Ashrafuddin Pirzada
DISTRICT KHYBER: Bara Siyasi Itehad(political alliance) held a public gathering in Bara Bazaar on Saturday where they demanded the state authorities stop target killings, extortion and other terrorism-related incidents happening in district Khyber, claiming dozens of lives in the past few months.
The event of was themed “Khyber Peace Jirga” and held at Bara Bazaar where people were waving white, black and PTM flags for peace.
Pashtun Protection Movement(PTM) chief Manzoor Ahmad Pashteen, Jamaat-e-Islami central leader Senator Mushtaq Ahmad Khan, Awami National Party Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Secretary General Sardar Hussain Babak and Muslim League ???? Shahabuddin Khan specially invited.
Addressing the public gathering speakers said that the state institutions could see the assets of minerals in the Pakhtun belt where terrorist elements were hidden from their eyes. They said it was a great concern of the residents that despite their appeals terrorism was rapidly increasing day by day.
They said that the state has the responsibility to maintain peace and security in the region and to protect the lives and property of the people. They demand that policymakers maintain peace in the Pakhtun belt.
Thousands of people from various parts of Khyber including Landikotal, Jamrud and Bara participated in the Khyber Amn Jalsa(Peace public gathering). They said tribal people would not tolerate any new war and unrest in the region.
ANP leader Sardar Hussain Babak said the war coming again to the Pashtun belt would be for a long period of time. He said terrorism was not happening in parts of Punjab and elsewhere but bomb blasts, suicide attacks and target killings were the daily business here in the Pashtun region. He said their businesses were destroyed and their trade was closed. He said political parties were also united for peace.
PTM chief Manzoor Ahmad Pashteen said they do not want suicide attacks on their land. He said a few days before a mosque was destroyed in a suicide blast. He said hundreds of people were missing. He said people were receiving extortion phone calls to pay money to outlaws. He alleged that militant groups were established on Pashtun territory. He said the assets in tribal areas wanted to be occupied. He said they had defeated the Britishers 80 years ago on the soil of Pashtun. He said a double game was played with Pashtuns. He said hundreds of thousands of Pashtuns were displaced from their native lands. He said they collected body parts of their near and dear ones who lost their lives in terrorism.
Manzoor Ahmad Pashteen said they would not spare their common enemy and would take revenge on them. He said Pashtuns were slaves and when they get freedom they would decide their own future. He urged to participate in the PTM sit-in and protest scheduled on August 18 in front of the Supreme Court in Islamabad.
Speakers said that unfortunately the new war preparations were being made in the Pakhtun belt and especially in the tribal areas to play a dirty game. They said the Pakhtun nation was not ready to become the fuel of this proxy war because the youth were now aware of the dirty game and they were united for peace.
The speakers said that the state has completely failed to control terrorism and target killings in the tribal areas due to which the investment in the tribal areas and the capitalist class withdrew their capital without hesitation.
