Slaughter slogans: Taliban supporters paint the town red

Wall chalking praising Al Qaeda and the Taliban crops up in district.

DERA GHAZI KHAN:

Mysterious walk chalking in favour of Al Qaeda, Tehrik-i-Talban and Al Jihad have appeared on various walls and brick fences in the district.

Residents in DG Khan said that they had observed several walls and road side barriers bearing slogans in favour of the Taliban and Al-Qaeda. “I even spotted a wall with a slogan that supported the attack on the Sakhi Sarwar shrine. I immediately got a paint brush and my neighbours helped me cover it up,” said Abdullah, a Chak-G 211 resident.

Residents have observed several road fences bearing pro-Taliban slogans near the hilly Dera -Quetta road in the tribal areas,  not for from  Sakhi Sarwar. Locals have expressed grave concern as well as fear that the slogans have been painted by Taliban supporters in the district.

“If they have no qualms declaring their allegiance, we fear they might continue with blasts,” said Haider Rasool, a resident. “This is an open campaign by Deobandi’s on Barelvi’s. It is extremely disturbing,
he added.

Tribal area administration, border military police and other concerned departments were unaware of the situation until several residents reported wall chalking bearing slogans supporting terrorists and praising the attacks on sufi shrines.

Following the suicide attack at the shrine of the saint Hazart Sakhi syed Ahmad Sultan, locals in the district fear another attack. “I have seen several walls and road barriers bearing slogans in favour of Al Qaeda, Tehrik-i-Talban and Al Jihad and it has made me very uneasy. If the administration doesn’t remove these it makes it appear as if the Taliban have support,” he said.

“The suicide attacks in Sakhi Sarwar are a signal that law enforcement agencies have been infiltrated and that terrorists have access everywhere,” he added.

Graffiti proclaiming ‘Al Qaeda Zindabad’ and ‘Al Jihad agay barho, maro maro’ were witnessed by locals.

Residents said that a majority of the wall chalking was seen on Rakhi Gurj and up to Bewata near the Punjab - Baluchistan provincial boundary. “It is not far from Sakhi Sarwar and quite close to the atomic energy commission’s geological survey camp. These are places with tight security and yet no one has taken any notice” said a guard Karimullah, who reported several chalking incidents to the authorities.

Locals said that such incidents occurring right after the suicide blast was a sign of the administrations incompetence. The Dera Ghazi Khan district coordination officer (DCO) has refused to comment on the issue.

DG Khan Commissioner Tahir Khursheed, however, took notice of the violation of the ban on all types of wall chalking in public places and ordered its immediate removal.

“This will not be tolerated and I have ordered an investigation into the incident,” he said. Khursheed directed senior commandant of the border military police Iftikhar Ali Sahu and political assistant to tribal area Wali Mohammad to wash out the chalking and register cases against those responsible.

“I could see a slogan written on the road side from the provincial boundary till Rakhi moun. It read ‘Talibanistan zindabad’,” said a truck driver Faisal.

 

Published in The Express Tribune, April 10^th, 2011.