Desperate times: Mardan residents urged to launch armed struggle

Former minister says if govt can’t protect residents, they might as well do so themselves.

SHERGARH: A shutter down strike was observed in Shergarh in protest of Tuesday’s suicide attack, which killed 37 people, including MPA Imran Khan Mohmand, during funeral prayers.

Residents of Hathyan, Lond Khwar, Jalala and Shergarh closed all businesses and educational institutes on Thursday, while Malakand Road was blocked for traffic for nearly 90 minutes.

Leading the protesters, the president of aman jirga and former provincial minister Syed Kamal Shah along with the elders demanded the government to restore peace in the area.

Shah said if the government cannot establish peace then the people should come out of their houses and fight the militants themselves. “People should launch an armed struggle against the militants to restore peace,” Kamal said.

Meanwhile, Pakhtunkhwa Milli Awami party leader Esa Bacha along with party supporters held a peace walk in Shergarh Bazaar, which concluded in main Malakand Square. While addressing party workers, Bacha condemned the attack on innocent people. He demanded the government to assist the families whose men were killed and injured in the explosion, saying that the government should chalk out a way to negotiate with the Taliban and establish peace.

Also on Thursda, Chief Minister Pervez Khattak visited the house of the blast victims and told journalists that all those wounded will be treated at the government’s expense. “We will not leave them alone in such a critical situation,” Khattak said.

Former chief minister Amir Haider Khan Hoti also visited the house of slain MPA Imran Khan for condolence.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 21^st, 2013.