• Five bullet-riddled bodies found in watercourse near site of clash
• HRCP demands parliamentary commission to probe matter

PESHAWAR: An anti-terrorism court in Bannu on Monday remanded MNA Ali Wazir in the custody of the Counter Terrorism Department (CTD) for eight days in connection with Sunday’s clashes near a military check post in North Waziristan tribal district. Later, Mr Wazir was shifted to Peshawar.

Also on Monday, five bullet-riddled bodies were found in a watercourse in Boya, the area where the clash had occurred on Sunday.

The CTD nominated eight other leaders of the Pashtun Tahaffuz Movement (PTM), including MNA Mohsin Javed Dawar, in the FIR. Mr Dawar, who belongs to North Waziristan, has been at large since the incident at the Khar Qamar check post.

Ali Wazir was taken into custody after the incident. He was shifted to Bannu and produced before the special judge of the anti-terrorism court, Babar Ali Khan. The CTD requested for 30 days’ physical remand of the MNA from South Waziristan. However, the judge ordered that he be remanded for eight days and directed that he be produced before the court on June 4.

According to the FIR, it was learnt through police, intelligence and other reliable sources that a sit-in protest was being organised in front of the Khar Qamar check post at Macha Madakhel on May 26 (Sunday) against the arrest of the facilitators of terrorists who were arrested during a search operation.

In the meantime, MNA Ali Wazir, MNA Mohsin Javed Dawar, Dr Gul Alam, Khan Wali Khan, Noor Rehman Khan, Iftikhar Khan, Rahim Anwar Khan, Imran Chashmai and Ihsanullah Ihsan along with 300 to 350 supporters carrying weapons and sticks started raising provocative slogans and made speeches against the Pakistan Army and other security agencies.

The FIR said the protesters hurled stones at the army post. The report says that armed supporters of Ali Wazir and Mohsin Dawar attacked the security post and opened fire.

As a result, three civilians were killed while a soldier sustained injuries. Wounded people had been referred to the district headquarters hospital and the CMH Peshawar for treatment.

The Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), the media affairs wing of the military, said in a statement that during patrolling in the Boya area, five bodies with bullet wounds were found from a nullah approximately 1.5km away from the Khar Qamar post.

The statement said that identification of the deceased was in process. MNA Mohsin Dawar also received minor ‘non-bullet’ injuries in Sunday’s incident.

Following the incident, North Waziristan district remained under a curfew and telephone lines were suspended.

Chief Minister Mahmood Khan rushed to Miramshah and was briefed on the situation.

Sources said that the chief minister met elders and offered Fateha for the victims. Senior military officers were present during the meeting. No official statement about the visit of the chief minister was released to the media in Peshawar or Miramshah.

Meanwhile, workers of the Awami National Party were stopped at Saidgai check post from going to Miramshah. Local leaders and workers of the party were on their way to North Waziristan to express solidarity with the affected families. Security officials did not allow them to cross the check post. They staged sit-in at the check post and dispersed peacefully.

The lawyers’ community in Peshawar observed boycott of courts across the province on Monday on the call of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Bar Council over the North Waziristan incident with the demand that the government order a judicial inquiry into the occurrence.

The bar council late on Sunday announced observing boycott of courts on Monday against the incident of exchange of fire at the security check post in North Waziristan and also demanded that MNA Ali Wazir and other arrested persons be released.

In Peshawar, lawyers mostly stayed away from courts, including the Peshawar High Court. In most of the cases, the courts adjourned hearing to next dates without appearance of lawyers.

In Lahore, the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) is alarmed by the use of military force causing deaths of at least three PTM activists in North Waziristan. The HRCP says it believes that this will further escalate tensions between PTM supporters and security institutions, consequently leading to a permanent wedge between the people of tribal districts and the state. This will be detrimental to the interests of the country and its citizens.

In a statement, the HRCP demanded the release of MNA Ali Wazir and any other activists taken into custody. It also called for a parliamentary commission to be set up immediately to probe the matter and establish the truth.

It stresses that there must be a serious attempt to genuinely address the grievances of the local population, which the PTM has been articulating peacefully for well over a year.

Meanwhile, the Islamabad High Court on Monday issued notices to the secretaries of interior and defence and the chairmen of the Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority and Pakistan Telecommunication Authority on a petition seeking a ban on the PTM.

Justice Aamer Farooq of the IHC sought a reply from both authorities in a fortnight and adjourned the hearing of the case till filing of the comments from the respondents.

Petitioner retired Colonel Javed Iqbal through his counsel adopted before the court that he belonged to Karak district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, joined the Pakistan Army in 1982 and retired in 2009.

The petition pointed out that the Constitution consists of articles in respect of fundamental human rights and principles of policy. Article 14 considers the dignity of man. Freedom of movement, freedom of assembly, freedom of association and freedom of speech all have been clearly enshrined in Articles 15, 16, 17 and 19 of the Constitution.

Published in Dawn, May 28th, 2019