The local administration and grand jirga of Kurram district have not yet succeeded in putting an end to the on-going clashes that erupted between rival tribes of Bushehra and Ahmadzai following the construction of trenches on disputed land.
The Nation reported that according to Kurram police officials, rival tribes exchanged fire on Tuesday at different parts of the tribal district, including Balashkhel, Khaar Kali, Trimanal, Baghki, Maqbal, and Kanj Alizai.
When the matter was resolved, the brief pause was interrupted by a landmine explosion, followed by another phase of gunfire in Bushehra, which was then brought under control. The clashes, however, began in Upper and Lower Kurram.
According to BBC Urdu, 15 individuals have lost their lives so far, from both Shia and Sunni sects, over dispute of land.
Former Senator and tribal leader Sajid Turi claimed that grand jirga tried to resolve the dispute, but it ended in vain.
Lambasting the incumbent government, he stated that in July, many jirga’s took place but none resolved the disputes between tribals because of government’s lack of interest and support.
Previously, rival tribes clashed in the Kurram district on August 2, 2024, which resulted in 46 deaths and nearly 200 injuries. These clashes were also triggered by a land dispute.
Google Trends offer an insight into the popularity and curiosity political leaders enjoy among the masses. As the elections are drawing near, we took a peak into the data Google Trends have recorded over the last 30 days.
The highest and ever-increasing line graph is Imran Khan’s. The highest peak was shown on January 30 with Khan hitting the record 100 score whereas his contemporaries, Nawaz stood on 15, Maryam Nawaz at eight, Bilawal-Bhutto Zardari at three, and Hamza Shehbaz being the lowest: less than one.
However, it is important to note that Imran’s progressively increasing arc starts dropping successively in the days after Jan 30.
On the other hand, except for Hamza Shehbaz, the other three is slowly on an upward trend.
Breakdown of regions
PTI founder and jailed leader Imran Khan is most popular all over Pakistan according to Google Trends.
Punjab
In Punjab, the most popular choices for Chief Ministership, Hamza Shehbaz, and Maryam Nawaz contrary to popular perception, are not being searched so much. After Khan winning with more than 69 percent of searches, Nawaz Sharif is at 17 percent while Maryam is at nine percent. It appears that people in Punjab are comparatively more interested in Bilawal than Hamza who has 1 percent searches from all over the province.
However, it is important to note that out of all the provinces, Punjab has shown more interest in PML-N leader Nawaz Sharif. Sindh has shown the most interest after Punjab, which is 11 percent, 10 percent in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, nine percent in Balochistan, and seven percent in former FATA.
Sindh
After Imran Khan (69 percent) former Foreign Minister and Chairman of Pakistan People’s Party, Bilawal Bhutto Zardari is unsurprisingly most popular in Sindh with 13 percent of Google searches. Second in line is Punjab and third is Balochistan. After him is Nawaz (11 percent) followed by Maryam (7 percent).
Balochistan
Imran Khan leading the slot here with 84 percent followed by Nawaz (9 percent), Maryam (4 percent), and Biawal Bhutto (3 percent). Hamza does not invoke public curiosity even the slightest.
Gilgit Baltistan
Imran Khan has a 100 percent popularity rate in Gilgit Baltistan, where it seems no other party leader stands a chance, implying that there were minor searches of them in GB.
Former FATA
Interestingly, in the former federally administered tribal areas, only Imran Khan and Nawaz Sharif were searched for, Khan at 93 per cent of searches and Nawaz at seven percent.
Though Google search and Google trends are not the ultimate parameter of a party leader’s popularity, they certainly are proof of what netizens are most interested in and the social media footing of a politician.
Compared to the statistics of the 2018 general elections, the number of voters in Pakistan has increased by 21 million 24 thousand and 863 voters.
The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) has said that the total number of voters has reached 126,980,272, while the total number of voters in the country in the 2018 general elections was 105,955,409.
The number of male voters in 2023 has increased to 68,508,258; while the number of female voters has increased to 58,472,014.
This means that the number of male voters is 10,036,244 more than women.
Province-wise increase in voters
Punjab
Voters in Punjab have increased by one crore 16 lakh 37 thousand (11,637,811).
2018: 60,672,771
2023: 72,310,582
Sindh
In total, an increase of 42 lakh 59 thousand (4,259,917) voters has been recorded in Sindh.
2018: 22,391,244
2023: 26,651,161
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa
In total, 63 lakh 78 thousand (6,378,212) voters have increased in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
2018: 15,314,169
2023: 21,692,381
Balochistan
The number of voters in the province has increased by 9 lakh 58 thousand (985,100) voters.
2018: 4,299,494
2023: 5,284,594
Islamabad
Number of voters in the federal capital has increased by 2 lakh 76 thousand (276,107) voters.
Human Rights Minister Riaz Pirzada stressed the need for empowerment of the Parliament with the focus of performing its role as per the real spirit of the constitution and take cognizance for resolving the issues of the people and protecting their rights.
“I will say it openly, neither the judiciary nor military institutions have been able to protect us. Our heart bleeds for the bloodshed happening in Balochistan, or what happened in FATA,” said Pirzada.
Every word of minister for human rights is worthy to listen ! Thank you pirzada sb for raising the voice for Ahmadis also https://t.co/ufZgJW98Wp
“Ahmadi community is being stabbed with knives in broad day light. Their homes, mosques and places of worship are being destroyed,” said the minister.
He said that rather than raising a fuss over petty issues, the interests of the country should be protected.
In a thinly veiled reference to Chairman Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), Imran Khan, the minister said that a person had contested elections on multiple seats and was involved in threatening institutions and people.
A huge amount had been spent on these elections for political gains which was really painful, he stressed.
The minister said that Parliament must protect the interests of the country because it had the real representation of the nation.
The Government of Pakistan and Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) have agreed to extend a ceasefire, reportedly indefinitely and continue negotiations to end the conflict that has resulted in the killings of thousands of people, reports Dawn.
The agreement was made after both the government of Pakistan delegation and the TTP delegation met and held separate meetings with the Acting Prime Minister of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (IEA) Mullah Muhammad Hassan Akhund in Afghanistan.
Afghanistan’s spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid and TTP spokesman Muhammad Khurasani had earlier announced the extension of the ceasefire till May 30.
From the TTP’s side, disbandment of the faction being termed as an armed militant group and the reversal of the Federally Administered Tribal Area (FATA) merger into Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) were key demands.
However, the government didn’t accept the demands, saying that some demands were acceptable whereas others were not going to be accepted by Pakistan.
The government’s delegation also made it clear that no armed group would be allowed to enter Pakistan territory.
The next round of negotiations is expected to take place in the second week of June, in which a tribal jirga will hold direct talks with the TTP in Kabul.
In the first phase of local government elections held in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP), Opposition parties have had a combined lead over the ruling Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), according to unofficial results.
Minister for Science and Technology Shibli Faraz said that the ruling party lost because “PTI was contesting against PTI”.
“If it was not PTI vs PTI, we would have really won the elections. The results are still being announced. It was a crucial election but our performance has been really good,” said Shibli.
The PTI is ahead on 15 seats followed by Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam Fazl (JUI-F) 13, Awami National Party (ANP) nine, Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) two, the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP), and the Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) one each — which totals up to 26 seats for the Opposition parties as per unofficial and unverified results. Meanwhile, independent candidates are in the lead on 13 seats, reportsDawn.
In all, 12.668 million voters — seven million male and five and a half million female — were registered for the polls in the 17 KP districts.
In the former Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA), local government elections were held for the first time in Khyber, Mohmand and Bajaur districts.
Two women have stepped up to contest the provincial election being held in ex-Federally Administrated Tribal Areas (FATA) of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP), Geo News reported.
FATA was finally merged into KP in May 2018 after then president Mamnoon Hussain signed the 25th Constitutional Amendment Bill into law.
People of the tribal districts on Saturday are casting a ballot for the first time to elect members of the provincial assembly on sixteen seats up for grabs in seven newly-merged districts.
In the 16 constituencies up for grabs, almost all contestants are men; however, two women from the Awami National Party (ANP) and Jamaate Islami (JI) have stepped up to give them a tough time.
Naheed Afridi from the ANP is hoping for a win in Khyber district’s PK-106. There are a total of 148,470 voters in this constituency, of which 65,652 (44 per cent) are female.
JI’s Malasa Bibi, on the other hand, is running for PK-109 of the Kurram district. In her constituency, there are 187,844 voters in all, of which 82,560 are women.
The two women are breaking barriers by contesting the election in extremely conservative tribal districts where women have not always been allowed to even cast their votes.
