PESHAWAR, Mar 5 The NWFP government has announced to reconstruct the mausoleum of mystic poet of Pashto language Abdur Rehman Baba at a cost of Rs25 million.

NWFP Minister for Information Mian Iftikhar Hussain also thanked the Afghan government for offering financial assistance in this regard, said a handout issued here on Thursday.

The minister during a visit to the shrine strongly condemned the incident and termed it cowardly act. He said that people involved in the heinous crime were bent upon to destroy the culture of Pakhtun nation.

The minister said that great Sufi poet Abdur Rahman Baba had a great status for rendering valuable services for Pashto as well as Islam. “In the past, the verses of Rehman Baba would be read in Friday's sermons,” he added.

He said that Rahman Baba was a symbol of peace and fraternity and destroying his tomb was a cowardly act that could only be done by a hardhearted person.

He said that government would award exemplary punishment to the elements involved in the act. Mr Hussain appealed to the people of the province to cooperate with the government in curbing the menace of terrorism so that the province could be made a land of peace in accordance with the philosophy of Rahman Baba and Bacha Khan.

He advised the visitors to avoid moving around the building as it could crumble anytime.

Meanwhile, NWFP ministers Bashir Ahmed Bilour and Qazi Mohammad Asad, MPA Atifur Rehman and District Nazim Umer Khan also condemned the bombing of the shrine.

During their visit to the site the ministers met the caretakers and said it was a terrorist act which couldn't be committed by a Muslim.

They said that Rehman Baba was an uncontroversial Sufi poet whose poetry was a light for the people.

Pakhtunkhwa Milli Awami Party has also condemned the act and termed it an conspiracy against the Pakhtun nation.

A press release issued from PMAP office here Thursday stated that anti-Pakhtun elements had been actively targeting the culture, literature and leaders of the nation which couldn't be tolerated.

The PMAP demanded of the federal and provincial government to take immediate steps for arrest of the culprits involved in the crime and award them exemplary punishment, so that no one could dare to do so in future.