MANSEHRA, July 12: Riots erupted on Thursday in the Allai tehsil of Battagram district against the Lal Masjid operation. Thousands of armed men ransacked the offices and establishments of non-governmental organisations and set them ablaze and also opened fire on Frontier Constabulary personnel, Dawn has learnt.
The protesters, some of them wielding Kalashnikovs, took to the streets and demanded registration of an FIR against the president and the prime minister of Pakistan.
Maulana Sirajul Haq, district amir of Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam, and others, who addressed the protesters, condemned the operation and demanded immediate release of the chief cleric of Lal Masjid, Maulana Abdul Aziz, who is in police custody.
They said the blood of the “martyrs will not go to waste as ultimately Islamic sharia will be enforced in Pakistan, which came into being in the name of Islam”.
While dispersing after the rally, the protesters ransacked the offices and establishments of Save the Children, Best Education, French Red Crescent, Care International and the PVDP and set them on fire.
Some of the miscreants opened indiscriminate fire on personnel of the Frontier Constabulary and police. The FC and police personnel also resorted to firing, wounding many people. But police did not confirm injuries.
When contacted, District Coordinator Officer (DCO) of Battagram Aminul Haq told Dawn over 3,000 people took part in the demonstration and some of them ransacked the offices of the NGOs.
He said that heavy contingents of police and the FC had been deployed which restored the law and order.
He said that the miscreants, who had taken positions in a nearby hospital, opened fire on the police and FC men.
Ghulam Mursalin Marwat adds from Lakki Marwat: Activists of Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal blocked the Bannu-Dera Road and staged a rally in Serai Naurang.
MMA District President Professor Sher Ghulam and General Secretary Maulana Abdul Wahid Marwat led the procession from Parade Ground in Serai Naurang, the second biggest town of the district. The rally, after marching through GT Road, reached Main Adda where it turned into a big gathering.
The protestors carried banners and placards inscribed with anti-Musharraf slogans.
Addressing the rally, the speakers condemned the operation and said that it was launched to appease the United States.
They alleged that President General Pervez Musharraf sabotaged the talks between the Lal Masjid clerics and the Ulema and ordered the army to storm the mosque and the seminary.
“No doubt the procedure adopted by Ghazi brothers to enforce sharia was wrong but their demands were genuine and according to the constitution of the country,” they said.
The speakers asked the people to strengthen the hands of religious parties so as to get rid of Musharraf-backed military regime.
Professor Sher Ghulam, Maulana Abdul Wahid Marwat, Sabz Ali Khan Naveed and Maulana Izazullah spoke on the occasion.