No end to torture, humiliation at Lowari tunnel

UPPER DIR, Feb 8: The humiliation of passengers in the hands of the National Highway Authority (NHA) at the Dir side of the under-construction Lowari tunnel is going unnoticed due to the inaction of the cynical and self-serving elected representatives of Chitral who are busy in political point scoring.  On Sunday, women with crying children and toddlers in their laps, patients wrapped in quilts, taking medications and elderly people cursing the inefficient, incompetent and parasite political leadership, were kept waiting at the tunnel side till 3pm. The intractable NHA officials were seen roaming around puffing cigarettes and facilitating the truckers and Datsuns ferrying poultry birds on an urgent basis instead of allowing the passengers to cross the tunnel. Mehreen, a university student from lower Chitral, told ChitralToday on phone that the passengers were being treated like the children of lesser God as they did not have a leader like Prince Mohiuddin, a former member National Assembly, known for tightening the noose around the baboos. “How can we forget him (Mohiuddin) when he thrashed an executive engineer of the C&W department after he tried to turn down his orders during a meeting…forget about the three chickenhearted MPAs, the very son (Iftikharuddin) of this great leader could be seen pleading to these baboos now,” she deplored. Ms Mehreen added that the people of Chitral had even more challenges in the past compared to what they were facing now after opening of the Lowari tunnel. Shahzada Mohiuddin was always there to facilitate his people by getting permission from Afghan government in much advance than the closure of the tunnel. When reminded of a recent press conference by the two MPAs about opening of the tunnel, the female student lost her temper and categorically warned the MPAs not to befool the masses anymore, saying “enough is enough.” She said if the PPP MPAs were so sincere with their people, they should visit the tunnel to take stock of the real situation instead of making press statements. “Can’t these guys, Sardar Hussain, Salim Khan and Bibi Fozia, come to the tunnel to see the miseries the people are going through due to their poor leadership,” she questioned. She maintained that if the MPAs were feeling shy of talking to the NHA officials and the district administration, they must quit as we do not need leaders like them. “Wish if Shahzada Mohiuddin could’ve been active in politics we wouldn’t have been humiliated like this. The NHA must not be given a free hand as they’re being paid from the taxpayers’ money,” she maintained. Another traveler Syed Qasim Ali Shah, who was going home along with his old father who had gone to Lahore for treatment, also came down hard on the Chitrali lawmakers, saying everything would be alright if the MPAs could start visiting the tunnel once in a month at least. He said that what these government officers needed was a good dose to the district administration as well as the NHA after which they would be reined in within seconds. “Oh come on poor MPs, try to understand your worth,” he lamented. Another Chitrali traveler Salman Ali Miraj, currently working with an NGO in Abbottabad, said the MNA and the MPAs should submit a privilege motion against the deputy commissioner why he was unaware of the maltreatment being given to people at Lowari by NHA officials. He said it was due to the negligence of the district administration as it was completely unaware how people manage to cross the tunnel. “They district administration especially should be taken to task for his negligence,” he added. Some travelers deplored the unelected representative of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), saying PTI-walas could be seen as de facto MNA and MPAs but they have no idea what is going on right under their nose. They advised the PTI district leadership to mend their ways and concentrate on real issues being faced by masses instead of making interference in the posting and transfer of government officials, adding the political interference in matters of district administration by PTI local leaders was the main reason the administration had become redundant.]]>