BANNU: The angry Janikhel tribesmen on Sunday crossed all the hurdles erected by district administration in their way and reached the Bannu city to protest the brutal killing of the four youths. The police had erected hurdles on the road at various places and used teargas and even aerial firing to stop the protesters from going to Bannu.
However, the protesters while taking four bodies of youths along with them succeeded to reach the next destination of their protest sit-in. They covered 22 kilometres distance in scores of vehicles, motorcycles and even some by foot despite many hurdles on their way to Bannu city.
Chief of the Janikhel tribe and former lawmaker Malik Adnan Wazir and Malik Moeez were leading the protesters. The relatives of the victims and local tribesmen have been protesting the killing of the youths for the last seven days by placing their bodies in front of the Janikhel Police Station.
The officials of district administration held talks with the protesters at Tochi Bridge several times but failed to make any headway as they were adamant to reach the city. Earlier, prominent religious scholars of Bannu district launched efforts to convince protesters to end the sit-in and bury the bodies but that also did not yield any positive results. Later in the day, Chief Minister Mahmood Khan and provincial Minister Hisham Inamullah dashed to Janikhel to hold talks with the elders.
However, the elders carrying beds, tents and food items along with them said that they would hold negotiations with the chief minister after reaching a ground near Odhmi Bridge. After reaching the ground, former lawmaker Malik Adnan Wazir while speaking to protesters said that they would not return until they were given assurance about restoration of peace in the area.
“We are tired of taking the bodies of our youths on our shoulders and now we cannot bear this barbarism anymore,” he said, adding that they would do meet the chief minister but he must ensure peace in the area. He said that they cannot leave their people at the mercy of fear and dangerous situations and will fight for their rights at all costs. The bodies were recovered from a field some eight days ago and now the protesters demand arrest of the killers of youths.