Tehreek leaders fear arrest for Booni public gathering

ChitralToday: \”We don’t want to arrest them as of now, for now we just want to talk.” One of the office-bearers of the Tehreek told ChitralToday that the DC had called them for a meeting after they held a public gathering in Booni on Nov 7 against non-payment of compensation to the quake-hit people, government\’s failure to reconstruct the Reshun powerhouse and non-issuance of a notification for the waiver of agricultural loans taken by the people of the calamity-hit district despite an announcement by the prime minister in July 2015. The protesters also criticized the SRSP for delaying a powerhouse project and asked to fulfil its promise of constructing the small powerhouse at Dumadumi for the supply of electricity to the Booni town. The Tehreek leaders said that in May this year they organized a protest gathering after three people lost their lives in the collapse of a bridge in Mulkhow. Soon after that protest, the leaders of the Tehreek were called to Chitral by the DC and then charge-sheeted for allegedly creating  law and order issue and sent to the Bannu jail. However, the arrested office-bearers of the Tehreek were later released after they reportedly promised not to hold protest gatherings, make speeches or issue statements to newspapers. But one of the leaders of the Tehreek on Thursday said that they had never indulged themselves in any illegal activity neither violated any law. They were just protesting to ensure that the calamity-affected people are given their due rights. He said that  in a democratic society, holding peaceful rallies and public gatherings was the constitutional rights of the citizens. He said that it was strange that the PTI and its chairman Imran Khan have been staging sit-ins and rallies across the country and even threatened to lock down the capital city of Pakistan but in a province ruled by the same party a deputy commissioner was threatening to arrest the organizers of a peaceful public gathering. He said those who have been directed by the police to immediately reach the Chitral town included Rehmat Salam Khan, Mukhtar Ahmad Lal, VC Parwak nazim Vor Muhammad, Muxgol VC nazim Muhammad Sarwar, Muhammad Pervez Lal, Shuja Uddin Raza and retired Sub-Maj Qurban Ali. When contacted, Deputy Commissioner Osama Ahmad Waraich told ChitralToday that the leaders of the Tehreek were released from Bannu jail on guarantee written on stamp paper (available in DC office) that they will never again block roads or indulge in any unlawful activities.

\”After blocking road in Booni, I had issued summons (which aren\’t arrest warrants). I wanted to meet them but they have disappeared again. We don\’t want to arrest them as of now, for now we just want to talk.\”

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