Victims of Babarra firing paid homage

PESHAWAR: The Pakhtun Think-Tank paid homage to the martyrs of Babarra on Sunday.

A special meeting was arranged to remember the victims. Syed Akhtar Ali Shah, a former civil servant and head of the think-tank, chaired the meeting. A five-minute silence was observed by the participants as a mark of respect.

The members of the think-tank laid floral wreaths at Babarra to offer tributes to those scores of members and supporters of the Khudai Khidmagar Movement who lost lives when the law-enforcement agencies opened fire on the unarmed protesters on August 12, 1948.

The Khudai Khidmatgars had assembled there to lodge a protest against the removal majority government of Dr Khan Sahib and imposition of the dictatorial rule of Khan Abdul Qayyum Khan.

Syed Akhtar Ali Shah on the occasion paid rich tributes to martyrs and stated that the urge for democracy was alive due to the sacrifice of such martyrs. He said the blood of the martyrs provided strength to the nationalist and democratic struggle in the country.

The Pakhtun Think-Thank chief lamented that still the ugly faces of dictatorship with the same mindset displayed at Babarra were after democracy.

Syed Akhtar Ali Shah said the blood of martyrs would not go waste. He vowed to continue the struggle for the democracy and rights of the Pakhtuns.