CM Khattak heckled at Charsadda attack condolence trip

Dr Hussain’s family insists protester not their relative

PESHAWAR:

Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) Chief Minister Pervaiz Khattak’s visit to slain assistant chemistry professor’s residence, who was killed in January 20 attack was met with protest.

When Dr Hussain’s three-year-old son was brought to meet the CM, a person started protesting. The chief minister patiently listened to the protester and said the government was fully aware of its responsibilities.



He said terrorism had seen a sharp decline as a result of the present government’s efforts, and expressed his deep sense of sorrow and grief over death of the teacher. He also sympathised with the father and brother of the deceased and handed them a cheque of Rs15.4 million.

The person, shown by some TV channels as protesting at the occasion, was not related to the late teacher’s family and was an outsider. The relatives of the deceased thanked the chief minister for his commiseration and confirmed that they had nothing to do with the protester. They said they were sorry for the protest as it is a Pukhtun tradition to honour guests.



K-P apex committee holds meeting

Meanwhile, an extraordinary meeting of the K-P’s Apex Committee was held on Friday to review the situation in the wake of the terrorists attack on Bacha Khan University.

Chaired by the K-P Governor Sardar Mehtab Ahmad Khan, the meeting discussed progress on the implementation of the National Action Plan (NAP) against militancy and decided that an investigation committee, headed by Peshawar Division’s commissioner, would investigate into the security arrangements at the university on the day of the attack.



The military and political leadership of the province expressed their deep resolve to bring to justice the terrorists who had killed innocent people. The meeting also decided that the security arrangements at all educational institutions of the province would be reviewed and strict action would be taken against those showing negligence.

Addressing the meeting, the governor said, “We will not allow the terrorists to continue their cowardly acts and the whole the nation is committed to uprooting the wave of militancy and intolerance from the country.” He said due to successful military operation, the backbone of the terrorists had been broken and now they are targeting the innocent people and hitting soft targets.

The meeting was attended by K-P Chief Minister Khattak, Corps Commander Peshawar Lt Gen Hidayat ur Rehman, K-P Chief Secretary Amjad Ali Khan, IGP Nasir Khan Durrani, Acting IGFC Brigadier Qaiser, Commandant Frontier Constabulary Liaqat Ali Khan, Fata’s Additional Chief Secretary Muhammad Aslam Kamboh, the K-P Home secretary and other senior officials.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 23^rd, 2016.