KHAR: Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam-Fazl’s Fata leaders on Sunday criticised the government for its failure to arrest the killers of Naqeebullah Mehsud and three other youths of tribal areas and warned to launch a massive protest movement if tangible efforts weren’t made in this regard instantly.

They said this during a protest demonstration held at the Khar Bazaar here, which was attended by a large number of party workers and local tribesmen. Those who addressed the protesters included JUI-F Fata chief Mufti Abdul Shakoor, its general secretary Mufti Ijaz Ahmed, Jehan Shah Afridi, Maulana Mohammad Laiq and several others.

Holding party flags and banners inscribed with slogans such as ‘stop killing of innocent youths of tribal areas’ and demanding public hanging of killers of Ahmed Shah, a student from Bajaur Agency who was killed by unknown persons in Karachi last week, the protesters marched through different areas and gathered at the main chowk.

The protesters also chanted slogans against the federal, Sindh and KP governments for their failure to arrest the killers of Naqeebullah, Ahmed Shah, Ihsanuddin and Aftab Mehsud.

JUI-F warns of more protests if culprits not arrested within a week

The speakers said that according to the Constitution the state was bound to ensure safety and protection to every citizen of the country. They said that it seemed that the police was not serious to bring the culprits to justice. They urged the federal and Sindh governments to respect the sentiments of tribesmen and arrest the culprits involved in the murder of Naqeebullah and Ahmed Shah, who were killed in Karachi.

The JUI-F leaders decided that a protest movement would be launched in the federal capital and others cities of the country if the government did not arrest the killers within a week. They also demanded removal of unnecessary checkposts in the tribal areas.

Meanwhile, Awami National Party, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, president Ameer Haider Khan Hoti also complained about the ‘growing discrimination’ against Pakhtuns in Punjab and Sindh and asked the federal government to take tangible corrective steps without delay.

He was talking to mediapersons in Khar after offering condolences to the family of ANP UK general secretary Said Azam Khan, who was killed in London lately.

The ANP leader said that Pakhtuns had done a lot for the country’s stability and defence, but the rulers had never acknowledged their efforts and sacrifices and always saw them with suspicion. He urged the federal government, the Punjab and Sindh chief ministers and top bosses of all law-enforcement agencies to ensure end to the discrimination against Pakhtuns.

Published in Dawn, February 26th, 2018