GHALANAI (Mohmand Agency), Nov 1: Riots broke out here on Wednesday as protesters assembled in the Mohammad Gat area, the entry point to Bajaur Agency, for a demonstration against the Monday air strike on a seminary in Bajaur.
Protesters ransacked public property, damaged a grid station and an under-construction Khasadar post in the area.
The demonstration, which turned into a public meeting, was addressed by Jamaat-i-Islami leader Haroonur Rashid, who had resigned from the National Assembly over the air strike, Mohmand Agency MNA Maulana Ghulam Mohammad Sadiq, JI’s agency amir Saeed Khan and others.
The speakers condemned the massacre of innocent people and said: “It is a sheer cruelty to bomb unarmed and innocent students and the Musharraf’s regime will see the reaction.”
They said that President Pervez Musharraf was spilling the blood of innocent people just to please his foreign masters. They urged the Chief Justice of Pakistan to take suo motu notice of the massacre.
Anwarullah Khan adds from Khaar: Tense calm prevailed across the tribal agency on the third day of the seminary attack as all educational institutions and business places remained closed, creating a severe shortage of foodstuff.
However, traders, who observed shutter-down strike on the call of Anjuman-i-Tajiran Bajaur, opened shops for a short time to facilitate availability of essential commodities to people.
Very thin traffic was witnessed on the roads in the agency.
Bajaur’s political authorities had taken stringent measures to stop journalists and political leaders from entering into the area, while common people faced difficulties to reach their destinations.
The Mohmand Agency administration also stopped tribesmen going to Bajaur for several hours at the Yakka Ghund checkpost.
Meanwhile, the Bajaur Political Alliance, an umbrella organisation of all political parties in the agency, and the business community announced to launch an effective movement to protest the seminary attack.
Speaking at a joint press conference here on Wednesday, alliance’s representatives demanded an inquiry tribunal headed by the Chief Justice of Pakistan to probe the incident and fix responsibility for the killing of 80 innocent people.
They termed the seminary bombing the worst kind of terrorism, saying that Gen Musharraf had owned the attack only please the US. “Gen Musharraf’s claim is a pack of lies as we know that the strike was carried out by the Americans,” they said.
They denied the presence of foreign elements or Al Qaeda and Taliban fighters in the Bajaur Agency and said that Gen Musharraf was killing innocent people to prolong his unconstitutional rule in the country.
They announced to hold demonstrations and wheel-jam strike in the agency and observe a black day in the agency on Friday to condemn the attack.
Our Correspondent from Mingora adds: The lawyers community here boycotted court proceedings and took out a rally in protest against the Bajaur air strike.
Lawyers marched on different roads, raising slogans against the government and the Bush administration.
