By Ashrafuddin Pirzada
LANDI KOTAL: A protest sit-in against the alleged abduction/missing of prominent trader and tribal elder Muhammad Zareef Shinwari, also known as Haji Landay, continued for the eighth consecutive day in Landikotal on Wednesday, while the Pak-Afghan h⁰ighway remained blocked for all traffic.
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Minister Adnan Qadri, former MPA Haji Shafiq Sher Afridi, along with various political figures, social workers, and business community leaders, visited the protest camp and expressed solidarity with the affected family.
They assured the family of their full support for Muhammad Zareef’s safe recovery and pledged all possible financial and personal assistance in their efforts to secure his return.
Former MPA Haji Shafiq Sher Afridi urged the government to constitute a judicial committee to investigate the incident and determine the facts behind the alleged abduction.
Jamaat-e-Islami Landikotal Amir Murad Hussain Afridi said incidents of violence, killings and abductions had become a recurring problem in the area.
“People are either attacked by unidentified persons or abducted, but despite several such incidents in recent months, no one involved in these crimes has so far been arrested,” he said.
Social worker Banaras Shinwari said 15 people from his village had been picked up over the years, including several of his close relatives and a nephew.
He said all of the detainees had spent months or even years in jail before being acquitted by courts after being found innocent.
“Now the question is what message these unidentified people want to give to the people of this area by abducting and disappearing a 72-year-old elderly man,” Banaras Shinwari said.
Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-F leader Muhammad Ijaz Shinwari said no one in Landikotal felt secure.
“Abducting and disappearing a 72-year-old elderly man is nothing but the law of the jungle, where the powerful can commit injustice against the weak,” Ijaz said.
He announced his party’s full support for the protesters and said the JUI-F would raise its voice against the alleged kidnapping for ransom at every available forum.
The continued closure of the Pak-Afghan Highway has also disrupted traffic and commercial activities in the border town, with protesters insisting that the road would remain blocked until their demands were addressed and Muhammad Zareef was recovered.
