PESHAWAR: The leaders of various political parties and traders’ bodies have condemned the murder of Haji Haleem Jan, provincial president of Anjuman-i-Tajiran, and urged the government to arrest the killers at the earliest.

Awami National Party’s senior vice-president MNA Haji Ghulam Ahmed Bilour said in a statement on Tuesday that the government had left public at the mercy of terrorists and it had failed to protect the lives of people in the province.

He paid tribute to Haji Haleem for the services he had rendered for the rights of business community and said that if such a prominent person was not safe in the heart of the city what would be the future of common people.

Mr Bilour said that Peshawar had become no man’s land as the government was busy in tree plantation and common people were feeling themselves insecure.

He said that target killers, extortionists, dacoits and kidnappers were roaming freely and no one was there to stop bloodshed of the innocent people.

Traders, politicians ask govt to focus on improving law and order situation

The ANP leader said that crime ratio in Peshawar was already on the rise and people were left with the only option to leave for safer places in other cities of the country or abroad.

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly Speaker Asad Qaiser also condemned the cold-blooded murder of the known trader and described it as an irreparable loss for the business community. He expressed his sympathies with the family of the victim and assured it that the killer would soon be arrested.

PML-N senior vice-president Amir Muqam also condemned the targeted killing of Haji Haleem and described it as an open challenge for the provincial government to secure the lives of people.

He said that the provincial government had failed to devise an effective policy for the maintenance of law and order and that was why terrorists had again stepped up their activities in Peshawar.

He asked PTI chairman Imran Khan to focus on providing protection to people in the province as being in power his party was responsible to serve them.

Pakistan Peoples Party leader Syed Ayub Shah also condemned killing of the leading trader of Peshawar and called for immediate arrest of the killer.

He said that killing of the trader was a proof of the disturbed law and order situation in the provincial metropolis and the government should fulfil its responsibility to curb crimes.

Traders’ leaders Haji Afzal, Malik Mehr Ilahi, Shaukatullah, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chamber of Commerce and Industries president Zulfiqar Ali Khan and Ziaul Haq Sarhadi also condemned the killing of the leading businessman and described it as a big loss to the community.

They said that business community of the province in general and that of Peshawar in particular had already suffered a lot due to terrorism during the past many years and now targeted attacks had created unrest among them. They asked the government to take steps for arrest of the killers and protection of traders.

Published in Dawn, February 10th, 2016