CHITRAL(National Times)- Enraged by the exclusion of the 157-kilometre Mastuj-Broghil Road from the current fiscal year’s Annual Development Programme (ADP), hundreds of residents from the remote Yarkhun and Broghil valleys of Upper Chitral, in a convoy of jeeps and motorcycles, started a journey towards the district headquarters two days ago, and is expected to reach Booni on Thursday (today).
Organised under the banner of the Awami Action Committee (AAC), the procession has been swelling in numbers as it passes through various villages along the Yarkhun Valley, where residents are giving the marchers warm receptions, food and logistics.
Led by AAC convener and former district council member Mohammad Wazir Khan, alongside regional elders, the protesters have demanded the immediate approval and funding of the vital road project.
Addressing a large gathering in Mastuj town on Wednesday, the AAC leaders flayed both the federal and provincial governments for ‘repeatedly backing out’ of their pledges.
“This artery is inevitable for lifting our valleys out of backwardness and alleviating deep-rooted poverty,” AAC leaders stated. “Yet, successive governments have refused to take our plight seriously.”
They flayed the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government, noting that despite public commitments made by former chief minister Ali Amin Gandapur during his tenure, not a single step was taken to execute the road project.
The organisers announced that once the marchers reached Booni on Thursday, they would initiate an indefinite dharna (sit-in) outside the district administration’s offices.
They vowed that the protest camp would continue until their demand for the road project’s inclusion in ADP was met, while emphasising that the agitation would remain peaceful.
When contacted, Upper Chitral Deputy Commissioner Mohammad Imran Khan told Dawn that the administration had no intention of blocking the march.
“Staging a peaceful protest for fundamental rights is a democratic right of the citizens, and they will not be obstructed, but they will be our guests here”, DC Khan said.
He added that the provincial high-ups had already been informed about the public grievances and revealed that administrative and backdoor efforts were underway to negotiate with the committee elders and resolve the dispute before the procession arrives in Booni.
