Mehsud tribe's jirga in Sohrab Goth ends

Jirga organisers warn of sit-in outside Bilawal House if demands not met

KARACHI: The Pashtun Qaumi Grand Jirga organised by the Mehsud tribe at Sohrab Goth in protest against the killing of youth from South Waziristan Naseemullah Mehsud alias Naqeebullah in an allegedly fake encounter ended on Wednesday.

Naqeebullah was killed on January 13 in Shah Latif Town by a police party of former Malir SSP Rao Anwar. SSP Anwar claimed that Naqeebullah was a militant who was killed in an encounter with the police. However, an inquiry committee later concluded that the youth was killed in a fake encounter.

Following Naqeebullah's killing, the jirga had been holding a sit-in in Sohrab Goth for around  10 days. On Wednesday, the jirga organisers announced to end the protest. Addressing the jirga participants, the organisers said they trusted the investigation team. They, however, warned that they would stage a sit-in in front of Bilawal House if their demands, which included the arrest of SSP Anwar and his team, were not met.

"Basically, we are not ending our protest but we are actually moving our place of protest," said Noor Rehman, Naqeebullah's cousin. " Now we are going to Islamabad where we will hold a big sit-in outside the Islamabad Press Club."



Rehman claimed that Pashtuns belonging to the Mehsud tribe as well as other tribes were reaching Islamabad to stage the sit-in.  According to him, around 50,000 Pashtuns from Dir, Wana, Swat, Charsadda, Dera Ismail Khan, Dara Adam Khel and Peshawar were expected to participate in the sit-in in the federal capital today (Thursday).

"Sindh IG Allah Dino Khawaja has assured us that the case will be brought to a logical end. Therefore, we have decided to give time to investigation teams," said jirga chairperson Rehmatullah Mehsud.

SSP Anwar, who is allegedly responsible for the extrajudicial killing of Naqeebullah, has been on run and the Sindh police has so far failed to arrest him and some other members of his team. Special teams of the police have been dispatched to other parts of the country due to possible presence of SSP Anwar outside Sindh.