PESHAWAR: Thousands of protesters continued to stage a sit-in protest for the second consecutive day in the northwestern city of Bannu on Sunday, demanding peace days after a shooting incident triggered a stampede that caused the deaths of at least two people.
At least two persons were killed and more than 20 injured after gunfire triggered a stampede at the procession attended by tens of thousands of people in the northwestern city on Friday. The demonstration was held at a time when Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) province, which borders Afghanistan, has witnessed a surge in attacks on security forces, government officials and anti-polio vaccination teams in recent weeks.
The shocking increase in daily attacks led the residents of the area to demand peace only a few days after 10 soldiers were killed by militants in Bannu’s cantonment area.
Following the attack, thousands of protesters staged a sit-in protest on Saturday in Bannu, demanding peace and an end to further military operations in KP.
“Talks are being held between the district administration and local elders to restore durable peace in the area,” KP government spokesperson Muhammad Ali Saif said in a statement. “A meeting of elders will soon be arranged with the chief minister.”
Local residents and some Pakistani politicians accused the security forces of the shooting incident, though the KP spokesperson was reticent about who was responsible.
Protesters have formed a 30-member committee to hold talks with the provincial government on the issue.
Dil Nawaz, one of the participants of the protest, said tribes from Bannu district were represented in the 30-member committee. He said the committee was empowered to hold talks with the KP government to ensure their demands were accepted.
“Politicians from the Awami National Party (ANP), Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) and elders from the adjacent Lakki Marwat and Karak districts have visited Bannu, are meeting protesters and assuring them of their support to achieve peace,” Nawaz said.
He said the committee members comprised local elders, current and former lawmakers of the national and provincial assemblies of Pakistan, members of the Bannu Chamber of Commerce, religious leaders, lawyers and journalists.
“We will continue with our protest till our demands are not met,” Nawaz vowed. “We were protesting peacefully and this [shooting] happened. This was an unjust act against us.”
JUDICIAL COMMISSION
A six-member opposition alliance, the Tehreek Tahafuz Ayeen-e-Pakistan (or the Movement to Protect the Constitution of Pakistan) demanded the formation of a judicial commission to probe the shooting incident on Saturday.
The demand was put forward after the alliance met on Saturday to discuss the issue.
“They demanded that an independent judicial commission should be constituted immediately to probe into the deaths and injuries caused by the firings on Bannu Aman [Peace] March,” a press release by the alliance read.
The alliance stressed the need for a judicial commission to probe the incident, saying it should be headed by a serving judge. It said the judge should be “free from any external pressure” to ensure a transparent investigation into the Bannu incident.
The press release added the meeting criticized senior police and provincial administration officials, saying they had “miserably failed in restoring peace in the province” and must be dismissed.
