Govt unmoved about miseries of stranded Chitralis
Photo Fardad Ali Shah[/caption] ISLAMABAD, Dec 29: Due to the conflict of interest and lack of coordination between the federal and the KP governments, the people of Chitral are suffering as so far a schedule for the opening of the under-construction Lowari tunnel has not been finalized. For the last a couple of weeks, the Lowari top road was closed due to snowfall till the snow was removed by the Frontier Works Organization (FWO) to restore traffic. But as the removal of the snow takes days, the poor Chitrali passengers had to spend their days and nights under the open sky in the cold winter. On Saturday morning, the Lowari pass also closed and so far it has not been opened though the FWO is working on removal of the snow. Reports said hundreds of people were strained on both sides of the pass waiting for the opening of the road. In the meantime, both the federal and provincial governments remain as a silent spectator to the suffering of the passengers. The federal government and the NHA have announced that with the closure of the Lowari pass, the under-construction tunnel will be oped for two full days after every 15 days. But the KP government was pressing for the weekly opening of the tunnel. However, when the federal government asked the KP government to open the tunnel on a weekly basis on its own risk, the latter did not talk about it again. In the meantime, the elected representatives of Chitral seem stuck somewhere in the snow-capped valleys of Chitral and there is no one to get the callous and senseless government realize the agonies of the poor Chitralis and order the opening of the under-construction tunnel to provide them some relief.]]>
I totally agree with comments of brother Wali and advise my brothers and sisters not to deviate from the path of patience. This is life, why we should complain against our legislators and other leaders. They are not the ones to decide the opening of the tunnel and had it been in their hands they would have opened it for 365 days a year. There are things that can be done by human beings and there are things that are out of their control. Besides, many things are from God Almighty and they cannot be changed and if anyone wants to change the work of nature they will face the consequences. Musharraf tried to change the work of nature by cutting and digging the Lowari and now he has seen the result. The case of this traitor Musharraf is in front of you, very soon he will see the result. Allah may give Taufeeq to Chitralis, Ameen summa Ameen.
@Fazal Sher, you seem much concerned about Chitrali culture but tell me what you have done for the promotion of Chitrali culture sitting in Islamabad. You have no business with people where they want to marry and where they want to live. Better you never come to Islamabad and open a culture office in Chitral to promote the Chitrali culture over there.
The billas (cats) might be afraid of going towards Lowari as Gujjars have threatened to cage them if caught stealing the milk. A comrade of these ‘billas’ known for street protests seemed dead busy somewhere out of the country collecting donations. The tunnel closure is not his priority at present and he will be seen on GT Road in Peshawar soon his return.
Another billa whom people had sent to the parliament with great expectations is under immense pressure and afraid of saying anything about the closure of the Lowari tunnel. Please forgive him at least for the time being as he is in a state of shock, fearing the ruling junta of PML-N might also try him for treason under Article 6 of the Constitution.
The insiders have revealed that a woman leader of the PML-N Chitral is contemplating to send a reference the PML-N Chitral president to formally charge him with treason for betraying Msuharraf and his inability to defend him in the parliament.
The suspended billa damn cares about Lowari closure as he has geared up efforts to strike down the ruthless PPP jiyala once again who has deprived him of his seat which he had grabbed after smuggling huge quantity of wheat to Afghanistan.
The billa from Kandojal is worried about his ill-wealth which he had amassed during his party’s five years corrupt rule by selling out jobs as minister for population welfare. He is hesitant to speak out publicly for Chitral smelling the wrath he may face for his past wrongdoings.
But he does shed crocodile tears when he comes to know about the plight of Chitralis stranded on both sides of the tunnel. The other day, he was near collapse due to the shock and a doctor was called immediately who soothed him, advising him to have Chitrali ‘garum kari or reganu’ and go to bed without paying any attention to whatever is happening at the tunnel.
It would be unfair if we failed to mention the name of the newly found pir as he has jumped into the fray after being frustrated with the present leadership whom he has dubbed as mafias of contractors, timbers, etc.
It is time for pir saheb to show some miracle using his all-time powerful heritage. He is so engrossed with the miseries of the people that the tunnel occupies his mind as soon as he closes his eyes. Chitralis beware of the billas or else you will lose the remaining milk.
My dear M Wali…Mastujo juwan, keep tweeting and facebooking by sitting beside ‘Dodorgazogh’, and wiping your nose while your 65-year-old father along with your niece will certainly write history in their bid to protect the so-called Chitrali culture. Your culture has vanished long, long ago. Numerous so-called champions of Chitrali culture and most recently your suspended MPA has married off his daughter to a non-Chitrali. Which culture are you talking about. People like you must stop teaching us about the Chitrali culture.
Mr Fazal Sher, Nadir Khan and all, do not be worried all is well. My 65-year-old father and the teenage daughter of my elder brother are among the Chitrali passengers who were waiting for the opening of the tunnel at Chitral side. I just talked to them on their cellphone near Ziarat. My teenage nephew was playing games on her phone and my father told me she was enjoying the travel and hospitality of the Gujjars. “Weather is fantastic, fabulous, the food delicious and V don’t wana move ahead frm here, plz pray 4 our long stay here,” said my nephew in her latest tweet from Ziarat.
Brothers, if we do not go through the vagaries of nature as our forefathers did 100 years back, how we can maintain our traditional values and Chetrari sharafat. Our sharaft does not allow us to call names and criticize our respectable leaders. Every year we should spend a few cold nights under the open sky on both ends of the Lowari pass to promote our Izzat and that of our elders. The MNA and the MPAs are not elected to come and sweep the snow from the Lowari tunnel for you guys. Their job is to make law, the law that will make you a law abiding citizen of this God-gifted land of the pure.
My advice to Fazal Sher: Next time you travel on the Lowari pass, keep a big broom in your bag to sweep the snow and clear the road. Never ever try to disturb the honorable, respectable and their majesties the elected representatives of the people of Chitral. They are not supposed to carry your bag on the Lowari top.
@Nadir Khan: What a lovely expectation from an ordinary Chitrali for a fellow Chitrali stranded in Chitral due to heavy snowfall and closure of Lowari top. I would have appreciated if you could have ridiculed these so-called Chitrali leaders in a similar tone. It is just because of them people have no option but to look forward to them that they might help them in crossing the Lowari. But I would rather prefer to spend the whole winter in Chitral instead of looking forward to them because we really feel ashamed of calling them our leaders. These guys whom we have voted to power are there to make money and misuse their clout by flattering the corrupt government baboos. They have their own vested interests. They have nothing to do with the plights of poor people. While Chitralis are spending sleepless nights, Iftikhar is hiding in Islamabad due to cold weather in Chitral, Ghulam Muhammad is busy in lobbying to again rig the elections while Saleem Khan, though look quite innocent, is actually “palum shugoor lamboor bateer’, and is reportedly worried about his ill-wealth as NAB investigators will track down the gentleman from Kandujal soon for embezzlement of public money. So dear friend expecting anything from the trio, under the snow near Ziarat, sipping the hot tea made by the dirty Gujjars, is quite foolish.
Fazal Sher: I express sincere sympathy with you and all the other Chitralis for the road trouble but it would be better if you had stayed with the Chitrali brothers, sisters and elderly people stranded in Chitral side of the Lowari pass instead of running back to Chitral.
I have just come back to Chitral after failing to cross the Lowari pass/tunnel and being unable to stand the cold weather and humiliation on way to Islamabad. The people of Chitral, especially those stranded on both sides of the tunnel, must invite suspended MPA Ghulam Muhammad, MNA Iftikharuddin and MPA Saleem Khan to the site and ask them to spend a single night with them under the open sky amid snow and below freezing temperature to realize their sufferings. PPP jiyala Saleem Khan, who made his mark by selling jobs when he was a provincial minister, is still fooling the Chitralis by issuing hollow statements.
Time has come Sardar Hussain must stand up and stage a rally against Lowari tunnel closure and the inept trio (Iftikhar, GM and Saleem), who have been making fun of the people’s mandate by acting as silent spectators to their suffering.
The corrupt, contractor/timer mafias have continuously been making fun of poor Chitralis after making their ways to the dark power corridors. We have at least got rid of one corrupt MPA and the day is not far when Saleem Khan will be behind bars as some brave Chitralis are busy in preparing charge-sheet against his corruption and all the ill-wealth he amassed during the last five years.The charge-sheet will be presented to the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) to bring him to book. Wake up Chitarlis otherwise you will continue facing the humiliation you are going through these days on the mountains of Lowari.
One MPA is suspended and the other is sleeping. The MNA of Chitral is also nowhere to be heard in power corridors. People of Chitral are facing humiliation and their right to free movement is being utterly denied by the government of the day. We have already seen the performance of MPA Saleem Khan during his previous tenure when he was a minister, this time our MNA who we voted in the name of Musharraf has even failed to get the tunnel open for a few hours a week. He was claiming that the prime minister would be announcing the schedule of Lowari tunnel opening and he had arranged a meeting with the NHA, etc etc etc. Now I think all were a pack of lies. The people of Chitral will be better off without these public representatives who are even unable to speak about such a genuine issue of the 0.5 million people of Chitral. They should go home.