[Islamabad THE NEWS in English 2 Mar 91 p 12]

[Text] Timergara, Dir--The authorities are facing stiff resistance from the poppy-growers in Malakand division during its on-going campaign to eradicate the poppy crop grown on more than 18,000 kanals.

The toughest resistance is being offered by the poppy farmers in Dir and Buner districts and Bajawar Agency. The government is anxious to destroy the crop before the harvesting season in April.

The government has steadily enforced the ban on poppy- cultivation in the mountainous Malakand division. There has, however, been a relapse in poppy-cultivation in the area with the farmers defying the ban in big numbers. This defiance is politically-motivated in Buner and dominated by tribesmen in Dir.

The most troublesome is the Jamaat-i-Islami [Jl]-dominated Dir district where government officials said poppies have been grown on 12,000 kanals. Unofficial figures of the area under poppy were, however, much higher.

The government is especially concerned about Ushari village in Dir Teshil and Nihag Tormang and Karo valleys in Waray Tehsil where the independent-minded Sutlankhel and Paindakhel tribes are resisting the destruction of the poppy crops.

The deputy commissioner Dir, Gulazar Ali Shah, had to face a hard time a few days ago when people in Ushari valley appealed to the villagers on loudspeakers to come armed to their poppy fields and resist destruction of their poppies. Violence was, however, tactfully averted.

The Dir administration has achieved some success in Adinzai Tehsil where the poppies have been grown in Laram, Asbanr, Khairahad and Siyahwar Ghar valleys in defiance of the ban. The authorities said poppy crop on 500 kanals out of 1,300 kanals had already been destroyed either manually or through hand spray.

The government is trying to prevail upon the farmers to voluntarily destroy their poppies. It has even secured the support of Tehrik-i-Nifaz-e-Shariat in Dir to declare poppy cultivation as un-Islamic. However, the political parties, including JI which won five out six provincial assembly seats in Dir in the 1990 election, are opposed to the ban on poppy cultivation until the provision of alternate sources of livelihood be determined for the farmers.