March 16, 2008	Sunday	Rabi-ul-Awwal 7, 1429

LANDI KOTAL, March 15: Students staged a protest demonstration against the demolition of a century old shrine by unidentified persons here on Saturday.

The shrine of Said Kamal Baba, situated near the newly constructed mausoleum of renowned Pashto poet Hamza Baba, had been frequently visited by local residents, specially women, for the last so many decades.

The guards posted at Hamza Baba mausoleum said that some unidentified persons came at midnight and demolished Said Kamal Baba shrine compl-

etely. The attackers fled after completion of their “task” in

the darkness of night.

Students belonging to Government Degree College Landi Kotal took out a protest procession on Saturday morning and demanded the arrest of the culprits.

They later dispersed peacefully after an assurance by the local administration. It was also learnt that some local residents had reconstructed the demolished shrine.

It is pertinent to mention that a fire-brand local cleric Hazrat Nabi alias Tamanche Mullah (cleric with pistol) had warned the womenfolk against visiting the shrine.

Zakhakhel tribesmen blocked the Peshawar-Torkhum road for nearly half an hour to protest against the alleged harassment of women by Tamanche Mullah. Elders of the tribe alleged that the controversial cleric and his armed supporters harassed and chased their women who were on their way home from their nearby relative house.

Tamanche Mullah had refrained women from going out without their male family members.

The road was later reopened after the intervention of local authorities.

The administration had also convened a jirga of Shinwari elders on Monday to take stock of the Saturday events.