PESHAWAR: The Peshawar High Court has ruled that the 18th-century Bala Hisar Fort in the heart of the city should be open to the public.
The fort is currently home to a contingent of Pakistan’s paramilitary Frontier Corps (FC), which is engaged in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) province and the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA).
The two-judge bench heard on Tuesday a petition filed by advocate Khurshid Khan, who argued that the fort is a historical landmark and should be open to the public so people can learn about the city’s history.
At an earlier hearing, the court directed the FC and the government to file their response, but they did not do so.
This prompted the court to rule that if the fort cannot be vacated, it should at least be open to the public and handed over to civil administration.
Abdul Munim, a member of the provincial assembly, said KP’s government supports the idea of handing over the fort to civil administration.
“According to our estimates, the Bala Hisar alone can boost KP’s tourism by almost 30 percent,” he told Arab News.
But a senior FC official told Arab News: “There’s sensitive gadgetry related to security that’s inappropriate for public viewership, as the law-and-order situation is already bad in the region.”
Both the civil administration and the FC refrained from officially commenting on the matter.
The fort, which was once used as a royal residence by the Durrani Empire, has housed the FC headquarters since 1948.
Bala Hisar means “elevated” or “high fort” in Dari Persian, and offers a panoramic view of the Peshawar valley. Parts of the fort are open to the public on Saturdays and Sundays.
Peshawar High Court: Open Bala Hisar Fort to public
Peshawar High Court: Open Bala Hisar Fort to public
Gunmen kill two cops in Pakistan’s restive northwest
- The policemen were killed in separate incidents in Tank and Lakki Marwat districts of Pakistan’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province
- No group immediately claimed responsibility for killings, which come a day after police killed eight militants in Karak district
PESHAWAR: Unidentified gunmen on Monday shot dead two policemen in separate incidents in Pakistan’s northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) province, police said, amid a surge in militancy in the province bordering Afghanistan.
In the first incident, gunmen abducted Sajjad Hussain, a police constable who was traveling home on leave, in KP’s Tank district and later shot him dead, according to district police spokesman Younus Khan.
“The martyred constable, Sajjad Hussain, was posted at the Nasran checkpoint,” Khan told Arab News. “He was intercepted, forced off his vehicle, and shot on Shah Alam–Nasran Road by militants.”
Another policeman, Assistant Sub-Inspector Mumtaz Ali, who was posted in Tank, was shot dead by gunmen in Pezu area of the nearby Lakki Marwat district, according to the Tank district police spokesman.
“The officer, who was posted in Tank, was on his way to his duty station when assailants intercepted his vehicle, forced him out, and opened fire, killing him on the spot,” Khan added.
No group immediately claimed responsibility for the killings, which come a day after police killed eight militants in KP’s Karak district.
Pakistan has struggled to contain a surge in militancy in KP in recent years. Militant groups such as the Pakistani Taliban, or the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), have frequently targeted convoys of security forces, police stations and check-posts besides kidnapping government officials in the region.
Islamabad has frequently accused Afghanistan of allowing its soil and India of backing militant groups, including the TTP, for attacks against Pakistan. Kabul and New Delhi have consistently denied this.
