Families of Bajaur victims to approach Supreme Court: Jamaat-e-Islami

06 Nov, 2006

The families of Bajaur incident victims, with the assistance of Jamaat-e-Islami (JI), will approach the Supreme Court of Pakistan against the killings of innocent students.
Addressing a news conference at the Lahore Press Club here on Sunday, JI central leader and MNA Haroon Rasheed said: "We have decided to go to the Supreme Court against the extra-judicial killings in the Bajour incident." JI leaders Shahid Shamsi and Nadeem Sarwar were also present on this occasion.
He said he was an eyewitness of the incident and the government's claim that the attack had been launched solely by Pak armed forces was nothing more than a big lie. A US aircraft fired missiles on the Ziaul Islam seminary on October 30 killing over 80 students, mostly ageing between 15 and 20 years, he claimed.
He said all the victims belonged either to Bajaur Agency or surrounding areas. "Earlier, we saw a US aircraft roaming over the site for about a month to monitor activities there," he also claimed. The incident occurred a few hours before a scheduled meeting between the tribal leaders and the political agent for a peace agreement, he said, adding both sides were going to enter a peace agreement on the pattern of Waziristan pact.
By attacking the Bajour seminary, the US has given a clear message to the Pakistan government that it was not free in holding negotiations or entering any sort of deal with any one on its own, even in its own country, the JI leader remarked.
To a question, he said the tribal elders had announced to continue their peaceful protest against the government. "But we want that the Supreme Court should take suo motu notice of the incident to do justice with the victims' families and media people should be allowed to visit the area so the nation could know the facts", he added.
To a question about his resignation from the national assembly, he said: "I have handed over my resignation to Qazi Hussain Ahmed and, according to the party decision, I will quit the parliament after delivering my address on the floor on November 10."

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