LOWER DIR: Traders and leaders of various political parties shut down Rabat Bazaar and staged a protest on the main road against a proposed road-widening plan that could lead to the demolition of shops.
The protesters maintained that a written agreement had already been reached to widen the road to 40 feet, rejecting the proposed expansion to 66 feet. They said traders would not surrender any additional land beyond the previously agreed limit.
Addressing the demonstration, Jamaat-e-Islami leader Shad Nawaz Khan, Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam Tehsil Balambat General Secretary Maulana Rehmanullah, Awami National Party Tehsil Balambat President Bakht Malik, Lower Dir Contractors Association President Advocate Sahibullah, Maqeed Khan, Rabat Bazaar Traders Association President Haji Syed Ghani, General Secretary Wajid Khan, Senior Vice President Asghar Khan, Vice President Major Khan and other speakers voiced their concerns.
The speakers said traders had previously cooperated with the administration by voluntarily removing encroachments. However, the recent re-marking of the road had renewed concerns among the business community over the possible demolition of shops.
They warned that any operation to demolish shops under the proposed 66-foot widening plan would trigger the closure of markets from Rabat to Timergara, followed by a wheel-jam strike.
The protesters urged the Chief Minister of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, the Malakand Commissioner and the Deputy Commissioner of Lower Dir to take immediate notice of the issue, address traders’ concerns and ensure that the previously agreed terms were implemented.
The demonstration concluded with a demand that the authorities honour the existing agreement and resolve the dispute without causing further losses to local traders.