Peace rallies in KP condemn Police Lines bombing

PESHAWAR: Civil society members, traders and political parties on Friday staged peace rallies across the province and condemned the suicide bombing at the Malik Saad Shaheed Police Lines in the provincial capital.

In Peshawar, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) members and supporters staged a rally outside the Peshawar Press Club.

Speaking on the occasion, the PTI leaders condemned the bombing and lauded the sacrifices of KP Police in the war against terrorism. About 102 persons, majority of them cops, were martyred in the deadly explosion.

The PTI women members staged a demo to condemn the blast.

Also, the relatives of martyred cops staged a protest at the Press Club to demand a judicial commission to probe the terror act.

The traders community in Saddar Bazaar staged a protest. Carrying placards and banners, the traders urged the government to provide security to the people.

In Bannu, political workers and social activists staged a demonstration to protest against the worsening law and order and rising acts of violence in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

Holding banners and placards, the participants of the rally marched from Meelad Park to the Bannu Press Club.

Chanting slogans, they demanded peace and condemned the acts of subversion in the province. Former provincial minister for transport Malik Shah Mohammad Khan Wazir, PTI leader Maulana Syed Naseem Ali Shah, Malik Khalid Khan and others addressed the protesters.

They questioned the resurgence of militancy and failure of the government to bring the situation under control.

A speaker said that the previous PTI government had restored peace and ended lawlessness, but it was removed under the regime change conspiracy.

He said power had been handed over to the “pro-US” elements, who ruined the peace and caused skyrocketing inflation in the country.

The speakers said the Pakhtuns did not want bloodshed on their soil. They questioned why Pakhtuns were being targeted. The rulers, they said, had lost the justification to stay in power any more. The protesters asked Pakhtuns to shed their petty differences and forge unity in their ranks.

In Chakdara, activists of various political parties staged a protest rally against Monday’s suicide attack at the Police Lines in Peshawar.

Speaking at the rally, Tehsil Chairman Syed Feroz Shah, Hussain Shah Yousafzai, Sultanat Yar, Advocate, Maulana Shah Hussain and other local elders said the state must provide security to citizens.

They said the land of Pakhtuns had been a battlefield for decades and now even the police force was being targeted. They said violence on Pakhtuns’ land would no longer be tolerated.

The demonstrators chanted slogans in support of the KP Police and against terrorism and also staged a march from the main bazaar up to the Chakdara Press Club.

Activists from various parties, including PMLN, PTI, JUIF and ANP, as well as traders and other segments participated in the rally.