Kunar: Dangam families end 17 years of hostilities

ASADABAD (Pajhwok): About 30 enmities have been resolved in eastern Kunar province over the past two years with mediation from tribal elders and religious scholars.
Engaged in enmity for 17 years, two rival families in Dangam district reconciled six months ago and have since been living a peaceful life.
The dispute between the households happened over a Kalashnikov assault rifle. As a result, four people were killed from the two sides.
Lal Pacha, 42, a resident of Dangam, told Pajhwok Afghan News he and his cousins had left the village due to the enmity and spent abroad 17 years full of hardship and suffering.
He recalled the verbal clash turned violent and, killing four individuals from both sides.
But six months ago, the families reconciled following mediation from a tribal jirga appointed by the government. Subsequently, he said, they returned to their homeland from Pakistan.
According to him, he spent difficult days abroad. “Let the enmity disappear. it rendered us homeless. We would live in constant fear.”
After reconciliation, he remarked, they had started a better life. The two sides have not only ended their rivalry, they have also become good friends.
Javed, a nephew of Lal Pacha, says he lost two young brothers to the enmity. He is happy that the feud has finally been resolved and they are living peacefully.
He said: “I lost two brothers in the conflict, now I am left with two widows and 12 orphans. We have done a lot and faced many difficulties.”
Mawlavi Abdullah Mansour, a religious scholar and member of the Council of Scholars, says Muslims should forgive each other, join hands and spend a happy life together.
He believed if every family exercised patience and restraint, many conflicts and enmities could be prevented in society.
Haji Bahlol Khan Jabarzai, a tribal elder, said: “Our goal is to eliminate enmities and disputes because Islam and our culture prohibit them and we all should demonstrate patience.”
Director of Information and Culture Maulvi Najibullah Hanafi said: “In the past two years, we have ended 30 enmities in Kunar with the mediation of the ulema council, tribal elders, police headquarters and other institutions.”