Movement for Abaseen division gaining strength

The ‘Abaseen division movement’ is getting more strength after the approval of new name Khyber-Pukhtunkhwa for the province as lawmakers from the Pukhtun-dominated districts of Hazara along with those from Shangla in Malakand division will meet today to work out a strategy for streamlining their efforts for establishment of a separate division.

To devise future line of action, provincial assembly members from Battagram, Kohistan, Shangla and Kala Dhaka area of Oghi tehsil, Manshera district will meet today at a local hotel, confirmed the JUI-F MPA from Battagram Shah Hussain Khan while talking to The News.

He said the meeting would work out the modalities for the division such as finalising the place for divisional headquarters as well as to discuss the issue of the status of Kala Dhaka. The lawmaker said they had to decide about Kala Dhaka as the area was Pukhtun-dominated but was part of Manshera district.

To a question, he said the government had not contacted them yet and after today’s meeting they would apprise Khyber-Pukhtunkhwa Chief Minister Ameer Haider Hoti about their demand.

He stressed that they had a genuine demand as the people of Battagram and Kohistan were facing immense hardships in coming to Abbottabad, the divisional headquarters of Hazara, as it was located at quite a long distance. Besides, the difference of language is also a major barrier in communication for the Pukhtuns of upper districts in the Hindko-speaking majority of Abbottabad.The confident Shah Hussain said that if their demand were met, their division would be the richest among all divisions of the province.

“The area is rich in forests, minerals and water as well,” he said, adding that three dams would be constructed in different areas including Allai dam and two others at Bisham and Kohistan.

He said that with the construction of these dams the area would definitely progress resulting in the welfare of the residents. He said they would apprise the provincial government about their decision and if the government paid no heed, the lawmakers of these areas would again submit a resolution in support of Abaseen division in the Khyber-Pukhtunkhwa Assembly.

When asked that the formation of new administrative unit in the province might provoke the people of Abbottabad and Haripur, he replied that they should not be the case, as it was their genuine right to ask for a separate division.

The meeting will be attended by Khyber-Pukhtunkhwa Minister for Haj & Auqaf Namroz Khan, who was elected from Kala Dhaka, and MPAs Taj Mohammad Khan Tarand and Shah Hussain Khan from Battagram, Mahmood Alam, Maulana Obaidullah and Abdul Sattar Khan from Kohistan and Mohammad Zahir Shah Khan from Shangla. Fazlullah, another lawmaker from Shangla, has gone to Saudi Arabia to perform Umrah.

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