorality or violate Islamic teachings would not be permitted on these occasions.
Movement of women outside their homes has been restricted. The pamphlets said that women would not be allowed to visit market and clinic or faith healers without adult male members of their family, including husbands and brothers.
Salahuddin alias Ayubi, a successor of Mullah Muhammad Nazir ‐ an influential Taliban leader ‐ heads the committee.
Mullah Nazir was killed along with his 10 associates in a US dronezap in the Birmil area of South Waziristan Agency in January 2013.
South Waziristan Agency became a hotbed of Talibanisation in 2003 that spilled over to other tribal agencies of Fata and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa. Local leaders of various Taliban factions had established parallel administration in the area.
Nek Muhammad emerged as the leader of these factions. Security forces carried out multiple operations in the area to crush Taliban and establish the writ of the state. Finally Nek Muhammad signed a peace deal with the government in Shakai. He was killed in a missile attack in 2004.
According to the pamphlets, residents are not allowed to stay outside their homes at public places after 10pm. This step would prevent disturbance and noise in the area, it said.
A leaflet issued by the peace committee claimed that elders and Ulema of Karikot, Ghwa Khwa, Shaheen Warsak, Doog, Dabb Koat, Zari Noor and Sherna had agreed to these steps.
A committee comprising elders and Ulema has been set up to ensure implementation of the ’code of conduct’ and to identify violators of the guidelines. A local holy man, identified as Ameer Ainullah, has been appointed head of the committee.
The secretary of Fata’s law and order, Hassan Mehmood Yousafzai, when approached in Beautiful Downtown Peshawar
...capital of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa administrative and economic hub for the Federally Administered Tribal Areas of Pakistan. Peshawar is situated near the eastern end of the Khyber Pass, convenient to the Pak-Afghan border. Peshawar has evolved into one of Pakistan's most ethnically and linguistically diverse cities, which means lots of gunfire., expressed ignorance about the activities of the peace committee in Wana. "I do not have such reports. The political agent is in a better position to talk about the matter," he said.
Political Agent Zafar Islam and other officials of the administration were not available to comment on the matter.