Dera Ismail Khan District

Dera Ismail Khan District
—  District  —
Map of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa with Dera Ismail Khan District highlighted
Country	Pakistan
Province	Khyber Pakhtunkhwa
Capital	Dera Ismail Khan
Established
Government
• District Nazim
• District Naib Nazim
Area
• Total	7,326 km2 (2,829 sq mi)
Population (1998)
• Total	852,995
• Density	116/km2 (300/sq mi)
Time zone	PST (UTC+5)

Dera Ismail Khan (Urdu: ضلع دېره اسماعیل خان) is one of the 24 districts in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan. The capital of the district is the town of Dera Ismail Khan. The district has an area of 7,326 km² and a population of 852,995 as of the 1998 Census.

Location

The district of Dera Ismail Khan is bounded on the east by the Mianwali and Bhakkar districts of Punjab, to the southwest by South Waziristan district, and to the northwest by Tank and Lakki Marwat districts.

History

Dera Ismail Khan was created as an administrative unit of British India, part of the Derajat Division of the North-West Frontier Province, though this was not accepted by the local rulers. It was formerly divided into two almost equal portions by the Indus River, which intersected it from north to south. To the west of the Indus the characteristics of the country resembled those of Dera Ghazi Khan. This region included lar, home of the BALOCHS of lar. To the east of the present bed of the river there is a wide tract known as the Kachi, exposed to river action. Beyond this, the country rises abruptly, and a barren, almost desert plain stretches eastwards, sparsely cultivated, and inhabited by nomadic tribes of herdsmen. In 1901 the trans-Indus tract was allotted to the newly formed North-West Frontier Province, the cis-Indus tract remaining in the Punjab jurisdiction. The cis-Indus portions of the Dera Ismail Khan and Bannu districts now comprise the new Punjab district of Mianwali. Wheat and wool were exported. In 1901 it contained an area of 3,403 sq mi (8,810 km²) and a population of 252,379, chiefly Baluch and Pashtun Muslims. In 1947 it became part of the newly independent Pakistan.

Language

As per the 1998 census of Pakistan, the following are the demographics of the district, by spoken language:^{[citation needed]}

• Saraiki (locally called Derawali): 70%
• Pashto: 20%
• Urdu: 7%
• Other: 3%

Politics

Dera Ismail Khan is represented in the National Assembly of Pakistan through two seats which are NA-24 (D I Khan) and NA-25 (D I Khan cum Tank). The incumbent on these seats are Faisal Karim Kundi of Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) from NA-24 and Maulana Atta ur Rehman of Jamiat Ullema Islam- Fazalur Rehman (JUI-F) from NA-25.

Traditionally Dera politics has been dominated by Jamiat Ullema Islam because of the charismatic and dynamic personality of Maulana Mufti Mahmood. After his death his son Fazlur Rehman became the Chairman of JUI-F.

The people of D I Khan feel let down by the two dominant parties PPP and JUI-F as they have not done any significant efforts to improve the quality of life, build the city infrastructure or create jobs. People want change in the status quo which has provided a room for new leadership to emerge under the banner of Pakistan Tehrike Insaf (PTI). PTI has quickly gained ground in the city as many notables including Abdul Quayyum Khan Kundi, Khalid Awan, Humayon Khan Gandapur has joined the party. Ali Amin Gandapur, the son of ex-minister Aminullah Gandapur joined the party to organize its base among the Gandapur tribe in Tank area. The Youth Wings under the leadership of Irfan Khan has gained momentum among professional youth and students. The Party is slowly but effectively growing in strength and would emerge in in the City as a dominant force in the next elections.

ANP despite having two MPAs with them as a Party exists in only in the Student Federations and not in the streets or among the electorates.

PML (N) which in the mid 90s had developed considerable street power but the local leadership has failed and the party position is rather weak.

Administration

The district is subdivided into three tehsils which contain a total of 48 Union Councils:

Name of tehsil	No. of Unions
Dera Ismail Khan	21
Kulachi	15
Paharpur	12

The district is represented in the provincial assembly by five elected MPAs who represent the following constituencies:

Constituency	MPA	Party
PF-64 (D.I.Khan-1)	Khalifa Abdul Qayyum Gandapur	Sipah-E-Sahaba
PF-65 (D.I.Khan-2)	Israr Ullah Khan Gandapur	PPP (S)
PF-66 (D.I.Khan-3)	Sanaullah Khan MianKhail	MMA
PF-67 (D.I.Khan-4)	Muhammad Mazhar Jamil Khan Alizi	ANP
PF-68 (D.I.Khan-5)	Murid Kazim Shah	ANP