The sit-in protest of the people from different parts of Federally Administrated Tribal Areas (FATA) demanding arrest of former Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Rao Anwar and others, who are allegedly involved in brutal killing of Naqeebullah Mehsud in Karachi, entered the 9th day on Friday.
Hundreds of people from FATA reached Islamabad in different rallies on February 01st and gathered in front of National Press Club (NPC) to pressurize the government to arrest Rao Anwar and fulfill their other demands.
The demands of the protesters include arrest and execution of Rao Anwar, removal of improvised explosive devices (IEDs) from FATA, release of innocent missing Pashtun or their production before the court of law, and ensuring smooth return of residents of Waziristan to their native areas without Watan Cards.
The protesters were holding placards and banners inscribed with slogans like 'Justice for Naqeebullah Mehsud', 'Stop Pakhtun Genocide' and 'Stop Killing of Pakhtun Children'.
They asked the government to arrest Rao Anwar and his accomplices, besides releasing innocent Pashtun languishing in different jails. A few days ago, a delegation of Pashtun Qaumi Jirga headed by Maulana Jamal Din was assured by Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi during a meeting that the government would fulfill their all demands and all resources would be utilized to arrest Rao Anwar.
However, when the delegation returned to the protest venue and informed protesters about the Prime Minister's assurance, protesters were not convinced with verbal assurance and they refused to end protest. The protesters, especially youth, told the delegation that they would not end protest until the government gave them written assurance or starts practical work for implementation of their demands.
The protesters remained stuck to their demands on Friday and decided that they would continue their protest till fulfillment of their demands. A heavy contingent of police was deployed around the protest venue in order to avoid any mishap. The police also blocked some roads for traffic and placed containers at different intersections of the city. Due to blockage of roads, motorists faced problems.
The 27-year-old Naqeebullah, a resident of South Waziristan, was among four suspects allegedly killed in an encounter with a police team, headed by SSP Rao Anwar at Usman Khaskheli Goth in the outskirts of Karachi. The Pashtun Qaumi Grand Jirga earlier held 10-day long sit-in in Karachi's Sohrab Goth to protest the killing of Naseemullah alias Naqeebullah Mehsud in a fake police encounter.