February 27, 2007	Tuesday	Safar 9, 1428

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QUETTA, Feb 26: Hundreds of Shahwani tribesmen took out a procession here on Monday in protest against what they said government’s failure to curb terrorism and lawlessness in the city.

They demanded that tribesmen should be empowered to restore peace.

Members of the Shahwani Qaumi Ittehad (SQI) gathered outside the press club and marched on the Shara-i-Iqbal, Liaquat Bazaar, Prince Road and Jinnah Road.

A public meeting was held at the Liaquat park.

Nawab Mohammad Shahwani, chief of the tribe, Zafarullah Shahwani, Qayyum Shahwani and PPP MPA Shafique Ahmed Khan spoke on the occasion.

They said it was the government’s responsibility to protect life and property of the people, but law-enforcement agencies had failed to do so.

Condemning the February 17 suicide attack on a court in the city, they said that eight days had passed, but police had failed to arrest the culprits.

They said that instead of apprehending terrorists police were arresting innocent people.

They accused police of humiliating tribal elders and other respectable people during body search when they entered premises of government departments.

They demanded that the tribesmen should be assigned the responsibility of curbing terrorism, saying that they would do the job better than inefficient officials of law-enforcement agencies.