KHAAR (Bajaur Agency), Nov 26: The Jamaat-i-Islami organised a protest rally here on Sunday against the arrest of its former MNA Sahibzada Haroonur Rashid and other leaders in Darra Adamkhel.

Mr Rashid, who is the provincial naib-amir of the party and was MNA from the Bajaur Agency, resigned from the parliament in protest of the bombing of a madressah in the Cheenagai village near Damadola on Oct 30, killing over 80 people.

He was arrested by the authorities in Darra Adamkhel, where he and his party colleagues had addressed a public meeting.

NWFP’s former senior minister Sirajul Haq also addressed the meeting.

Speaking at the Khaar rally, JI Bajaur Agency’s naib-amir Maulana Waheed Gul and other leaders condemned the Bajaur bombing and said that the government was pushing the religious-minded section of the society against the wall.

He criticised the arrest of party leaders in Darra Adamkhel and demanded their immediate release.

The protest rally was attended by a large number of party workers and tribesmen, who raised slogans against the government.

The speakers said that neither any terrorist was present in the agency nor the patriotic tribesmen had any links with terrorists.

The valiant tribesmen had always sacrificed their lives for the defence and integrity of the country, they added.

They said that the government had labelled the peaceful and law-abiding citizens as terrorists and bombed innocent students to please their ‘western’ masters.

The JI leaders said that the government was making excessive use of the draconian law (Frontier Crimes Regulation) to ban political activities in the tribal areas and arrest tribal leaders to suppress the freedom of expression.

They said that the ban on political activities in the tribal agencies was tantamount to the violation of basic human rights.