Janikhel protesters end sit-in after successful talks

BANNU: The protesting Janikhel tribes ended almost the month-long sit-in and buried the slain tribal elder after talks between the members of the committee of protesters and officials of district administration proved successful on Sunday.

The talks, which were held at Maulana Khan Nawaz Jirga Hall at Azad Mandi for the fourth consecutive day, yielded results after the elders announced to wind up the protest sit-in and bury the tribal elder Malik Naseeb Khan, who was targetted and killed a few days back. Mohammad Khan, Deputy Commissioner Zubair Niazi, District Police Officer Imran Shahid, civil and military officials and the 15-member committee of Janikhel protesters attended the jirga.

Earlier, the members of the committee of protesters and officials of district administration had held talks to sort out issues for three straight days but that remained inconclusive.

The district administration released four arrested persons and handed them over to the elders as a goodwill gesture and assured that all the demands would be fulfilled as per the previous agreement.

Both sides agreed that all the demands would be met in a due course of time while a seven-member committee of Ahmadzai and Utmanzai was constituted to liaison with government officials and apprise them of the losses suffered by the Janikhel tribes during the sit-in and a march towards Islamabad recently. The committee members included Malik Umar Hayat, Malik Mir Samad, Malik Fida, Malik Gulbaz Khan, Gul Paozar and Jehan Noor.

Talking to reporters, Malik Shah Mohammad Khan said that the agreement reached between the Janikhel tribes and government in March last would be implemented in letter and spirit.

He said that the elders ended the protest sit-in after successful talks, which had been continuing for the last four days.

The minister assured that he would continue efforts to resolve all the issues being faced by the people and bring lasting peace to the area.

It may be mentioned that the protesters had refused to end the sit-in and bury the body of the slain elder, saying that they wanted practical action for implementation of the agreement, including release of arrested persons, recovery of all missing persons, restoration of lasting peace to the area, compensation to the affected families and others.

The people in Janikhel had been protesting for the last almost one month by putting the body of tribal elder Malik Naseeb, who was shot dead on May 30 last.

They were protesting against the lawlessness in the area and wanted reassurance by the administration that such acts of violence would not occur again.

The elders also wanted that the agreement struck with them three months back should be implemented. They said they were sick of burying their loved ones targeted and killed.

The Janikhel tribesmen recalled that four youth had gone missing and later their charred bodies were found. They said a case should be registered and a thorough investigation launched into the tragic incident.