Sit-in against attack on Swat school’s van ends

Shafi Ullah
MINGORA: The two-day sit-in after the attack on a school van in Gali Bagh area of Swat was ended after successful negotiations between the district administration and area leaders. The funeral prayers of Hussain Ahmed, the driver who died in the incident, were performed.
According to details, unknown persons fired at a private school van and killed the driver Hussain Ahmed, on Monday, while Mamnoon, a student of the second grade, was seriously injured in the firing, after which people kept the dead body on the Mingora-Khwaza Khela highway at Gali Bagh. They staged a Sit in and closed the road for all kinds of traffic.
The protestors reacted strongly to the lack of any kind of action at the government level. On the second day, the negotiation team headed by Additional Deputy Commissioner Swat Sohail Khan held talks with the affected family and local elders and while acknowledging their demands. Assured that the martyred driver will be compensated while his children will be supported by the government and the family of the martyr will also be given a government job.
The administration assured that an FIR has been registered and the affected family and Jirga leaders will be informed about the progress of the investigation in the case. Later the martyred Hussein Ahmed funeral was held and was burried after 36 hours of sit in. On the other hand, against the deteriorating peace situation and unrest in Swat, a protest demonstration was organized by Swat Olasi Paswan in Nishat Chowk, Mingora, in which thousands of people participated.
Civil society members, lawyers, students, political activists and people belonging to different schools of thought participated in the protest. The protesters were waving white flags of peace and chanting slogans of “We want peace”.
Jamaat-e-Islami Senator Mushtaq Ahmed Khan, ANP Provincial President Aimal Wali Khan, General Secretary Sardar Hussain Babak, Pakhtunkhwa Map Mukhtiar Yousafzai, Afrasiab Khattak, PTM chief Manzoor Pashteen and other speakers addressed the demonstration. The speakers said that unrest and terrorism will not be tolerated again in the peaceful valley of Swat and we will not allow anyone to shed blood.
They said that it is the responsibility of the government and state institutions to protect the citizens and today we have only one demand from this field that we want peace, nothing but peace. Speakers said that we want the government and law enforcement agencies to take action against the terrorists entering Swat, otherwise the breakdown of law and order will be considered a failure of the state. They said that despite the presence of a large number of law enforcers in Swat, attacks on innocent civilians and disruption of public order are a question mark on their performance.