Political, religious parties took out rallies across K-P, denouncing drones, Rawalpindi incident
Day passed by unmarred with the exception of an incident in which nine people were injured.
Above) Qissa Khwani Bazaar was well-fortified in anticipation of protests which had been planned across the province. (Below) Protestors gather at Shoba Chowk. PHOTOS: MUHAMMAD IQBAL/EXPRESS, PPI
PESHAWAR:
Province-wide protests, attended by activists of various political and religious parties, picked up steam post Friday afternoon prayers amid heavy security.
Contingents of police were deployed around mosques; all roads leading to all imambargahs were sealed. Fearing riots, traffic remained thin and traders closed their shops after 11am. Similarly, attendance at educational institutions was low and banks did not open after the prayer break.
The string of protests remained peaceful except an incident that took place at Kohat Road of the provincial capital where nine people were injured.
An Ahle Sunnat Wal Jamaat (ASWJ) 80-strong rally started at a mosque in Garhi Qamardin and had reached Ghazi Khan check post – manned by Banamari police – when Constable Ali Bacha opened fire at them. As a result, nine protestors were injured.
“He was disarmed and arrested immediately,” said a police official.
The injured identified as Sharifa Bibi, her son Sajid, Takbirullah, Nabjibullah, Abdur Rehman, Tariq, Munir, Amjid Ali and Zakir were rushed to Lady Reading Hospital where one of them was said to be in a critical condition.
Meanwhile, a mob turned violent when angry protesters, in response to the Kohat Road firing, pelted stones at the Haidri Imambargah, Kohat Gate. They tried to enter the building but police dispersed them, using batons and tear gas. Responding to the Imambargah incident, ASWJ district chief Ismail Darvish denied his group’s involvement and said, “We believe in peaceful protests and no one from ASWJ was involved or arrested.”
The ASWJ rally led by culminated at the Sowekarno Chowk.
In another protest, around 500 gathered at the Ring Road and blocked it for all types of traffic. Their sit in continued till the filling of this report.
Around the same time, Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) activists blocked GT Road to protest continued drone strikes, demanding the centre take immediate action.
Addressing the rally, JI Peshawar chief Bihrullah Khan maintained Peshawar, Islamabad and Lahore will be the next targets of the US. He said an attack a day after Sartaj Aziz’s assurance that there will be no more strikes shows the failure of the federal government.
Charsadda
Scores of protestors of ASWJ along with Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) and Awami National Party (ANP) activists gathered at Farooq-e-Azam Chowk in Charsadda Bazaar and strongly condemned the Rawalpindi incident. “Foreign elements are trying to sabotage peace in the region and trying to create disunity among Muslims in Pakistan,” said ANP local leader Waheed Durrani.
The JUI-F Charsadda chapter also observed a ‘condemnation day’ in all the seminaries in the region.
Nowshera
Despite the district government’s imposition of Section 144 on processions and hate speech, hundreds of students of Darul Uloom Haqqani, Akora Khattak, led by Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Sami chief Samiul Haq, marched from the seminary towards Committee Chowk.
Sami demanded a thorough inquiry into the Pindi incident to bring the culprits to justice.
If the government cannot take action then the Supreme Court should take up the matter, he added. “Such incidents, if not investigated, can trigger more problems for the country and cause anarchy,” he said.
Maulana Sami further said Nato supply should be halted completely rather than being temporarily blocked.
Demonstrators also gathered in Risalpur, Shangla, Kohistan, Upper Dir, Malakand, and Lakki Marwat where JUI-F, PTI and JI led the rallies to protest both drone attacks and the Rawalpindi incident.
Meanwhile, a partial strike was observed across the DI Khan district while markets remained opened as no call of a protest was made. A meeting was held in a seminary where leaders of political and religious organisations discussed the Rawalpindi incident. No protest rallies were taken out like in other parts of the province.
Published in The Express Tribune, November 23rd, 2013.
Province-wide protests, attended by activists of various political and religious parties, picked up steam post Friday afternoon prayers amid heavy security.
Contingents of police were deployed around mosques; all roads leading to all imambargahs were sealed. Fearing riots, traffic remained thin and traders closed their shops after 11am. Similarly, attendance at educational institutions was low and banks did not open after the prayer break.
The string of protests remained peaceful except an incident that took place at Kohat Road of the provincial capital where nine people were injured.
An Ahle Sunnat Wal Jamaat (ASWJ) 80-strong rally started at a mosque in Garhi Qamardin and had reached Ghazi Khan check post – manned by Banamari police – when Constable Ali Bacha opened fire at them. As a result, nine protestors were injured.
“He was disarmed and arrested immediately,” said a police official.
The injured identified as Sharifa Bibi, her son Sajid, Takbirullah, Nabjibullah, Abdur Rehman, Tariq, Munir, Amjid Ali and Zakir were rushed to Lady Reading Hospital where one of them was said to be in a critical condition.
Meanwhile, a mob turned violent when angry protesters, in response to the Kohat Road firing, pelted stones at the Haidri Imambargah, Kohat Gate. They tried to enter the building but police dispersed them, using batons and tear gas. Responding to the Imambargah incident, ASWJ district chief Ismail Darvish denied his group’s involvement and said, “We believe in peaceful protests and no one from ASWJ was involved or arrested.”
The ASWJ rally led by culminated at the Sowekarno Chowk.
In another protest, around 500 gathered at the Ring Road and blocked it for all types of traffic. Their sit in continued till the filling of this report.
Around the same time, Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) activists blocked GT Road to protest continued drone strikes, demanding the centre take immediate action.
Addressing the rally, JI Peshawar chief Bihrullah Khan maintained Peshawar, Islamabad and Lahore will be the next targets of the US. He said an attack a day after Sartaj Aziz’s assurance that there will be no more strikes shows the failure of the federal government.
Charsadda
Scores of protestors of ASWJ along with Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) and Awami National Party (ANP) activists gathered at Farooq-e-Azam Chowk in Charsadda Bazaar and strongly condemned the Rawalpindi incident. “Foreign elements are trying to sabotage peace in the region and trying to create disunity among Muslims in Pakistan,” said ANP local leader Waheed Durrani.
The JUI-F Charsadda chapter also observed a ‘condemnation day’ in all the seminaries in the region.
Nowshera
Despite the district government’s imposition of Section 144 on processions and hate speech, hundreds of students of Darul Uloom Haqqani, Akora Khattak, led by Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Sami chief Samiul Haq, marched from the seminary towards Committee Chowk.
Sami demanded a thorough inquiry into the Pindi incident to bring the culprits to justice.
If the government cannot take action then the Supreme Court should take up the matter, he added. “Such incidents, if not investigated, can trigger more problems for the country and cause anarchy,” he said.
Maulana Sami further said Nato supply should be halted completely rather than being temporarily blocked.
Demonstrators also gathered in Risalpur, Shangla, Kohistan, Upper Dir, Malakand, and Lakki Marwat where JUI-F, PTI and JI led the rallies to protest both drone attacks and the Rawalpindi incident.
Meanwhile, a partial strike was observed across the DI Khan district while markets remained opened as no call of a protest was made. A meeting was held in a seminary where leaders of political and religious organisations discussed the Rawalpindi incident. No protest rallies were taken out like in other parts of the province.
Published in The Express Tribune, November 23rd, 2013.