Islamabad - Hundreds of tribal men from Waziristan on Friday vowed to continue their protest until the arrest of fugitive police official Rao Anwar allegedly involved in the fake encounter killing of Naqeebullah Mehsud.
Nearly 2000 people from the Federally Administrative Tribal Areas reached the capital and held a ‘Qomi Pakhtun Jirga’ expressing solidarity with Naqeeb Mehsud’s family, who was killed in Karachi by absconder SSP Rao Anwar.
Tribal chiefs expressed concerns on the progress of the case regarding producing the police official before the Supreme Court announced to prolong their protest and setting their tents on roads until the justice is served for Naqeeb Mehsud.
The Jirga denying any possible deal of blood money against the murder of Naqeeb Mehsud announced ‘no compromise’ on the blood of the victim and demanded strict punishment for Rao Anwar according to the law.
The Jirga organizing committee member Azam Khan Mehsud told The Nation that people from Waziristan had reached the capital demanding justice for Naqeeb and other victims suffering in tribal region.
“”Naqeeb was killed for denying ransom to police,” claimed Azam.
He said that the accused police officials were involved in extortion of money from the community settled in Karachi and on refusal they engineered fake encounters.
He said that so far 370 people from Mehsud’s tribe in Karachi have been murdered in extra-judicial killings, while the total number of people from FATA is nearly one thousand.
“Our tribe was dubbed as a ‘blank cheque’ by the accused police official,” said Azam.
He also informed The Nation that if government fails in negotiating with the Jirga on the terms, the protest camp will be shifted in-front of United Nations (UN) headquarters.
The protestors carrying placards and chanting slogans demanding justice for Naqeebullah Mehsud also demanded the government to produce the missing people of the tribal regions and remove the Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs) from their areas.
Azam Khan said that people in tribal region are facing severe difficulties because of IEDs. A number of people have received injuries and lost their limbs because of blasts of IEDs.
A participant at the sit-in at Abdus Samad said that the people had gathered here for a cause of justice and reached with their luggage.
“We are the victims, not terrorists and have come with the hope that state will provide us justice,” said Samad. Human Rights Activist Jibran Nasir while addressing the participants said that all stake holders have agreed that the case of Naqeeb Mehsud is not being preceded and the government is a silent spectator.
He said that Naqeeb’s murder case must be fought inside the court. “Court is the proper forum and a competent lawyer must be hired to defend the case of Naqeeb there,” said Jibran.
“The protestors are demanding justice not the sympathy,” Jibran added.
Jibran said that Jirga has decided here to fight for Naqeeb and rights of other tribal people and it will continue till its logical conclusion.
Another participant Sajjad Mehsud advocate while talking to The Nation said that the Jirga arrived here has prepared its demand and presented them before the government.
“On behalf of the tribal people, the chiefs will negotiate with government on these demands and try to bring relief to the family of Naqeeb Mehsud and other people of the region,” he said.
Sajjad also added that people from every corner of Waziristan have reached the capital and vowed not to return until the protest yields results.
Sajjad said that the extra judicial killing of Naqeeb Mehsud is not acceptable because he was declared innocent in inquiry but the police official killed him only for a ransom demanded for his release.