On April 17th, 2011, a grand Jirga (Council of Elders) comprising representative from five Union Councils of Swat-Kohistan(Bahrain, Kalam and Madyan¶of six union councils) was organized by Idara Baraye Taleem-o-Taraqi (IBT), Bahrain, Swat, in collaboration with Center for Research and Security Studies (CRSS), Islamabad in Bahrain Swat. The Jirga was attended by more than 150 people from the worst flood cum militancy affected union councils namely Bahrain, Kalam, Utror, Mankiyal, Balakot, Bishigram and Madyan. The Jirga assessed the rehabilitation efforts by the government and humanitarian organizations and termed them unsatisfactory and insufficient. The speakers at the Jirga were frustrated at the slow intervention by the government. They unanimously quoted the hitherto infrastructure particularly the damaged road to the tourists– destinations as Bahrain, Kalam, Utror, Ushu and Madyan as an example of the incompetence of the government. The government could not restore the road (N-95) from Chirkri (Fatepur) to Kalam for all kind of traffic in spite the lapse of more than eight months since the floods in the area in July 2010.

Speakers at the Jirga expressed grave concerns over the negligence of the rehabilitation of the tourist area; and on the lack of a tangible roadmap by the government for the reconstruction of the destroyed infrastructure.Speaking to the Jirga ex-provincial minister Malik Mohammad Didar told that the representatives did not mobilize the government on the issues prevailing in Swat Kohistan. He further told that the MPA and MNA should have raised the problems and hardships faced by the people at every forum but unfortunately they haven–t. As a testimony to this alleged sloth by the elected representatives, Habibullah, ex- Nazim union council Kalam, shared his experience of their meeting with the federal minister for communication. He told that they found the minister utterly unaware of the closure of the road for over eight months. While addressing the Jirga Malik Khurshid told that the NGOs should focus on sustainable development. He appreciated the role played by the NGOs but stressed that these organizations must conduct real assessments before intervention so that duplication and waste of funds could be prevented.

Haji Zarin Gujar further reinforced the immediate need of the construction the link bridges and roads in the whole area spread over a distance of more than 70 Km. Social worker and educationist Mr. Khaista Gul presented the overall sorry situation of education, particularly owing to the floods. He pointed out that even the High School Bahrain, destroyed by the 2005 earthquake, still awaits reconstruction let alone the schools fell to the floods. In his comprehensive report Khaista Gul presented that more than 30 % of the primary schools in the area are non-functional (ghost) due to the lack of proper check and monitoring. He even took the participants aback by disclosure of the fact that a higher secondary school in the area (Higher Secondary School, Mankiyal) is virtually non-functional as the staff does not perform its duty.

Zahir Shah of IBT emphasized the proper utilization of the natural resources such as water and forests. He told that deforestation can easily be stopped by generating electricity by installing micro-power hydel generators in the whole area.

The speakers unanimously resolved that they would be united under a grand Jirga which further select a representative Jirga in order to go forward with a sustain effort to address the problems by raising them at every forum, whether provincial, federal, private or public. They demanded that the single connecting road must be restored for all kind of traffic before the summer so as to open the area for the tourists. Addressing the Jirga, Imtiaz Gul, Chairman of CRSS, told the participants that many of the issues are due to mal-governance, corruption, and sloth because the various institutions, both public and private, do not ensure the involvement of the community, rather avoid it. He told that many of the problems can be overcome with the support of a powerful civil society such as Jirga institution and other organizations. Mr. Imtiaz Gul promised full support of CRSS for the cause of these marginalized and neglected communities. He stressed the need of effective liaison between organizations such as CRSS and IBT.

The Executive Director of IBT, Zubair Torwali, set the agenda of the grand Jirga and moderated it. At the end all the participants from the six union councils selected a representative Jirga of 20 people to sustain the initiative. The Jirga assigned IBT with the duty to facilitate and convene the representative Jirga. Toti Gul, Mohammad Rasheed, Zahoor Shakir and others also spoke on the occasion. The Jirga was of its first kind in the area; and was unique in the sense that the people themselves agreed on a sustained initiative for the solution of their problems.