Shahzada Wazir
WANA: Elders, students and all political parties jointly took out protest rally against the untimely imposition of taxes on invaluable pine nuts dry fruit at Raghzai bazaar near Pak-afghan border today and Pak-Afghan road was blocked for kind of traffic for two hours.
Prominent elders of Ahmadzai Wazir, Malik Baz Gul, Malik Sanaullah, Malik Qasim Jan and Malik Abdul hakim khan said on the occasion that they were not against the government, but the decision to levy tax on pine nuts dry fruit was not acceptable to them. They further said that the newly constructed agri-park was not properly functional and it is now wet. If pine nuts are stored in the present wet agri-park, then pine nuts would naturally reduce weight owing wet walls of the recently constructed agri-park near Wana bazaar.
ANP leader Muhammad Ayaz Wazir said while addressing the gathering of tribesmen at Raghzai bazaar that government has not provided the required facilities to the tribesmen they could not bear to the immediate imposition of taxes on pine nuts in the present time of price hike.
Pine nuts forests in the area are the largest forests in south Asia and government should not compel owners to pay taxes as these forests are source of earning a great foreign exchange for the country, he added.
PPP president South Waziristan told the participants that solution of this problem was impossible through jirgas with political administration. At last all political parties and elders agreed to continue their protests if the issue was not solved according to the wishes of tribesmen.
