One dead as police prevent Pashtun protestors from taking slain elder’s body to Islamabad

A vehicle was set on fire during a clash between the police and angry protestors belonging to Janikhel, a remote town in the country’s northwest, on June 23, 2021. (Photo courtesy: Latif Wazir)

• Members of Janikhel tribe claim militants and armed groups are operating in hometown while government and security officials look the other way
• Janikhel residents refuse to bury tribal elder gunned down last month until government honours March agreement to end violence in the area

PESHAWAR: One protestor died and six others were injured on Wednesday after riot police resorted to teargas shelling to disperse angry demonstrators in a small tribal settlement in the country’s northwest who wanted to take the corpse of their senior leader to Islamabad who was gunned down by unknown assailants last month to seek an end to such killings in their areas.
“The moment we started moving to Islamabad with the casket carrying the body of our tribal leader, police started shooting the protestors,” Latif Wazir, another tribal elder from the Janikhel town in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, told Arab News over the phone after the incident. “I am with the dead body of Waheed Wazir, a protester, who died about an hour ago due to police brutality.”
However, Asif Khan, a public relations officer who works with the police, said it was “premature to say anything about the operation” since law enforcement personnel were still trying to control the situation.
“We don’t have all the details of the clash at the moment,” he said. “However, some 3,000 police personnel have been deployed to stop the protestors from marching [to the federal capital].”
Wazir said the residents of Janikhel had staged a sit-in for the last 24 days without burying the corpse of Malik Naseeb Khan who was murdered on May 30.
“I am not sure how many days it will take us to reach Islamabad since they have placed several obstacles in our way,” he continued. “However, we are going to reach our destination even if it takes us months to get there.”
The Pashtun clan also planned a similar demonstration in Islamabad last March after discovering mutilated bodies of its four teenage boys who had gone out for hunting.
However, its members called off their protest after reaching an agreement with the government.
“Shah Muhammad Wazir, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s provincial minister for transport, who belongs to the same clan, is continuing conversations with senior government officials to defuse tensions and settle the issue,” Ahmad Ali Wazir, the minister’s personal secretary, told Arab News.
However, residents of Janikhel blame the killing of Malik Naseeb Khan on the non-implementation of their agreement with the government earlier this year.
The deal between the two sides required the Pakistani authorities to act against militant outfits and launch a crackdown against illicit weapons in the area. The government also promised to compensate the bereaved families of the teenagers, investigate their killings, and bring the perpetrators to justice.
Other than that, a special development package had to be announced for Janikhel where residents live an impoverished life.
Last Friday, the minister had asked the mourning demonstrators to bury their tribal elder.
“The minister even assured them that their demands would be met within three days,” his assistant had told Arab News on Friday.
Rahimullah Yusufzai, a senior analyst, had also described the concern of protesters regarding growing insecurity in their area as legitimate, adding there was definitely a presence of militants and armed groups in the Janikhel region.
He had pointed out it was the “prime responsibility of the government to be empathetic toward the demonstrators and take immediate measures to address their legitimate grievances.”
However, Wednesday’s showdown between the police and furious protestors may have exacerbated the situation further.
“We have decided not to hold any further meetings with any government representative,” Latif Wazir said. “We are tired of burying our dead every day and now the government in Islamabad will have to guarantee peace in our area.”