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Chitral truck driver union demand clearance of road

By Zahiruddin

CHITRAL: The office-bearers of Truck Drivers Union Chitral have asked the government to retain its writ in Dir and get the Dir-Chitral road freed for the truck drivers of Chitral at Daro Khore Dir where the Dir drivers have blocked the road for Chitrli drivers for the last four days. Addressing a press conference here on Tuesday, the union president Sharifullah, vice-president Zahir Khan, general secretary Abdur Rehman and others said that the drivers of Dir are trying their will on us and ask for more share in transportation of goods to and from the Chitral district while we want it on equality basis. They said that ten years the same kind of skirmish between the drivers of Chitral and Dir at Chitral had taken a serious and ugly turn when the goods of the business centers of Dir residents in Chitral had been thrown into the river. They said that the matter had been settled amicably at that time and the drivers of both the districts enjoyed loads of trucks on equality basis. They said that a local MPA of Upper Dir Anwar Khan has his business established in Chitral on wide scale but he is enticing the Dir drivers to block the road for the Chitali drivers while the Dir police is doing no effort to open the road. They said that the residents of Chitral district store the commodities of daily use before the closure of Lowari Pass in the summer which is approaching fast and if the road is not opened, then it will lead scarcity of the commodities. The driver leaders said that the issue of the blockade of road pertains not only to the drivers but also to whole the population of Chitral while the government is silent about it. They alleged that Dir police is siding the driver union of Dir for their unjustified demand. They gave a deadline of four days to the provincial government to solve the problem at the expiry of which they will resort to violent means.
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Not to send  Chitral Police personnel to Swat....President TU

By Zahiruddin

CHITRAL: The president of Traders union Chitral Habib Hussain Mughal has demanded of the government not to send the personnels of Chitral police to the troubled area of Swat because it will jeopardize the peace of Chitral district due to its vastness. In a press statement issued here on Tuesday, he said that area-wise Chitral is the largest district of the province which needs larger magnitude of force to keep vigilance on its borders. He said that the deployment of forces from Chitral may give a chance to the militants to make intrusion into it area as there are many routes connecting the district with the neighboring districts of Swat and Dir. He demanded of the government to undo its decision of send the police personnels from Chitral to Swat.