After blocking the major North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) supply route for two days with a massive sit-in, Pakistan Tehrik-e-Insaaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan set a one month deadline for an end to drone attacks, warning that otherwise supplies to NATO forces in Afghanistan would be cut off from Karachi to Khyber, and then there would be a final march towards Islamabad. Addressing the two-day protest sit-in on Sunday, Khan announced a 5-point charter of demands, calling it the future line of action. He asked the government to stop its double standards and make clear its position to the people.
“Stop playing on both sides of the wicket,” Khan stated. “If the government considers parliament as supreme and not a dummy, then the parliament’s resolution against drone attacks should be implemented in letter and spirit. The government should allow independent media and human rights workers to visit tribal areas to know whether the drones are killing innocent people or terrorists. There should be a fair trial of suspected militants or terrorists, and no one should be allowed to kill anyone on mere suspicion. I think those who are taking the law into their own hands are the biggest terrorists,” he said.
Khan also urged Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry to take up petitions against the drone attacks, pending for the last six months. The government should be asked to explain its position on the drone issue and justice should be done to the innocent tribesmen, he said.
The sit-in has continued for two days with firebrand speeches of PTI leaders and those from other mainstream religious and political parties, except the ruling Pakistan People’s Party (PPP), Awami National Party (ANP) and the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM). PTI workers and Peshawar police successfully provided security to the rally.
Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader Javed Hashmi told the rally that Imran Khan had blocked NATO supplies for just two days, but if the supply lines were completely cut off then the US-led forces in Afghanistan would have no other option but to concede defeat and withdraw from the region. “Most of our political parties and leaders condemn and protest against the drone attacks on the floor of the house and in meetings, but when it comes to action they are hardly seen joining such rallies,” he said. Muhammad Tufail, 24, from Sararogha, South Waziristan, who lost his younger brother around two months ago in a drone attack said, “He was younger than me and after the military operation, we had moved to North Waziristan.”
The drone attack in question was at a hideout used by militants loyal to Hafiz Gul Bahadur, he said, and his brother was in a public bus when the unmanned predator struck the vehicle, killing him as well as many others. Students from South Waziristan told Pakistan Today that everyone was aware of the game, but their hands are tied and lips sealed. The government and security forces could resolve the issue if they wanted, they said. The NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) in Kabul, however, said the two-day blockade would have no impact on the alliance’s operations in Afghanistan.
“Coordination with Pakistani government officials has been conducted and we understand the government will maintain security,” an ISAF spokesman said. “There is no impact on ISAF sustainment.” “Peshawar ring road has been cleared and re-opened for vehicular traffic,” senior local administration official, Muhammad Siraj Khan told AFP. Trucks will only be able to use the route from Monday morning because of security reasons, he added.
