Protest in Mardan against Taliban and the "Government"

Report by BBC Urdu dot com

A grand protest against Taliban in civil dress (TTP) and Taliban in uniform (ISI) was organized by the Pakhtun Aman Jirgah in Mardan.


http://www.bbc.co.uk/urdu/pakistan/story/2009/02/090208_demo_against_taleban_nj.shtml


Pakhtuns poised to act against Taliban

Monday February 09, 2009 (0617 PST)

MARDAN: The Pakhtun Peace Jirga (PPJ) announced Sunday it would approach the International Court of Justice to seek punishment for “the enemies of the Pukhtoon people who imposed Taliban on them.”

The convener of PPJ and former provincial minister, Syed Kamal Shah, told a peace rally at College Chowk here Sunday that the politicians, the mullas and the religious parties are either abetting the Taliban or have yielded to their force and the Pakhtuns have been left at their mercy. “But this nation would not tolerate this any more. We cannot allow these people to kill our children, women and the elderly. We shall approach the ICJ, the Jamia Al-Azhar and the Mufti-e-Azam. If it does not work we shall create a lashkar of the people to fight Taliban”.

He claimed that the lashkars and the jirgas created so far were either sponsored by the government or the foreign agencies. “No more of these jirgas. Now we shall call a jirga of the entire Pakhtun nation (24 districts of NWFP) and the Fata people in March to decide which course to take. Only the people’s jirgas that are free of the government and the foreign influence can succeed against the Taliban.”

He added that the army, the Taliban and the United States were responsible for the current situation. “We shall create a council that will first talk to all three entities. Then, if they did not stop the murder and destruction of the Pukhtoon people, we shall approach the ICJ, the Jamia Al-Azhar and Mufti-e-Azam.”

He said the last two institutions would be approached to declare whether beheading of people and creating parallel courts was permissible. This correspondent talked to the PPJ leaders after they spoke to the Mardan rally on Sunday and apprised them of the Taliban activities and contacts with their leaders in Swat, Malakand and Dir.

One of them said a lady from an unspecified location called the FM-91 Radio on which Mulla Khalil, one of the Taliban commanders, issues sermons everyday. The lady told the mulla live on telephone last week that she had prepared two women suicide bombers for the Taliban. The mulla congratulated her, and asked her if these bombers would attack the Army or the police contingents. She replied that these bombers would hit the Taliban leaders.

Another frequent visitor to the Taliban-controlled areas in Swat said he heard last month that these commanders had issued a Wahabi edict against the pirs and the Sufis of the entire NWFP, and declared that “these elements be beheaded by the Taliban activists”. The Sunday PPJ rally was addressed by leaders and elders from all walks of life and professions, including political parties.

End.

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