February 24, 2024
By Xari Jalil
LAHORE
Yet another protest was held in Miranshah, North Waziristan, by the members of the National Democratic Movement (NDM) with local tribes against the attack on NDM Chairperson Mohsin Dawar, and others and against alleged rigging in the general elections.
On Saturday, a shutter down strike was observed in the main markets of Miranshah for the second time since elections took place. against the attack on Mohsin and NDM in Miranshah. Locals say it is the first time that shutter down and wheel-jam strikes have taken place in North Waziristan.
According to the General Secretary of NDM in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP), Nadeem Aksar, who was also leading the protest, a jirga had been constituted and the discussion was ongoing, but he disagreed with the way the government was asking them to stop protesting without reaching any reconciliation.
“We want them to admit there was rigging here,” he said while speaking to Voicepk. “But at least our people who have been martyred and injured should get justice. They cannot just ask us to stop protesting and go our way. After all, we lost three people and 15 of our workers were badly injured, including Mohsin Dawar. On top of it all we are the ones who were nominated in a murder case.”
Aksar said that the police had slapped Section 302 on the NDM workers accusing them of starting the gun violence first. Some government officials also accused them of killing policemen present at the polling station, even though later this was dismissed when the police higher-ups made an appearance in the jirgah and claimed that no one had been hurt or killed from their side.
“The demands are to hold re-election in NA-40 North Waziristan, to file cases for the attack on Mohsin and our friends and to file the case against DRO, ROs and security apparatus of North Waziristan.”
“The government told us that we would be given compensation, but that is not the solution,” he adds. “The main problem is the issue of rigging. Mohsin Dawar won on Form 45 and this should be discussed. If they cannot agree on this, then they should hold re-polling in that station. If even that cannot be carried out then there ought to be re-elections.”
Rise of Militancy in the Region
In recent years, militancy has been rising in the region and has especially increased since 2021 when the Taliban came into power in Afghanistan.
Nadeem Aksar says that there are incidents of terrorism every day in Waziristan. “It was not surprising that on polling day this happened,” he said. “Mohsin has been complaining about the situation of terrorism in the village Tappi (NA-40), where the polling station was situated. There were terrorist attacks before the elections, and Mohsin Dawar had been complaining against this for some time but no one paid heed.”
I have written to the CEC urging @ECP_Pakistan to take notice of the security situation in Tappi, N. Waziristan in NA-40 where Taliban have taken over polling stations. We have also filed an application with the police against an attack there on 3 of our female polling agents. pic.twitter.com/D4eRgC6Uy8
— Mohsin Dawar (@mjdawar) February 8, 2024
Across Waziristan, there are daily incidents of target killing.
“Just the day before yesterday in the main bazaar, a rally of TTP passed through shooting at any vehicle with dark windows,” he said. “They have previously announced that whoever has tinted windows the car will be fired upon.”