KARACHI: Demonstra­tions and rallies were held across the province on Friday, similar to other major cities in the country, to condemn the attack on a convoy of passenger vehicles in Lower Kurram that resulted in the deaths of at least 42 people.

The Majlis Wahdat-i-Muslimeen Pakistan (MWM) central chairman Allama Raja Nasir Abbas Jafri had announced a three-day mourning across the country.

The party held protest rallies and demonstrations in Karachi, Hyderabad and Sukkur where MWM leaders strongly condemned the Parachinar tragedy.

In Karachi, MWM leaders Allama Baqir Abbas Zaidi, Allama Sadiq Jafri, Allama Mubashir Hassan, Maulana Ali Anwar, Maulana Nishan Haider and other scholars and leaders addressed the protest demonstration outside the Jamia Masjid Khoja Athana Ashri Kharadar, while hundreds of protesters participated in the rallies taken out from Jamia Masjid Darbar Hussaini in Malir, Jamia Masjid Abul Fazl in Lanhdi, Jamia Masjid Jafaria in North Karachi and Jamia Masjid Haideri Orangi Town after Friday prayers.

The speakers expressed their grief over the loss of precious lives due to the terrorist attack on passenger buses going from Parachinar to Peshawar and termed it a national tragedy.

Allama Ahmed Iqbal Rizvi said that the terrorist attacks on passenger buses in the presence of security agencies were a well-planned conspiracy.

“This is not the first incident of terrorism in Parachinar,” he said, adding that the killing of innocent people had been going on in Kurram Agency for a long time.

He said that Kurram Agency was constantly targeted by ISIS, Taliban, and internal Khawarij terrorists. “The occurrence of terrorist incidents in the presence of a security convoy is the incompetence of the national security institutions,” he claimed.

Addressing the protesters at Jamia Masjid Noor Iman, Allama Baqir Abbas Zaidi said that the federal government should declare the martyrdom of innocent citizens as a national tragedy and declare a day of mourning at the national level.

He said that the passengers who went missing in the incident should be recovered as soon as possible. He demanded immediate arrest of the culprits involved in the act.

JI proposes grand jirga

Jamaat-i-Islami chief Hafiz Naeemur Rehman proposed constitution of a grand jirga in Parachinar to resolve sectarian tensions in the region, offering the party role in this regard.

Addressing a press conference at Idara Noor-i-Haq, he said that the tragedy was the result of a designed conspiracy to further deepen divisions in society.

“It is not a matter of Shia-Sunni dispute but the forces want to destabilise the society and the country,” he said, calling the incident the worst failure of the government and the law enforcement agencies.

He held former president general Pervez Musharraf and the so-called war on terrorism responsible for the prevailing situation.

He said that the tribes were considered an army for Pakistan but the policies introduced by Musharraf brought in terrorism, destruction, loss of lives and properties as well as long lasting negative impacts.

SHCBA’s protest

The Sindh High Court Bar Association (SHCBA) has also condemned the “inhuman and barbaric” gun attack on passenger vans in Lower Kurram.

In a statement, SHCBA president Rehan Aziz Malik termed the attack a “complete failure on the part of security agencies” as they failed to safeguard lives and property of citizens.

He urged the federal and provincial governments to take strict action against negligent officials.

Meanwhile, the Karachi Bar Association observed a full-day suspension of judicial work on Friday in protest against the incident.

Published in Dawn, November 23th, 2024